Rooftop solar providing 7.4% of demand in south-east Queensland

Rooftop solar PV is now accounting for around 7.4 per cent of total demand in the south-east corner of Queensland, including Brisbane and the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.

The figure is a mixture of metered output and a “guesstimate” of how much solar is being “self consumed” by solar households. The local network operator Energex estimates that its more than 1,000MW of rooftop generates 1,690GWh a year, around 7.4 per cent of the total 22,850GWh on its grid.

This graph shows the rapid growth of solar in the top left graph, something we have reported on before. The blue bars represent those on premium feed in tariffs (44c/kWh), while the red bars shows those who have taken solar since that tariff was closed to new customer, or who have sold their homes or upgraded their systems.

In some areas of the network, more than 40 per cent of customers have rooftop solar PV. Those areas are marked in red on the map to the right. Orange indicates between 30 and 40 per cent, and green indicates less than 15 per cent.

In the whole state, including the Ergon network, rooftop solar now accounts for 1.45GW, making it the second biggest power station by capacity in the state. The Labor government plans to double that capacity by 2020.

See also out story: Have Queensland solar households really sold out on their environmental goals?