Australia’s rooftop solar story is no longer just about panels. It is now about storing it, not just making it and these five charts show how the boom grew, how systems got bigger, and why batteries are becoming the next big question. Hover over the charts for exact values, and click the legend to focus on each state.

1. Australia’s rooftop boom

The boom came in waves rather than a steady climb a huge early rush from 2011, a mid-decade dip, then a second wind. It has also been uneven, with New South Wales and Queensland carrying much of the national total.

2. Systems keep getting bigger

New systems are getting bigger over time, which shows households are not only adopting solar but investing more deeply in it.

3. The rooftop climb

The cumulative capacity chart shows that rooftop solar has become a major part of Australia’s energy mix, with New South Wales and Queensland each passing roughly 7 to 8 GW.

4. The battery wave begins

Battery installations are the new turning point. Since batteries became eligible in July 2025, the data shows storage starting to follow solar uptake.

5. Which states pair solar with storage

This final chart compares which states are pairing solar with storage fastest. It suggests the next phase of rooftop energy will be shaped by batteries, not just panels. (Note: batteries only became eligible in July 2025, so this compares battery installs since then against new solar systems over 2025-26.)

The bottom line

The takeaway: Australia has already won the rooftop solar race the next challenge is storing more of that power for later use. The households and states that move fastest on batteries will get the most value from the rooftop revolution.

Acknowledgement and references

Acknowledgement of AI use

I used Claude (Anthropic, 2026) to help develop the story angle, identify the data source, and scaffold and debug the R code used to produce these visualisations. I ran all the code, checked the outputs, and wrote the narrative text myself.

References

Anthropic. (2026). Claude [Large language model]. https://claude.ai

Clean Energy Regulator. (2025, September 5). Solar battery installations on the rise. https://cer.gov.au/news-and-media/news/2025/september/solar-battery-installations-rise

Clean Energy Regulator. (2026). Small-scale installation postcode data. Retrieved June 9, 2026, from https://cer.gov.au/markets/reports-and-data/small-scale-installation-postcode-data