CER

Australian households delivered a record year for rooftop solar PV in 2020 with more than 350,000 small-scale solar systems totalling 3 GW installed across the country and the rapid growth shows no signs of slowing with the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) tipping another 4 GW could be installed before the end of 2021.

With increasing numbers of decommissioned solar PV modules threatening a waste management nightmare, researchers at the University of South Australia are spearheading a national push to establish a stewardship scheme designed to manage the impacts of PV systems through their life cycle.

Australia’s largest energy retailer, AGL, is working towards net-zero emissions by 2050 but it can not come soon enough for some with new government data revealing the energy giant is the nation’s biggest polluter, emitting more than 42 million tonnes of carbon emissions in the past year.

The rise and rise of rooftop solar PV has established Australia as a renewable energy powerhouse with new figures from the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) revealing the nation achieved a record in renewable capacity in 2020.

Reports emerged on Tuesday that Federal Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor had requested a review of Australia’s rooftop solar sector, citing integrity concerns. An important message comes from the Clean Energy Council as it warns against an Abbott-era political intervention that could harm the industry.

A new report from the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) shows that the renewable energy sector in Australia has exhibited resilience with 1.3 GW of new installed capacity despite the economic challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. While rooftop PV continued to thrive in the first three months of this year, the construction of large-scale projects was generally on track with minimal delays.

The Clean Energy Regulator has confirmed it has approved enough capacity to meet the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET). While this is a great achievement for the renewables industry, the question remains what comes beyond 2020. Although analysts expect a slow down, ANU researchers find the record installation rates will see Australia surpass the scrapped target of 41,000 GWh of renewable energy generation around the end of 2020.

With more than 360 power stations accredited with a cumulative capacity of 3,376 MW, the Clean Energy Regulator says 2018 was a record year for Australia’s large-scale renewable capacity additions.

With a combined capacity of 667 MW, September has set a new record high for the number of accredited projects in a single month, show the latest data released by the Clean Energy Regulator. Almost all of the new capacity comes from large scale solar.

The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) has released figures showing that the number of small-scale renewable energy installs has passed the 3 million milestone, with rooftop solar accounting for 63% of the total.