CER

The average size of rooftop solar systems installed in Australia has climbed to a new high with data analysis from the Australian Energy Council showing the typical unit size is now averaging more than 9 kW.

Trina Solar has been given a green light by Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator, more than three years after finding the company had made a solar panel certification mistake which raised questions over manufacturing standards.

Discount supermarket giant Aldi plans to add another 34 MWp of PV to its rooftop solar network in Australia within the next 18 months after announcing that its transition to 100% renewable electricity has received the stamp of approval from the federal government’s Clean Energy Regulator.

The Clean Energy Regulator is calling for applications from individuals and organisations to serve as the product listing body that will be responsible for publishing and maintaining lists of approved solar panels and inverters eligible for use in Australia’s solar rebate program.

Following consultations with industry stakeholders, Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator will open an application process to decide which organisation will list approved solar panel and inverter equipment lists in future, part of a major overhaul to the industry.

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator has this week executed search warrants on several residential and commercial addresses connected to a Perth-based solar PV retail and installation business as part of an investigation into a potential $1.5 million solar panel fraud.

The Clean Energy Regulator has outlined the second round of changes coming to Australia’s solar rebate program, the small-scale renewable energy scheme (SRES). They primarily involve changing which body will manage solar designer and installer accreditations and who will publish approved solar panel and inverter equipment lists – both of which have formerly been the remit of the Clean Energy Council.

Australia’s uptake of rooftop solar is one of the highest in the world with more than 30% of free-standing households across the nation now fitted with a PV system but the Clean Energy Regulator has revealed a “steep decline” in the number of installations in early 2022 with deteriorating economics playing a major part.

A Western Australian solar PV company is being investigated by the Clean Energy Regulator amid concerns it falsified information relating to more than 500 solar panel installations that created about $1.7 million in Small-scale Technology Certificates.

Australia has one of the highest per-capita rooftop solar PV installation rates in the world with more than 16GW installed across more than 3 million households but the head of Australian research at U.S.-based analyst Bloomberg New Energy Finance has forecast a drop off in new installations in 2022.