Energy Consumers Australia undertook research into the lived experience of households who had considered, and are considering, investing in solar and battery storage technologies to inform energy market and policy development.

Financial considerations were the primary driver with 92% saying they installed solar to reduce energy bills. Many said solar feed-in tariffs (80%) or government grants (74%) were also a factor in their decision to invest. But the second biggest motivator was clearly a desire to become less dependent on traditional energy companies and ‘the grid’ (82%), while protecting the environment ranked fifth (72%).

The results for batteries were similar, with reducing energy bills (73%) and reducing energy dependence (76%) on the grid the key reasons for installing or considering battery storage.

The survey of 1821 households with solar PV by UMR Research found that most consumers were satisfied with their solar systems. UMR Research also surveyed 630 households without solar to understand their motivations and barriers to installing solar systems.

The report by KPMG for Energy Consumers Australia, Residential PV: Customer experiences and future developments analysed the outcomes for residential solar PV customers and explored future developments linked to battery storage, and advise where changes might be required to achieve better outcomes for consumers.

Our media release for the launch of the research is available here.