THE PV MARKET
Spreading sunshine By all accounts the PV market in 2020 was spectacular, records tumbled as rooftop installations rose. Just what was achieved last year and what’s in store this year and beyond?
ACCORDING TO THE CLEAN ENERGY REGULATOR Australia notched up an additional 7GW of new renewable (solar and wind) capacity in 2020, a very healthy rise of 11 per cent on 2019’s figure of 6.3GW, and thanks predominantly to record investments in rooftop PV. Green Energy Markets reported that year-to-date installed capacity at end December was 2,952MW; 40 per cent above the same time the previous year (2,111MW) and 88 per cent above 2018 (1,570MW). In all during 2020 renewables generated a mighty 53TWh and rooftop PV capacity came in at 13GW. Australia is in a leading role, deploying new renewable energy ten times faster per capita than global averages and four times faster than households in US, Europe, China or Japan. Such momentum has sharpened the focus of global suppliers, an increasing number of whom are justifiably choosing Australia as the ideal launch pad for their latest products and services. Keeping a close watch on all developments is Warwick Johnston of SunWiz, aptly dubbed the solar ‘Woracle’ for his insights and projections that he generously shares with Smart Energy Council members during Market Intelligence webinars.
2020 End of Year Tally (STC) (Courtesy SunWiz)
He recently reported that all up a record 5GW of solar PV was installed in 2020, 3GW of which was in the small-scale <100kW (STC) PV market and the balance in the commercial, industrial and utility sector. This lifted the cumulative tally by one-third to 20GW and brought Australia’s solar capacity to 25 per cent. All the more remarkable in the pandemic year. “But we are just getting started” Warwick enthused, crediting the entire industry for their contributions to the impressive tally. The year ended particularly well, December 2020 was a record month. All states produced record volumes but NSW pipped all, in a single month installing more rooftop PV than that of the entire country back in 2008. After a few fraught months Victoria experienced a healthy post-lockdown rebound with pent up demand from households kicking in. As illustrated in the SunWiz charts below, rooftop PV showed outstanding growth of 39 per cent in a single year. That’s on the back of already impressive growth of 33 per cent over the four preceding years. Should Australia maintain the recent pace of growth, renewables could reach 100 per cent by the end of the
States (STC) - Volume (Courtesy SunWiz)
ACT - 1% WA 10% NSW 38%
VIC 23%
TAS - 0%
Average System Size (STC) (Courtesy SunWiz)
24 AUTUMN 2021
SA 7%
QLD 20%
NT - 1%
Combined STC & LGC Solar Market by State 2020 Registered/Commissioned (Courtesy SunWiz)
