Australia Will Add 2.6GW New Installed Rooftop PV Capacity in 2020

The latest data provided by CER shows that last year Australia installed an estimated of 7.0GW of renewable energy capacity, 11% higher than the record level of 6.3 GW set in 2019.

In December, 2020, CER’s Carbon Market Quarterly Report showed that the National Electricity Market (NEM) generated a record 53.6 TWh of electricity, an increase of 16% over the previous year. The report also emphasized that in the last quarter of 2020, the share of renewable energy in NEM exceeded 30%.

1. The widespread application of home solar PV system has fueled the growth

The key to the record growth is the country's widespread acceptance of  home solar PV system. The latest Solar Energy Report of the Australian Energy Council (AEC) confirmed the record growth in solar photovoltaic power generation capacity and solar PV panel installation in 2020.

AEC CEO Sarah McNamara said that despite the setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia’s rooftop solar photovoltaic market is still performing well, adding 2.6GW of installed capacity and 333,978 units during the year, 18% higher (2.2 GW and 284,000 installed capacity) both in terms of capacity and installed capacity than that of 2019.

McNamara said that by the end of 2020, there will be more than 2.66 million Australian households and businesses that have home solar PV system for their homes. Since consumers can register for installation within 12 months at most, this number is expected to rise.

"Overall, the number of installations in April 2020 has dropped significantly, which signifies the impact of COVID-19. Since then, the general trend has continued to increase." She said.

2. The number of solar PV panel installation is growing rapidly

New South Wales is in a leading position in 2020 with new installed capacity increasing by 36%, leading to increase in NEM by 208 MW and a success in  australian government renewable energy target

Western Australia has also achieved amazing growth, with new installed capacity increasing by 24%, adding 60 megawatts to the wholesale electricity market (WEM), and the number of new installations increasing by 22%.

AEC said that 2020 will also be a strong year for battery installation in rooftop home solar photovoltaic systems. Queensland led this trend with a 32% market share in 2019, and was replaced by South Australia with a 42% share last year.

Although the growth has caused some concerns, especially with regard to grid security, Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor (Angus Taylor) said that the latest data have cemented Australia's reputation as a renewable energy power station.

Taylor said that Australia is the country that absorbs the most solar energy in the world with a quarter of households using home solar photovoltaic systems, and owns the highest wind and solar capacity among all non-European countries.

Taylor said, "In 2019, the rate of new renewable energy deployment in Australia per person is at least 10 times larger than the global average, four times than that of China, Europe or the United States."

"In 2020, Australia's investment in renewable energy is 7.7 billion Australian dollars or 299 Australian dollars per capita. This puts us ahead of countries such as Canada, Germany, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and the United States on a per capita basis." It is expected to continue to invest heavily in the Australian government renewable energy target. Australia is expected to deploy another 24GW of rooftop solar by 2030, which will triple Australia's small-scale solar power generation capacity in the past decade.