In March 2021, Australian rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) installations came to 256 MW, a 1.2% increase compared to 253 MW in February 2021.

Australia now has 2,783,948 rooftop systems, representing 14 GW in cumulative installations, as of March 31, 2021, according to figures provided by Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator (CER).

In a year-over-year (YoY) comparison, 239 MW were added in March 2020, which was 7% lower than the current figures. CER’s primary data, which may be updated next month, suggests that the country added 131.7 MW of rooftop solar capacity in April 2021.

In 2020, Australia installed 2.8 GW of rooftop solar capacity, a 33% increase compared to 2.1 GW in 2019.

As per the preliminary numbers released by CER for April 2021, the country has a total of nearly 4.12 million small-scale installations as of April 30.

In terms of small solar generation capacity, the country added nearly 108 MW of capacity in April 2021. New South Wales led the way with 34.79 MW, followed by Queensland with 26.21 MW, and Victoria adding 20.77 MW. Of the eight regions, the Northern Territory lagged with 3.44 MW.

As regards solar water heater and air source heat pumps, the total capacity added for April touched 16 MW. In this segment, Victoria’s capacity additions stood out with 8 MW. Queensland and Western Australia added 2.85 MW and 2.19 MW, respectively.

Australia installed a total capacity of nearly 2 MW of solar PV systems with battery storage capacity as of April 2021. In this category, New South Wales’ installation capacity stood at 529 kW, with South Australia coming a close second with 524 kW. While Victoria bagged the third spot with 364 kW of capacity, Tasmania trailed behind with 26 kW.

Meanwhile, the government of the Australian state of New South Wales has simplified the process to install renewable energy systems in strata buildings through the passage of new amendments in the Parliament.

The strata committees now require only 50% of owners to agree to install renewable energy systems in their apartment buildings. A strata scheme is a building or group of buildings that are divided into ‘lots’ which may be individual apartments, office, industrial, commercial or retail units, townhouses, or houses.

Similarly, the Australian state of Victoria is investing $797 million to help citizens cover their electricity bill costs and make their homes more energy-efficient.

“The Victorian budget 2020/21 will deliver the biggest household energy efficiency package in any state’s history, creating thousands of jobs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said its energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio, in November 2020.