Solar+Storage in Australia
Australia is going to witness some of the largest product launches set to revolutionize the energy space globally. It has been predicted that solar+storage will become so cheap in the near future that it will make complete sense to install solar panels economically too. Australia has been the home to a large number of rooftop installations, owing to its attractive feed in tariffs in the past.
It has been said that increasing penetration of solar and storage in Australia have caused large scale generators to shut down. Rooftop annual energy generation is forecast to reach ~6,350 GWh by 2020 and over 15,400 GWh by 2031. Australia’s solar bonus scheme or solar credits caused major interest in solar installations. In 2007 the government set that 20% of Australia’s electricity supply, would come from renewable energy sources by 2020, through the national Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme.
Australia receives the highest solar radiation and has got one of the highest per capita emissions of GHG in the world, which makes it more obvious to go solar! Though the continent underwent a slowdown in new solar installations in the last couple of years, Australia already has the largest number of rooftop installations per individual, when compared to the whole world. I still think the number is small, given the high radiation in Australia. But Australia is still not generating a very high proportion of their total electricity requirement from solar.
It might also surprise you to know that nearly 15% of Australian households have solar panels on their roofs. That’s the highest number of solar panels on people’s roofs per capita anywhere in the world. – Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg, speaking on Q&A on March 22, 2106.
Source: Conversation
Australia has a relatively larger number of residential rooftop installations owing to a number of reasons like large number of owned properties, huge open spaces with high solar radiation, high residential electricity prices and of course government support in the form of various schemes and FiTs. Most of the PV systems in Australia are small-scale rooftop installations. This makes Australia an excellent location for the launch of battery storage products. Tesla, Enphase, LG, Redflow and many others are thus eyeing Australia as a key market to launch their storage solutions. Tesla is targeting Australian farmers with its storage products. Enphase Energy is looking at selling 70000 batteries in Australia in one year.
“I’ll consider more panels and another battery in a few years. I have absolutely no regrets,” said Mr Pfitzner who was the first person in Australia to install Tesla’s Powerwall.
Source: ABC
