The year the home battery became the default
What QVolt's rooftop installs across Queensland and northern New South Wales say about how households are buying solar in 2026: bigger batteries, fewer but more powerful panels, and a rush to add storage to roofs that already have solar.
- Every QVolt home install, anonymised
- 57 council areas, QLD and NSW
- 2026 edition, year to date
Why we publish this
Most of what gets written about rooftop solar in Australia comes from the top down: national rebate counts, grid-wide capacity, quarterly megawatts. Useful, but it says little about the decisions one family makes at the kitchen table when a quote lands.
We see those decisions every day. For every residential system we install, from the Gold Coast to Toowoomba and down into northern New South Wales, we log the size, the hardware and the suburb. This report is that record, with the names removed and the volumes left out, published so that homeowners, journalists and policymakers can see what people are actually buying, not what they are being sold.
The headline this year is hard to miss. For years a battery was a nice-to-have on roughly one install in ten. Then, in July 2025, it became the default, and it has not looked back.
Using these figures
Every number on this page is free to quote. Please attribute it to "QVolt Rooftop Report 2026" and link here. For regional cuts, charts or comment, email support@qvoltsolar.com.
The battery tipping point
Until the middle of 2025, fewer than one home in seven paired its solar with a battery. In 2026 it is 9 in ten.
Share of installs that include a battery, by quarter
Residential jobs, 2021 Q2 to 2026 Q4
The dotted line marks the start of the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program on 1 July 2025. The final quarter is in progress.
The month it flipped
Share of installs with a battery, Jan 2025 to Oct 2026
June 2025: 54%. July 2025: 92%. The rate has stayed above 87% every month since.
New solar with a battery, or a battery added later?
Of the batteries installed each quarter, the share that went in with new solar versus onto an existing system
- Battery with new solar
- Battery added to existing solar
Quarters with very few batteries are faded. The hatched column is the quarter still in progress.
Batteries have doubled in size
The average battery QVolt installed in 2024 was 11.4 kWh. This year it is 23.1 kWh, and one in two is 20 kWh or more.
Average battery size by year
Usable kWh per battery install
Years marked with a small-sample flag in the table rest on only a handful of batteries. 2021* is a part year; 2026 is year to date and hatched.
What size battery homes chose in 2025 and 2026
Share of battery installs by usable capacity
- Under 10 kWh10%
- 10 to 15 kWh9%
- 15 to 20 kWh34%
- 20 to 25 kWh20%
- 25 to 30 kWh6%
- 30 kWh and above21%
Fewer panels, more power
A 2024 system averaged 23 panels of 438 W. A 2026 system averages 19 panels of 475 W: nearly the same roof output from fewer panels.
Average panel wattage
Watts per panel fitted
2021* is a part year; 2026 is year to date and hatched.
Panels per system
Average panel count on new and replacement solar
Average system size
kW of panels on new and replacement solar (battery-only jobs excluded)
The 2025 peak reflects a run of larger three-phase systems sold alongside batteries; 2026 buyers are pairing moderate arrays with bigger storage. 2021* is a part year; 2026 is year to date and hatched.
System sizes, then and now
Share of new and replacement solar systems by size: 2021–2022 against 2025–2026
- 2021–2022
- 2025–2026
- Under 6.6 kW3%9%
- 6.6 to 9.9 kW49%34%
- 10 to 13 kW26%26%
- 13 kW and above22%31%
The 6.6 kW system that defined the last decade is losing ground at both ends: more homes are going past 13 kW, and more battery-first buyers are choosing compact arrays.
Wired for what comes next
Even homes that skip the battery today are buying hardware that expects one. And the humble hot-water timer is quietly disappearing.
Battery-ready inverters
Share of installs using a hybrid inverter that can run a battery, by year
Second-time solar
In 2024, 66% of jobs were a home's first solar system. In 2026, 76% of jobs are at homes that already had one.
What each year's jobs were
Share of residential jobs by type
- First solar system
- Replacing an old system
- Adding panels
- Adding a battery to existing solar
Replacements are roofs where an older, smaller array was removed; many date from the 1.5 kW era of the early 2010s. 2021* is a part year; 2026 is year to date and hatched.
Where the installs are
89% of jobs carry a suburb, spread over 57 council areas. South-east Queensland dominates, with pockets in regional Queensland and the NSW Central West.
Where the installs are, by council area
Share of all located installs, top 12 council areas
- Gold Coast City22.9%
- Brisbane City15.6%
- Moreton Bay City13.8%
- Logan City13.6%
- Ipswich City7.7%
- Redland City4.7%
- Sunshine Coast3.7%
- Scenic Rim2.1%
- Toowoomba2.1%
- Townsville City2.0%
- Lockyer Valley1.8%
- Somerset1.4%
Battery take-up by council, 2025–2026
Share of installs with a battery; council areas with enough recent installs to be meaningful
- Toowoomba91%
- Somerset82%
- Brisbane City81%
- Moreton Bay City81%
- Ipswich City80%
- Gold Coast City78%
- Logan City74%
- Sunshine Coast74%
- Lockyer Valley74%
- Scenic Rim68%
- Redland City66%
Toowoomba and the Ipswich corridor lead; the bayside and coastal councils trail slightly, in part because more of their jobs are smaller replacements.
