A recent report from the Clean Energy Council (CEC) has revealed that rooftop solar now accounts for 11.2 per cent of the country’s electricity supply.
The Clean Energy Council’s ‘Rooftop Solar and Storage Report’ found that rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system installations reached a total capacity of 20 gigawatt (GW) across Australia in 2023.
This rapid growth was driven by both households and businesses increasingly turning to rooftop solar.
New South Wales broke the record for the highest annual installed capacity of any state, with 970MW of new rooftop solar systems installed in 2023. Meanwhile, Queensland became the first state to surpass one million rooftop solar installations during the year.
“The sheer scale and pace of rooftop solar in Australia is unparalleled anywhere else in the world, due to an abundance of sunshine and the inherent benefits including lower energy bills and feed-in tariffs,” CEC Policy Director of Distributed Energy Con Hristodoulidis said.
Last year saw 2.9GW of new rooftop solar capacity installed from 314,507 units, marking the second-biggest year for rooftop solar uptake. This solidified its position as the second-largest source of renewable generation and the fourth-largest source of all electricity generation in Australia.
“More than three million Australians understand that their rooftop solar systems are providing them with substantial savings, greater value and peace of mind,” Hristodoulidis said.
The report also found that 57,000 behind-the-metre batteries were installed in 2023. Hristodoulidis noted that the combination of rooftop solar and home batteries gives households even more control over their energy costs and the ability to support Australia’s transition to renewable power.
“It is clear that now is the time to back home batteries, build on their growing popularity among households and write the next chapter of Australia’s solar success story,” he said.
The CEC has called for a national Home Battery Saver Program of up to $6500 per household to further drive the uptake of battery storage and provide more Australians with cost-of-living relief.
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