Solar PV providing 2.4% of Australian power generation in 2014

Installed solar PV capacity in Australia totalled 4GW at the end of 2014, and provided 2.5 per cent of the nation’s electricity generation, a new report has found.

The report, the latest annual update from the Australian PV Institute, said the nation’s market grew only slightly in 2014 – to a total installed capacity of 7.2 per cent – despite a contraction in the residential rooftop solar market, which counted more than 1.4 million rooftop systems installed at the end of the year.

Overall growth of the PV market was largely attributed to utility-scale projects like the 102MW Nyngan solar farm in NSW – one-quarter of the capacity of which was completed in 2014 – and the completion of the 24MW Royalla project in the ACT.

The year was also notable for the first private sector utility-scale installation, with the completion of Belectric’s 3MW solar farm.

The report noted that the contraction in the residential market had been offset by growth in the commercial sector – a trend that was likely to continue in 2015, as the residential market contracted further. See table below.

The report also noted that increased interest in on-site storage technologies was expected to gain more momentum in 2015 as products became more cost-effective.  Below you can see APVI’s table charting the price evolution of solar PV.