Queensland and New South Wales
Side by side
- QLD
- NSW
- Share of installs
- 97%
- 3%
- Average system
- 9.8 kW
- 9.5 kW
- With battery, 2025–2026
- 78%
- 83%
- Average battery
- 20.2 kWh
- 22.3 kWh
- Three-phase homes
- 14%
- 14%
New South Wales is a small share of the sample, so treat its rates as indicative.
Busiest suburbs in 2026
Share of this year's located installs
- OrmeauGold Coast City3.6%
- MorayfieldMoreton Bay City1.7%
- NarangbaMoreton Bay City1.7%
- PimpamaGold Coast City1.4%
- FlagstoneLogan City1.4%
- Redbank PlainsIpswich City1.1%
- CornubiaLogan City1.1%
- Bracken RidgeBrisbane City1.1%
- GriffinMoreton Bay City1.1%
- RipleyIpswich City1.1%
When homes install
Installs per calendar month, indexed to 100 = an average month (2022 to 2025)
July is the peak and June the trough. Winter bills and the new financial year do more to prompt a solar quote than summer heat.
Your suburb, in numbers
Search any suburb or postcode we have installed in, sort by what matters, and see how your neighbours size their systems and whether they chose a battery.
Showing 25 of 275 suburbs with at least 3 installs (275 in total). Shares are of all located installs. Rates resting on a small sample are greyed and should be read as indicative.
Ormeau 4208 Gold Coast City | 2.5% | 2.8% | 10.0 kW | 27% | 70% | 20.9 kWh |
Upper Coomera 4209 Gold Coast City | 1.9% | 1.1% | 10.3 kW | 17% | 62% | 19.1 kWh |
Helensvale 4212 Gold Coast City | 1.1% | 0.6% | 10.3 kW | 15% | 75% | 26.0 kWh |
Pimpama 4209 Gold Coast City | 1.1% | 1.0% | 8.1 kW | 35% | 100% | 22.4 kWh |
Redbank Plains 4301 Ipswich City | 1.1% | 1.3% | 9.5 kW | 30% | 78% | 16.4 kWh |
Caboolture 4510 Moreton Bay City | 1.0% | 0.7% | 10.8 kW | 21% | 80% | 22.7 kWh |
Coomera 4209 Gold Coast City | 1.0% | 0.6% | 9.9 kW | 8% | 50% | 22.0 kWh |
Morayfield 4506 Moreton Bay City | 0.9% | 1.4% | 9.9 kW | 39% | 80% | 18.5 kWh |
Narangba 4504 Moreton Bay City | 0.9% | 1.4% | 9.8 kW | 43% | 90% | 21.4 kWh |
Pacific Pines 4211 Gold Coast City | 0.9% | 0.4% | 9.6 kW | 18% | 67% | 18.0 kWh |
Albany Creek 4035 Moreton Bay City | 0.7% | 1.0% | 9.2 kW | 28% | 71% | 21.4 kWh |
Deception Bay 4508 Moreton Bay City | 0.7% | 0.8% | 9.3 kW | 41% | 83% | 18.1 kWh |
Forest Lake 4078 Brisbane City | 0.7% | 0.6% | 9.2 kW | 22% | 100% | 26.1 kWh |
Greenbank 4124 Logan City | 0.7% | 0.8% | 10.8 kW | 35% | 100% | 16.8 kWh |
Kallangur 4503 Moreton Bay City | 0.7% | 0.6% | 8.4 kW | 18% | 75% | 15.5 kWh |
Robina 4226 Gold Coast City | 0.7% | 0.1% | 8.4 kW | 6% | 100% | 12.8 kWh |
Arundel 4214 Gold Coast City | 0.6% | 0.4% | 8.8 kW | 27% | 100% | 13.6 kWh |
Ashmore 4214 Gold Coast City | 0.6% | 0.4% | 8.4 kW | 20% | 67% | 25.1 kWh |
Bahrs Scrub 4207 Logan City | 0.6% | 0.7% | 10.8 kW | 12% | 20% | 36.8 kWh |
Brassall 4305 Ipswich City | 0.6% | 0.6% | 9.3 kW | 29% | 100% | 14.5 kWh |
Burpengary 4505 Moreton Bay City | 0.6% | 0.8% | 9.6 kW | 36% | 83% | 20.5 kWh |
Burpengary East 4505 Moreton Bay City | 0.6% | 0.7% | 10.9 kW | 38% | 100% | 21.9 kWh |
Flagstone 4280 Logan City | 0.6% | 1.1% | 8.7 kW | 53% | 88% | 28.4 kWh |
Logan Reserve 4133 Logan City | 0.6% | 0.3% | 9.7 kW | 29% | 100% | 14.8 kWh |
Maudsland 4210 Gold Coast City | 0.6% | 0.4% | 10.4 kW | 27% | 100% | 19.6 kWh |
Storage is getting cheaper per kilowatt-hour
What households pay per usable kWh of battery, after rebates, is 30% lower than in 2023. Bigger units and the federal discount both pull the figure down.
