Significant growth in commercial and industrial (C&I) and utility-scale installations in recent months are fueling the strong market results, according to Guy Olian, CEO of specialty decarbonisation funder, Smart Ease.
“We are witnessing a stunning boom in businesses and not-for-profits installing and funding solar. This is being driven by the combination of high electricity prices, falling solar panel costs and organisations seeking to decarbonise their operations. With $0 upfront funding options available, the business case for commercial solar is now stronger than ever. There should be no reason for an organisation not to proceed.”
Key highlights
- The STC Commercial market in Australia is surging, with a strong emphasis on systems in the 15-30kW segment. In addition, the 10-15kW segment over Sept ’23 has overtaken the 6-8kW range in popularity. This indicates a push for smaller commercial systems.
- QLD and NSW are outperforming previous years, with 15-20kW and 95-<100kW segments within the STC market proving most popular, accounting for a combined 55% of installations in the last year.
- QLD and NSW are also leading in utility-scale solar installations, with 42% and 43% of the total solar volume, respectively.
- Utility-scale solar is growing significantly, with QLD and NSW experiencing 13% and 11% growth in the last quarter (July to October 2023).
- QLD dominates the sub-100kW commercial installations, holding six of the top ten postcodes in this category.
- For larger systems (101kW to 5000kW), the suburb of Casula in Sydney’s southwest leads the nation overall.
Warwick Johnston, Managing Director of Sunwiz, notes that “on average, monthly STC-commercial volumes over 2023 are above those seen in previous years. Recent months indicate substantially higher volumes of STC-commercial systems compared to the same time in previous years. Notably, average system sizes within the STC market have also continued to grow.”
This data underscores the commitment to harnessing the potential of solar energy in Australia and suggests that the industry has recovered from the post-pandemic dip of 2022 with its trademark resilience.
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