Australia’s hottest rooftop solar suburbs – and the millions still missing out

One Step Off The Grid

With rooftop solar still booming all around the country, it’s that time of year to look at which parts of Australia are embracing PV self-generation the most enthusiastically.

The Clean Energy Council has done its annual tally, as part of its latest Clean Energy Australia report, and come up with a list of the top ten solar postcodes around the country, according to the total number of rooftop installations.

Not surprisingly, Queensland stars on this metric, occupying six spots in the top 10 including the number one solar postcode for the country, which is the coastal town of Bundaberg – about half-way between the Sunshine Coast and Rockhampton.

According to the CEA 2019 report – and as you can see in the chart below – Bundaberg currently boasts 12,620 installations, amounting to 47,510kW of rooftop solar capacity.

It is followed by the Western Australian suburb of Mandurah, on that state’s southern coast, with 12,276 installations and a total of 37,315kW capacity.

Queensland makes up the next three rankings, with Hervey Bay (1,387 installations, 39,674kW), Caloundra (9956 installations, 32,177kW) and Toowoomba (9386 installations, 36,147kW).

Sixth is Wangara and Wanneroo in W.A. with 9350 installations (37,247kW), followed by Nerang and Carrara in Queensland in 7th place with 8208 installations (31,667kW), and Mackay in Queensland in 8th spot with 8091 installations (38,194kW).

Victoria finally rates a mention in spot 9, with the south-eastern suburb of Cranbourne with 7936 installations (28,453kW). And Western Australia’s Armadale rounds off the list with 7923 installations (29,943kW).

The top solar suburb in New South Wales, which does not crack the top 10, is Lismore, with
6320 installations (22,867kW). The ACT’s top postcode is Macgregor, with 2712 installations (9408kW).

In South Australia, the most rooftop solar is installed in Morphett Vale, with 5326 systems (17,057kW); in Tasmania, the hotspot is Launceston 2829 installations (11,386kW); and in the Northern Territory, Alice Springs tops the rankings with 1974 installations (10,617kW).

All this is good news – and a heads up to those politicians chasing the all-important Queensland vote, that it takes all sorts to embrace clean energy technology.

But a second report from the Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets and the School of Photovoltaics and Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of New South Wales has noted that not all households are able to get in on the rooftop solar party.

That report – a summary of the key findings from a three-year project funded by Energy Consumers Australia – finds that the 10 per cent of Australians who live in some 1.4 million apartments are still missing out on cheap, clean energy.

To read the full story on RenewEconomy sister site One Step Off The Grid, click here…