Australian Rooftop Solar Breaks New Ground In 2022: Clean Energy Australia Report

In 2022, rooftop solar accounted for more than a quarter, or 25.8 per cent, of total Australian renewable energy generation."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. 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," said Clean Energy Council Chief Executive, Kane Thornton.Another 310,352 households and small businesses installed a rooftop solar system in 2022, with over approximately 3.4 million Australian homes now helping to reduce pressure on the energy grid during the summer peak and playing a pivotal role in keeping local economies moving."There were challenges for the industry in 2022, but our workforce showed its resilience in the face of higher polysilicon prices, a reduction in subsidies and other supply chain issues,” said Thornton."The number of Clean Energy Council-accredited designers and installers also continued to grow for the seventh year running, with 8988 individuals demonstrating industry best practice standards, producing safe, reliable systems and meeting customer expectations."If Australia is chasing a target of 82 per cent renewable energy generation by 2030, the good news is that rooftop solar is continuing to do the heavy lifting adding around 3.5 TWh per year. The challenge is now to maintain this pace right through to 2030. Low-cost renewable power and energy storage will ultimately ease cost-of-living pressures and help set up Australia for a more prosperous future with greater energy security."Key stats from the Clean Energy Australia 2023 Report:Rooftop solar provided more than a quarter (25.8 per cent) of total Australian renewable generation in 2022.New capacity added totalled 2.7 GW from 310,352 new rooftop solar installations.The average solar system size continued its trend of increasing year-on-year, rising from 8.79 kW in 2021 to 8.84 kW in 2022.Estimates suggest over 50,000 household battery systems were installed in 2022, up from 34,731 in 2021.The number of Clean Energy Council-accredited designers and installers grew by 3.5 per cent to 8988.