Markets

Australian Rooftop Solar Capacity Reaches 9.48 GW

Between 2018 end and September 2019, the Australian rooftop solar market has seen new installations of around 1.38 GW as per the data released by CER. On the other hand, SunWiz consultancy told RenewEconomy that till October 2019 it has grown to 9.78 GW.

Anu Bhambhani
  • Rooftop solar PV installed capacity of Australia till September 30, 2019 was over 9.48 GW according to the country's CER
  • This capacity comes from 2,217,581 solar panels installed across the country, led by Queensland
  • As per SunWiz, with 207 MW of record new installations in October 2019, cumulative capacity of rooftop solar in Australia has reached 9.78 GW

Australian Clean Energy Regulator (CER) pegs the country's cumulative rooftop PV capacity by the end of September 2019 to have crossed 9.48 GW. This capacity has been installed using 2,217,581 solar panels. In terms of system installations, rooftop solar panels account for 65% of all small-scale renewable installations in the country.

Queensland leads the tally of states in this segment with 646,963 systems installed till the reported date, followed by New South Wales (NSW) with 506,697 panels and Victoria with 421,292 modules installed .

In 2018, Australia installed 1.55 GW rooftop solar capacity taking the cumulative to exceed 8.1 GW till year end. This means, between January 2019 till September 30, 2019 the country has already crossed 1.38 GW of new rooftop installations. Green Energy Markets in an analysis of the Australian rooftop solar market in April 2019 forecasted the segment to add 2 GW capacity in 2019 (see 2 GW Rooftop Solar For Australia In 2019).

Among the world's foremost rooftop solar markets, Australia holds potential for 179 GW of cumulative capacity additions for this segment as revealed in a study commissioned by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and Property Council of Australia (see 179 GW Rooftop Solar Potential In Australia).

Speaking to RenewEconomy, Australian solar market intelligence firm shared rooftop solar installations in the country within October 2019 reached a new record of 207 MW, taking the cumulative till October 30, 2019 to 9.78 GW with NSW being the leading state that reported 58 MW of new capacity during the month, a record monthly for any state.