Household cost per usable kWh of storage
Index, 2023 = 100. Median out-of-pocket cost after federal and state rebates, installation included
Batteries sold as part of a single solar-plus-battery price cannot be separated out and are excluded. Shown as an index rather than dollars.
Where Australia's rooftops are heading
This report does not forecast QVolt's own numbers. The national picture is set out by the Clean Energy Council, the Clean Energy Regulator and AEMO, and it points the same way our data does.
Home battery storage connected across the National Electricity Market
Gigawatt-hours of small-scale batteries, AEMO 2026 Integrated System Plan
- April 2026installed12 GWh
- 2030forecast33 GWh
- 2050forecast78 GWh
AEMO's Step Change scenario. The Clean Energy Council estimates the 2029–30 figure could land 79% above AEMO's projection on current uptake.
Source: AEMO, 2026 Integrated System Plan
Sources: Clean Energy Council, Rooftop Solar and Storage Report, January to June 2026; Clean Energy Regulator, Quarterly Carbon Market Report and 2026 outlook; AEMO, 2026 Integrated System Plan; Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Cheaper Home Batteries Program. Figures are the publishers' own and are national unless stated.
How the report is built
- Every residential installation job completed by QVolt, with 2026 compared against each of the previous years. Commercial jobs are excluded.
- Each job is anonymised. No customer names, emails or street addresses are used; only the suburb, postcode and the equipment installed.
- System size, panel count and wattage, inverter type and grid phase come from the commissioning record lodged for each job; battery capacity is usable kWh.
- Figures are shares, averages and indices. Install volumes and prices are not published; the storage-cost series is an index of the household's out-of-pocket cost per kWh after rebates.
- Suburbs are matched to council areas using Queensland Government locality boundaries; NSW suburbs are matched by hand. 11% of jobs have no recorded suburb and sit in the totals only.
- 2026 is year to date and 2021 is a part year; both are flagged wherever they appear. Averages ignore blank cells; nothing is imputed, and nothing is projected.
Media enquiries
We can cut these figures by council, suburb or system type, supply chart files, and put a QVolt installer on the phone for comment.
Key findings to quote
- 93% of QVolt's 2026 home solar installs include a battery, up from 63% in 2025 and 14% in 2024.
- The switch happened in a single month: 54% of installs had a battery in June 2025, 92% in July 2025, the first month of the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program.
- The average battery fitted in 2026 is 23.1 kWh, roughly double the 11.4 kWh of 2024. 57% of this year's batteries are 20 kWh or larger.
- 44% of 2026 jobs are batteries added to a roof that already had solar. 76% of all jobs this year are at homes that had solar before.
- Panels have grown from an average 438 W in 2024 to 475 W in 2026, so a typical system now uses 19 panels instead of 23.
- 96% of new systems use a battery-ready hybrid inverter, up from 80% in 2024.
- Hot-water timers, once fitted on 52% of jobs (2023), are now on 4%: the battery has taken over the job of soaking up daytime solar.
- The cost of a kilowatt-hour of home storage, after rebates, is 30% lower than in 2023.
- July is the busiest month for installs (23% above an average month) and June the quietest.
About the report
What is the QVolt Rooftop Report 2026?
An annual snapshot of how households in Queensland and northern New South Wales are buying rooftop solar and batteries, built from QVolt's complete, anonymised residential installation records, with 2026 compared against the previous years.
Where does the data come from?
Every figure comes from QVolt's own installation records: the commissioning data lodged for each job and the equipment on the invoice. No customer names, emails or street addresses are used; suburbs are matched to council areas using Queensland Government locality boundaries.
Why are there no install numbers, only percentages?
The report is about what households choose, not how many jobs one company does. Every figure is a share, an average or an index, so trends can be compared year to year without publishing commercial volumes or prices.
Is this representative of all of Queensland?
No. It is one installer's book of work, weighted to south-east Queensland, so it is best read as a leading indicator of what homeowners who are buying right now choose, rather than a census of every roof in the state. Where a sample is small or a year is incomplete, the page says so.
Can journalists use these figures?
Yes. Quote them as "QVolt Rooftop Report 2026" and link to this page. For interviews, charts or a breakdown for your region, email support@qvoltsolar.com.
Looking for your own numbers? Try the solar savings calculator, check whether your street can still export to the grid, or read the learning centre.
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