Solar energy output in the electricity grid has broken a new quarterly record, pushing daytime power prices down with it, according to a report from the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).
Large-scale solar energy output, like that delivered from solar farms, was found to have increased by 11% from the October-December 2022 quarter. This quarter had previously held the record for the highest amount of solar output.
Not only was solar output broken at a quarterly level, but the AER also found that output had increased by 22% year-on-year and accounted for 9% of the total generation mix for the past quarter.
Alongside large-scale solar energy output, rooftop solar also achieved a new record output for the quarter.
The AER’s report coincides with the release of Clean Energy Australia’s 2023 report, which also noted a milestone in solar energy generation over 2022. Clean Energy Australia is one of the peak bodies for the Australian clean energy industry.
According to its report, rooftop solar provided more than a quarter (25.8%) of Australia’s total renewable generation in 2022 and 9.3% of the country’s total energy generation last year.
Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton said it showed that solar, particularly rooftop solar, continues to drive renewable energy change in Australia.
“Rooftop solar is playing a massive role in decarbonising the Australian energy grid and putting us on the path to 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030,” he said. “While much of the political and big policy debates are taking place for other renewable energy industries – all of which are vitally important – rooftop solar has been doing and continues to do a lot of the heavy lifting.”
The increase in solar energy generation was also attributed by the AER as thedriving force behind a recent stabilisation of wholesale energy prices, alongside the government’s price cap interventions for coal and natural gas.
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How much has rooftop solar grown in Australia?
According to Clean Energy Australia’s latest report there are now approximately 3.4 million Australian households with rooftop solar installed.
In 2022, 310,352 households and small businesses installed rooftop solar, accounting for about 2.7 gigawatts of solar energy generation added to the grid.
While installation numbers were down year-on-year in most states and territories,the average system size installeddid jump to 8.84kW in 2022. This was up from 8.79kW the previous year.
It was also estimated that over 50,000 household battery systems were installed in 2022. This was also up from the 34,731 systems installed in 2021.
The small dip in the number of solar installations from 2021 to 2022 was attributed by Clean Energy Australia to a combination of factors, including increasing prices around the middle of the year, unusually poor weather in many states, and supply chain issues.
However, as prices began to skyrocket further throughout the year, Clean Energy Australianoted that there was a renewed interest in solar installations, as households looked for ways to offset soaring costs.
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这里有一些最便宜的solar-specific交易from the retailers on our database. These costs are based on the Ausgrid network in Sydney but prices will vary depending on your circumstances. We show one product per retailer, listed in order of lowest price first. Annual price estimates assume general energy usage of 3900kWh/year for a residential customer on a single rate tariff. Price estimates exclude solar feed-in tariff credits. These are products from referral partners†. Our database may not cover all deals in your area, and please check retailer websites for up to date information.
这里有一些最便宜的solar-specific交易from the retailers on our database. These costs are based on the Citipower network in Melbourne but prices will vary depending on your circumstances. We show one product per retailer, listed in order of lowest price first. Annual price estimates assume general energy usage of 4000kWh/year for a residential customer on a single rate tariff. Price estimates exclude solar feed-in tariff credits. These are products from referral partners†. Our database may not cover all deals in your area, and please check retailer websites for up to date information.
这里有一些最便宜的solar-specific交易from the retailers on our database. These costs are based on the Energex network in Brisbane but prices will vary depending on your circumstances. We show one product per retailer, listed in order of lowest price first. Annual price estimates assume general energy usage of 4600kWh/year for a residential customer on a single rate tariff. Price estimates exclude solar feed-in tariff credits. These are products from referral partners†. Our database may not cover all deals in your area, and please check retailer websites for up to date information.
这里有一些最便宜的solar-specific交易from the retailers on our database. These costs are based on SA Power network in Adelaide but prices will vary depending on your circumstances. We show one product per retailer, listed in order of lowest price first. Annual price estimates assume general energy usage of 4000kWh/year for a residential customer on a single rate tariff. Price estimates exclude solar feed-in tariff credits. These are products from referral partners†. Our database may not cover all deals in your area, and please check retailer websites for up to date information.
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