Australia Has Already Hit 1 Gigawatt Of Solar Installed In 2017, Breaking Multiple Records

December 12th, 2017 by Joshua S Hill

Australia has already reached 1 gigawatt (GW) worth of solar installed in 2017 according to new figures from SunWiz, the quickest it has taken and only the second time that Australia has installed at least 1 GW.

Australian solar consultants SunWiz published new data this week outlining 10 solar records that have already been broken this year, including its lead highlight revealing that Australia has already installed 1 GW worth of solar (as of the end of November) — the quickest the country has reached the milestone. This is made up of 893 megawatts (MW) of sub-100 kW PV and another 114 MW of systems over 100 kW, totaling just over 1 GW worth of solar.

Further, SunWiz expects the total of sub-100kW solar installations to reach between 1.05 GW and 1.10 GW once the year comes to a close, which means total solar commissioned in 2017 will reach at least 1.16 GW.

The only other time Australia has reached 1 GW worth of installed solar was back in 2012 when 1,058 GW was installed, and SunWiz’ figures predict that Australia will eclipse that by the end of the year.

A record volume of commercial rooftop solar PV has already been commissioned, with 285 MW already installed in the 10 kW to 100 kW range, beating the previous best of 228 MW installed in 2016. November was also a record for sub-100 kW solar with 122 MW worth of small-scale technology certificates (STCs, also known as Renewable Energy Certificates, or RECs) registrations beating the previous record held back in 2011.

STC Registrations

Other milestones include record solar PV registered in New South Wales in any month, record average system size in the sub-100 kW market (6.7 kW/system), and record volume in every commercial system size sub-range.

Capacity By Size Sub-Range











Appreciate CleanTechnica’s originality? Consider becoming a CleanTechnica member, supporter, or ambassador — or a patron on Patreon.

Sign up for our free daily newsletter or weekly newsletter to never miss a story.

Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

Latest Cleantech Talk Episode