Australia Continues To Put Up Solar Energy At Record Pace As Retail Electricity Prices Remain Too High

The distorted electricity market in Australia is the biggest factor in the record pace of solar installations being seen in the country. Australia racked up more than 1 GW in solar capacity in 2017 with most of the installation being less than 10 kW in size. Unlike other countries, Australia has built most of its solar energy capacity through small rooftop solar installations. Australia has seen electricity prices rise by an astounding 90% over the last 10 years with the deregulation of the power markets hurting the customers. With an average electricity bill of more than $1300, it makes a huge amount of sense for Australians to go solar replacing the high grid power prices. The Big 3 Australian utilities have managed to keep the prices of power very high even though the retail markets are deregulated. With limited competition and choices, power prices remain high for customers.

The new National Energy Guarantee scheme does not seem to seriously reform the oligopolistic power sector with limited inputs on how the power requirements of Australian consumers will be met in future. Despite Australia possessing huge resources in terms of coal and gas, power prices remain high for end users. This is due to high prices being charged by retailers and the high fixed costs of the transmission and distribution. With rooftop solar and energy storage, consumers can bypass most of these high costs. Even with low to zero feed-in tariff subsidies for solar energy, it makes sense for consumers in Australia to switch to solar energy.

Apart from residential solar rooftop installations, new business models such as community solar projects are also seeing a rapid uptake in Australia. These projects help provide solar to low-income consumers and those who cannot afford the high upfront costs. Microgrids are also gaining traction in areas where there is an absence of the power grid. Storage is already making a deep impact as it substantially decreases the reliance on the grid for solar energy systems.

Rising wholesale prices will result in another 10% increase in power prices to consumers by June next year for New South Wales residents. This means that they will be paying another $150 per year for power costs. With solar power systems available at a cheap price, it makes sense for NSW consumers to move towards solar rooftop systems if they have not done so. With a price security of 25 years and abundant sunshine, it looks difficult for them to be wrong about their solar choice