Australia adds another 75MW rooftop solar in November

Australian households and businesses have added another 75MW of rooftop solar in the month of November, taking the total for 2014 for the first 11 months to 657MW.

Data released by Green Energy Markets shows that Queensland remains the top state for installations, with another 18MW in November and an 11-month total of 222MW, closely followed (on the latest monthly totals) by NSW and Victoria.

All up, a total of 170,000 systems have been added this year, maintaining the monthly average of more than 15,000 new homes switching to rooftop solar each month. On top of this, a total of 54,000 homes in Australia have added solar hot water so far this year. Some homes may have doubled up.

The latest month also included some interesting new large-scale solar projects, including a 325kW system at the Alice Springs Airport car park Solar, a 210kW system on the Mars Chocolate Australia facility in Victoria, and a 198kW facility on the roof of Wodonga rendering in the twin town of Albury-Wodonga.

But that was the sum total of large scale renewable energy developments in Australia, 723kW – at a time when the country should be adding around 100MW a month to meet its 41,000GWh target. But the Abbott governments attempts to slash the target has put paid to any investment in the interim.