Australia installed 2.8 GW of rooftop solar capacity in 2020, a 33% increase compared to 2.1 GW in 2019, according to data released by the country’s Clean Energy Regulator (CER).

The country installed 258 MW of rooftop solar capacity in December 2020, a marginal increase compared to 255 MW in the same period last year. In November 2020, the country installed 249 MW of rooftop solar capacity.

As of December 2020, Australia’s cumulative installed rooftop solar capacity stood at 12.45 GW. It had about 10.22 GW of cumulative installed rooftop solar capacity at the end of 2019, 7.97 GW at the end of 2018, and 6.47 GW at the end of 2017.

The country has installed 2,693,383 rooftop solar systems as of January 31, 2021. In terms of small solar generation units, New South Wales led the way with 107,605 installations. It was followed by Queensland and Victoria, with the installation of 85,799 and 69,396 units, respectively. Tasmania and the Northern Territory installed the lowest number of units with 3,245 and 3,087 units, respectively.

Australia added 424 small wind generation units with an output amounting to 1.4 MW and 20 hydropower generation units with 51 kW output. It also installed 1,297,273 solar water heaters, of which 304,201 were air-source heat pumps.

Victoria installed the most solar water heaters with 32,768 installations, followed by Queensland with 11,241 units. Tasmania and the Northern Territory installed the fewest units with 1,126 and 856 installations, respectively.

According to CER’s data, the country installed 8,869 units of solar systems with concurrent battery storage capacity in 2020, of which 3,605 units were installed by the state of South Australia. New South Wales followed with 1,708 installations.

Last month, the government of New South Wales simplified the process to install renewable energy systems in strata buildings through the passage of new amendments in the Parliament.

Mercom had earlier reported that Victoria would invest $797 million to help citizens cover their electricity bill costs and make homes more energy efficient. Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said that the government would provide $191 million to expand its solar homes program.

Harsh Shukla is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Previously with Indian Express, he has covered general interest stories. He holds a Masters Degree in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.

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