Australia Extends Solar Dominance With Panel Every 44 Seconds

(Bloomberg) -- While the Australian government has dragged its feet on committing to a net-zero climate target in one of the world’s biggest fossil fuel exporters, the nation’s 10 million households are picking up some of the slack.

More than 3 million rooftop solar systems have now been installed and 2021 is on track to be another record year, the Clean Energy Council said Tuesday. The rate of uptake means a panel is being installed every 44 seconds on average, helping consumers lower power bills, reducing pressure on the grid during the summer peak and cutting emissions, Chief Executive Officer Kane Thornton said in the statement.

“Thanks to our homeowners, Australia leads the world in per-capita uptake of solar power -- 22% higher per capita than Germany or Japan in 2020,” Warwick Johnston, managing director of industry consultant SunWiz, said in the statement. “The transformation of Australia’s carbon-intensive electricity supply has been led by households directly investing in solar power on their homes.” 

Rooftop solar accounted for 38% of demand on the National Electricity Market, which covers about 80% of Australia, on Oct. 17, according to the Clean Energy Council. 

To See a True Energy Transition Look to Australian Rooftops

Australia’s rooftop solar boom may only just be warming up, with BloombergNEF expecting total capacity to surge six-fold by 2050.

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