Back الطاقة الشمسية في أستراليا Arabic Energía solar en Australia Spanish Énergie solaire en Australie French Tenaga surya di Australia ID Energjia diellore në Australi Albanian

Solar power in Australia

Broken Hill Solar Plant, New South Wales, 2016
Solar car park installed in a commercial shopping centre, 2020
Mount Majura Solar Farm, 2017

Solar power is a major contributor to electricity supply in Australia. As of December 2023, Australia's over 3.69 million solar PV installations had a combined capacity of 34.2 GW photovoltaic (PV) solar power.[1] In 2019, 59 solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 2,881 MW were either under construction, constructed or due to start construction having reached financial closure.[2][3] Solar accounted for 12.4% (or 28.6 TWh) of Australia's total electrical energy production in 2021.[4]

The sudden rise in solar PV installations in Australia since 2018 dramatically propelled the country from being considered a relative laggard to a strong leader by mid-2019. Australia has the highest per capita solar capacity, now at more than 1kW per capita.[5]

The installed PV capacity in Australia increased 10-fold between 2009 and 2011, and quadrupled between 2011 and 2016. The first commercial-scale PV power plant, the 1 MW Uterne Solar Power Station, was opened in 2011.[6] Greenough River Solar Farm opened in 2012 with a capacity of 10 MW.[7] The price of photovoltaics has been decreasing and, in January 2013, was less than half the cost of using grid electricity in Australia.[8] Using solar to supply all the energy needed would use less than 0.1% of land.[9]

Cumulative capacity – Cumulative installed PV capacity in megawatts at since 2001 (end of each calendar year).[10]
Log graph of Cumulative installed capacity in megawatts since 2001 (end of year, or September for 2022).[10]
  1. ^ "Australian PV market since April 2001". apvi.org.au.
  2. ^ "Clean Energy Australia Report 2019" (PDF). Clean Energy Council.
  3. ^ "Australian Energy Market Operator". Australian Energy Market Operator. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  4. ^ "Clean Energy Australia Report 2022" (PDF). Clean Energy Australia. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  5. ^ "National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Australia 2021" (PDF). International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Uterne Solar Power Station". alicesolarcity.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 January 2012.
  7. ^ Australia's Greenough River Solar Farm Opens Amid Renewable Target Debate, Reuters, Rebekah Kebede, 9 October 2012
  8. ^ "Solar Electricity Now Under Half The Cost of Grid Power For Australian Households". CleanTechnica. 7 January 2013.
  9. ^ "The Sky's the Limit: Solar and wind energy potential". Carbon Tracker Initiative. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Australian PV market since April 2001". Australian PV Institute. Retrieved 26 November 2022.

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