Queensland has just reached a new solar milestone, with Clean Energy Regulator data showing 900,000 small-scale solar PV installations have now been completed around the Sunshine State.
The data also shows that Queensland’s rooftop solar capacity has reached close to a staggering 5,000MW—a capacity almost three times larger than the state’s biggest coal generator.
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Queensland leads the country in the uptake of rooftop solar and New South Wales comes in second place with close to 820,000 installations.
“We saw in the Federal Budget that electricity prices are tipped to grow by more than 50 per cent over the next two years, largely due to skyrocketing global coal and gas prices off the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Solar Citizens deputy director Stephanie Gray said.
“Queenslanders, and Australians all across the country, are investing in rooftop solar as a guaranteed way to take back control of electricity prices by generating their own cheap electricity.
“Last year was a record-breaking growth year for solar as Queenslanders installed 90,000 systems. With fossil fuels tipped to keep electricity prices high, it’s a sure bet that rooftop solar uptake will continue to grow.”
This solar milestone comes as Energy Queensland recently released the results of its 2022 Queensland Household Energy Survey that had over 4,000 respondents.
The survey found that 42% of people had solar installed on their property, and 26% were looking to install solar or upgrade their solar system in the next three years. Of those with solar PV installed, 15% also had a battery.
When asked why they installed solar or why they’d like to, the majority of people (61%) said it was to reduce the size of their bill.
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“In this survey 47% of people said the main barrier to installing solar is that they rent. Approximately a third of Queenslanders live in rental properties, so as skyrocketing global coal and gas prices keep pushing our bills up, it’s really vital that governments urgently implement schemes to make cheap solar electricity available to renters,” Gray said.
Solar Citizens is calling on the Queensland Government to urgently expand their previous Solar for Rentals trial, which saw close to 700 participating rental properties save an average of $600 per year.
