US solar technology company Enphase Energy hopes to bring its rooftop systems to millions of Australian households after signing a deal with EnergyAustralia.

Enphase is targeting 2.8 million residential and commercial Energy Australia customers on the east coast as it spruiks the merits of its solar panels.

Chief executive Paul Nahi said the global energy industry was changing rapidly and solar energy storage products, which allow people to use solar energy at night, were just around the corner.

“Solar energy continues to come down in price and will for the foreseeable future,” Mr Nahi told AAP.

“The reason that you’re seeing solar propagated as much as it is and become as popular as it is, not just in Australia but the world, is because it is cheaper now in many cases than utility energy.”

Managing director of Enphase Asia Pacific Nathan Dunn said it typically took between two to three years for customers to pay back the cost of their systems.

The company plans to open a Sydney office and increase its Australian workforce to 18 in 2015 as it prepares to roll out products to the Asia Pacific region.

Enphase has already secured around six per cent of the total Australian available market and this would double by the end of 2015, he said.

“We’re not only looking at the Australian and New Zealand market, but we’ll be looking to south east Asia and beyond in the next six to 12 months,” Mr Dunn said.

Installers of Enphase’s product will be overseen by Energy Australia.

Enphase also plans to conduct a pilot program of solar energy storage in Queensland at the end of the year, with hopes to roll out systems to other states in 2016.

There are no plans for the company to list on the Australian share market.

 

By Kim Christian