Australian rooftop solar hits 20 GW

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Rooftop solar will soon become Australia’s largest power generation source as it is set to overtake coal from April, when the Liddell coal-fired power station is scheduled to retire. The installed capacity of rooftop solar in Australia just hit the 20 GW mark, with over 3.4 million solar power systems installed on Australian households and businesses, according to analysis from the Clean Energy Regulator’s REC Registry.

“When the Liddell coal-fired power station closes in April 2023, rooftop solar will have a greater capacity than the remaining coal-fired power stations operating across the country,” says Warwick Johnston, managing director of consultancy SunWiz.

Australia leads the world in solar uptake, with over 1.2 kW of solar power per person.

“Australian solar power systems are more affordable than in any other country, so it’s understandable that we lead the world in per-capita uptake of solar,” Johnston added.

There are over 8,000 accredited solar installers in Australia, Sunwiz said, and together with their assistants and employers they install over 300,000 solar systems each year.

In addition to rooftop solar systems, there are over 11 GW of larger industrial solar power systems and grid-scale solar farms, Sunwiz found.

Solar by state: 

  • Queensland plays host to over 5.2GW of rooftop solar power, and will soon hit 1,000,000 installations.
  • NSW is the market currently installing the greatest amount of rooftop solar power each month, installing nearly 100 MW.
  • SA leads in per-household uptake, with 45% of dwellings hosting a solar power system. The national average is 31%.
  • ACT was the highest growth market in Australia in 2022.
  • Solar Victoria has been responsible for driving growth in volumes and improved standards across residential solar, energy storage systems, and small commercial PV systems.

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