Rooftop photovoltaic and energy storage surge in Australia

Continued growth in rooftop solar and "record-breaking" investment in large-scale energy storage will allow renewables to meet nearly 40% of Australia's electricity supply needs in 2023, according to a new report from Australia's Clean Energy Council (CEC).

The "Australian Clean Energy Report 2024" shows that renewable energy accounted for 39.4% of Australia's electricity supply last year, an increase of 9.7%. This growth was driven by 5.9GW of new grid-connected clean energy power capacity, led by rooftop solar.

The CEC said that last year, Australia added 3.1GW of rooftop PV capacity, equivalent to the power generation of 337,498 homes and small businesses. Australia has long been the world's leading rooftop solar market. According to a March 2023 report from the Australian Energy Commission, distributed rooftop solar will meet 14% of Australia's electricity needs in the summer of 2022/23.

A separate report in March from solar industry consultancy SunWiz found that Australia's rooftop solar capacity had exceeded 20GW.

Kane Thornton, chief executive of the Australian Energy Council, said: "Rooftop solar accounted for 28.5% of the country's total renewable energy generation last year. This is evidence of its ability to bring added value and support to more than a third of Australia's households and small businesses. Rooftop solar has been successful when it comes to lowering electricity bills.