Rooftop Solar Accounts For 1.6% Of Australian National Electricity Market

September 11th, 2013 by Giles Parkinson

Originally published on RenewEconomy.

Everyone seems to know that one million households in Australia now have rooftop solar PV. But exactly what contribution is it making to the National Electricity Market. That has been hard to estimate, because much is consumed on the premises and it does not pass through the wholesale market.

The Australian Energy Market Operator last week estimated that solar PV accounted for around 3.7 per cent of generation in South Australia, where one in five houses has rooftop solar.

Now Pitt&Sherry have produced a table showing its share in the NEM, which includes the eastern seaboard, but not WA and other isolated grids in the north. It shows that rooftop PV is now 1.6 per cent of the total share of production. That compares to wind (3.9 per cent), bagasse (0.2 per cent), and hydro (9.2 per cent).

Pitt&Sherry’s Hugh Saddler says the minimum total share of renewables since 2007 (see graph below) was 7.0 per cent in the year to June 2008, when total supply for the year was 13.3 MWh, the lowest level over the past ten or so years.

Since then, the renewable share of total electricity consumption has more than doubled (115% increase, while the total quantity of electricity supplied has increased by 27.3 TWh, more than double the minimum of 13.3 TWh in the year to June 2008.

A second graph below shows the increase in wind generation over the last 5 years, as capacity grew from very little to around 3GW now, and the variable, but growing, contribution of hydro.

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: Australia, australia rooftop solar, Australia Solar, Australian solar PV, National Electricity Market, NEM, PV, Solar PV

About the Author

Giles Parkinson is the founding editor of RenewEconomy.com.au, an Australian-based website that provides news and analysis on cleantech, carbon, and climate issues. Giles is based in Sydney and is watching the (slow, but quickening) transformation of Australia's energy grid with great interest.

mzso

At this rate 100 percent might be reached in a 100 years.
- Grad
  
  Cost of renewables has dropped significantly so it will speed up for sure.
  
  Next big thing is battery storage. Today LiFePO battery costs about 400€ per kWh, which translates into about 20 cents/kWh during whole lifetime of battery. When it gets under 10cents/kWh renewables will just explode.
  
  I think we’re not far away, a couple of years and we’ll be there. We’d be faster if there wasn’t such a massive anti-renewables propaganda, but things are as they are.
- Bob_Wallace
  
  New tech tends to start slow and then take off like gangbusters….
  - Matt
    
    There are some good charts that show this over here, for example Internet node. Notice that the first 12 years looks flat when plotted on a linear graph (or % population above)
    
    http://www.singularity.com/charts/page79.html (linear)
    http://www.singularity.com/charts/page78.html (log)
- Ronald Brakels
  
  “This rate” shows electricity provided by combined wind and solar doubling every two and a half years or so. That gives about 10 years until wind and solar provide all our electricity. But as Mark Twain pointed out, simple extrapolation may not be the wisest of assumptions. However, wind/solar capacity is doubling every 2-3 years while hydro capacity has been basically constant with output only varying in response to rainfall.
  - Jimmy_Wattson
    
    Tony Abbott will fix solar power up, cut the carbon tax roll back wind and solar power policy. in the next three years wind and solar power home shutting down as the price of electricity goes up.
    
    By going back to coal power station can supply all our energy need,cheap base load electricity, no need for solar, as tony abbot said, “cut the waste” “no need for fake energy” from solar system.
    
    South Australia has reports of rooftop fires burning down houses with rooftop solar.
    - Ronald Brakels
      
      Jimmy, rooftop solar can be bought for under $2.50 a watt in Australia without subsidy:
      
      http://www.solarchoice.net.au/blog/solar-pv-price-index-september-2013/
      
      With a 5% discount rate this makes the electricity it produces well under half the cost of the 28 cents a kilowatt-hour average for mostly coal generated grid electricity.
      
      If the carbon price is scrapped it will cut retail electricity costs by less than two cents a kilowatt-hour so rooftop solar will still be under half the cost of grid coal power.
      
      So why on earth would people stop installing solar when it provides electricity for under half the price of coal? Just because it makes Tony’s budgies sad isnt’ going to stop them.
      
      But I am very interested in these fires you mention. Please provide me with as many links as you can on the topic.
    - A Real Libertarian
      
      Oh my god, putting solar panels on rooftops doesn’t make the building fireproof?
      
      Well then what good are they? It’s not anybody has to pay for coal electricity now is it? And coal electricity doesn’t have any bad effects like pollution now does it?
      
      Solar power is clearly a plot by the Commie JEW-nited Nations to steal our precious, precious bodily fluids and sap and impurify our gold!
      
      RON PAUL 2012!!!1!!!111!