rooftop solar

Over 3.4 million Australian houses now have rooftop solar, often subsidised by government incentives. But in remote First Nations communities in the Northern Territory, you don’t see solar on any rooftops. That’s a real problem.

Australia’s energy transition is well under way. Some 3 million households have rooftop solar and sales of medium-sized electric cars are surging. But as we work towards fully electric households powered by renewable energy, have we overlooked a key enabling technology, the humble electric water heater?

Large-scale and rooftop solar installations are expected to contribute a record 286 GW of new generation capacity this year with renewable energy on course to shatter global deployment records in 2023.

The rise of rooftop solar in Victoria will see all new inverters installed under the state government’s solar and battery rebate programs soon required to be technically capable of remotely updating and enacting dynamic export limits to allow network companies to manage the export of rooftop solar back in to the grid.

The rollout of rooftop solar in the coastal town of Broome in northern Western Australia has received a major boost with a 274.45 kW PV system installed at the local high school as the state government continues its push to deliver solar energy solutions for its remote and regional schools.

The first large-scale battery storage project connected to Western Australia’s main grid has only just commenced operational testing and already plans are in place to build an even bigger battery at the site as the state government seeks to harness surging rooftop solar resources to meet its power needs as it prepares to dump coal power.

The shift from fossil fuels to renewables in Australia’s top end has taken a significant step forward with pre-commission testing having commenced on the 35 MW/35 MWh Darwin-Katherine Battery Energy Storage System that will support further uptake of solar among households and businesses in the Northern Territory.

There were an estimated 100 million individual solar panels in Australia at the end of 2022. We estimate this number will likely grow to over 2 billion if we are to meet Australia’s 2050 net-zero emissions target. This growth means Australia is facing a 450,000-tonne mountain of used PV panels by 2040.

Chinese solar and storage technology manufacturer Sungrow has strengthened its commitment in Australia, inking new distribution agreements that will deliver at least 550 MWh of the company’s energy storage system solutions and 250 MW of its inverters into the Australian market.

Chinese solar module maker Risen Energy has launched two new n-type panels into the Australian market, targeting both the rooftop and large-scale PV markets.