According to new data from the Australian Clean Energy Regulator, Queensland still has the highest number of small-scale solar PV systems installed across the country. The state leads by a large margin and recently recorded another major milestone.
In the reports, Queenslanders have installed 500,000+ solar panel systems, surpassing the Palaszczuk Government’s halfway mark towards achieving their target of installing 1 million rooftop solar panels throughout the state by 2020.
The regulator’s data also indicates that 6,316 small-scale renewable energy systems were installed across Australia in the month of February, representing an overall generation capacity of 29,928kW.
Queensland contributed about a third in terms of numbers installed and more than one third in terms of capacity generation. So far, national installations for February tracked far higher than those recorded in January whereby 4,623 installations were done.
On the other hand, there were 196 commercial solar power systems installed across Australia in the 10-100kW capacity range during February, with Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria each accounting for 48 installations of the share.
The Clean Energy Regulator has provided the cumulative small-scale renewable energy installations nationally since 2001 as 2,678,954 systems as at the end of February this year, representing a total of 5,504,465kW worth of capacity.
Of these, 1,645,464 represent solar panels and 1,026,885 accounts for solar hot water systems and heat pumps. The difference represents small-scale wind and hydro installations.
The installation figures for February are expected to increase considering the one year grace period for preparing small-scale technology certificates, on which the CER’s data is based.
The STCs are valuable and play a vital role in determining the incentives that eventually reduce the overall cost of purchasing and installing a solar system.
When it comes to energy storage, the Regulator states that 49 solar panels registered a concurrent storage battery installation in February, bringing cumulative installation to 2,771.
The total number of solar battery installations was significantly higher when retrofits were factored in since existing solar system owners are now finding energy storage a viable solution to enhance their energy freedom and get the most from their investments in rooftop solar panels.
For more on the latest Clean Energy Regulator’s issue on “Cracking The Small Scale Code” click here and for the latest postcode data sourced across Australia click here to access or download.
