Policy & Planning

Rooftop solar installs head for 3.5GW in 2021 after record start to year

Published by

Australia’s rooftop solar market is well and truly back in business, charting its second-best month – ever – for February 2021 and setting a cracking pace for installations that is already 27% ahead of the same time last year.

The latest data from industry analysts SunWiz shows a total of 285MW was installed by Australian homes and businesses over the month of February, as the industry snaps back into gear after a well-earned slow-down in January.

“The market starts with 28% higher registered volume in the first two months of the year compared to 2020,” said SunWiz managing director Warwick Johnston in his lately monthly report. “If this trend holds, 2021 will see larger capacity installed than 2020.”

Australia had a record year in 2020, adding nearly 3,000MW of rooftop solar (below 100kW) over the 12 months, despite – and in some cases because of – the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. A 28 per cent rise increase over the year would deliver more than 3.7GW over 2021.

To read the original version of this story on RenewEconomy sister site One Step Off The Grid, please click here.

Sophie Vorrath

Sophie is editor of Renew Economy and editor of its sister site, One Step Off The Grid . She is the co-host of the Solar Insiders Podcast. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.

Share
Published by

Recent Posts

“It’s an ideology:” Queensland LNP accused of deliberate strategy to kill large scale renewables

SEC says Queensland state government has deliberate policy to make renewable uninvestable, by scrapping targets,…

8 September 2026

Renewables lobby says coal generators should pay carbon price to stay open beyond stated closure dates

Smart Energy Council calls for a carbon price to be imposed on coal fired power…

8 September 2026

Biggest ever battery project – up to 4,800 megawatt hours – seeks federal and state planning approvals

State and federal planning permits sought for what could be the biggest battery project in…

7 September 2026

Decade-long tiff over using carbon credits brings Greens to debate the “Greater Glider in the room”

The debate over carbon credits and its impact on native logging has divided the Greens.…

7 September 2026

SwitchedOn Podcast: How retailers are standing in the way of cheaper power

Tim Ryan argues Australia is trying to build a 21st-century, consumer-led electricity system while preserving…

7 September 2026

Australia’s most powerful battery finally poised to reach full capacity as replacement transformer energised

The delayed Waratah Super Battery may finally be ready to reach full capacity following arrival…

7 September 2026