Revealed: NSW best and worst suburbs for solar uptake

The best and worst suburbs for solar uptake in NSW have been revealed with western Sydney residents up to 87 per more likely to have solar power or battery storage compared to their city counterparts. Here’s why.

Photovoltaic installations by LGA. Picture: Australian PV Institute

The best and worst suburbs for solar uptake in NSW have been revealed with western Sydney residents up to 87 per more likely to have solar power or battery storage compared to their city counterparts.

New data from the Clean Energy Regulator has shown regional areas and outer Sydney suburbs are the quickest to embrace solar power ahead of inner-city suburbs such as Ultimo and Darlinghurst.

VoltX Energy chief operating officer, David Sedighi, said established older dwellings were failing to take advantage of energy savings compared to newer homes.

Mr Sedighi said this pattern was partly attributed to water and energy reduction targets mandated for new home constructions under the Building Sustainability Index (BASIX).

It comes as the NSW government prepares to introduce a $1600 rebate for battery storage systems from November 1 in response to the “sun tax” and high energy bills.

“Demand for batteries is expected to surge as rebates become available making them more affordable than ever before,” Mr Sedighi said.

“The so-called ‘sun-tax’, where energy providers charge customers a tariff for rooftop solar exported to its network, will also drive demand for batteries.”

St George father of three John Kritikos, 43, installed solar panels four years ago and is considering the battery storage uptake to cope with blackouts in his area.

Western Sydney residents are up to 87 per more likely to have solar power or battery storage systems compared to their inner-city residents. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

John Kritikos and his family already have solar panels on their southern Sydney home. Picture: Supplied

“The solar will be charging the batteries, and in the evening or when the sun’s no longer shining, I’ll be getting my electricity from the battery … just to have that additional safety net,” he said.

“When I first got solar panels four years ago … (feeding tariffs) to send your electricity back to the grid from your solar was approximately 20 to 30 cents, depending on the supply that you went with. Now you’d be lucky to get five cents a kilowatt.

“If I’m not using the electricity, and I’m sending it back to the grid for pretty much nothing, I would prefer to have it and use it at a later date.”

The battery rebate will come at a time when 3.2 million – or 32 per cent – of Australian households have rooftop solar panels installed with 885,000 installations in NSW alone.