Over ¾ million homes in Australia now have solar.

Commentary by Prof Ray Wills, chief adviser to the Sustainable Energy Association (SEA).

The latest data from the Australian Clean Energy Regulator shows that more than 750 000 homes in Australia are now equipped with solar PV panels totalling almost 1.7 GW of installed capacity, reports the Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (SEA - www.seaaus.com.au).

With 8 million homes in Australia and existing growth trends, more than 10% of homes will have installed solar panels within the next couple of months.

Figure 1. Cumulative number of solar panels (as measured by SGUs) - data ret.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au, estimate SEA.

Installation rate of solar has slowed slightly from 2011 when more than 860 MW of solar PV was installed, but based on current trends an additional 600 MW of small scale solar capacity is likely to be added in 2012.

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Figure 2. Cumulative capacity of solar panels (kW - as measured by SGUs) - data ret.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au, estimate SEA.

Forecasting installation rates forward, Australia is likely to have a million homes with solar in around 12 months time, bringing installed capacity of small scale solar to over 2.3 GW.

Average system size continues to grow, with systems recorded for June 2012 averaging 2.84 kW, but with changes in feed in tariffs occurring around Australia, this trend looks set to reverse.

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Figure 3. Average size of solar panel installations (kW - as measured by SGUs).

Changing policy

Changes in the solar multiplier led to an accelerated installation up to June 2011, and with further staggered perturbations to the market caused by changes in feed in tariff policies in different states.

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Figure 4. Number of solar panel installations by month for States with 10000+ total installations (as measured by SGUs) (April - June 2012 data excluded as preliminary)

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Figure 5. Capacity of solar panel installations by month (as measured by SGUs) for States with 10000+ total installations (April - June 2012 data excluded as preliminary).

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Figure 6. Average size of solar panel installations by month (as measured by SGUs) for States with 10000+ total installations.

Feed in tariff policy is expressed in sudden changes in the average size of installed systems. The most dramatic impact of this seen in Western Australia where the termination of a solar feed in tariffs were announced without warning.

Queensland is now the State with the largest amount of installed solar in the nation by both number and capacity with over 475 MW on more than 209 000 installations.

Table 1. Preliminary numbers and installed capacity of solar, as measured by Small Generation Unit (SGU) certificates to 30 June 12 by State.

State	Numbers	Installed capacity (kW)
NT	1551	5140
NSW	194980	435739
VIC	128013	266736
QLD	209217	475136
SA	107544	254149
WA	104653	218914
TAS	7881	15666
Total	753839	1671480

(Note figures will continue to rise for 2011/12 due to a 12 month creation period of SGU certificates.)

All data sourced from Australian Clean Energy Regulator http://ret.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/REC-Registry/Data-reports. Data is available broken down by postcode, meaning Local Government Authorities and community groups can obtain details of how much solar is installed in their town or city.

Over ¾ million homes in Australia now have solar.

SEA Media Release - 23 July 2012