Brisbane has the potential to capitalise on solar power's more competitive pricing, according to experts.

New research by the not-for-profit solar energy company Australian PV Institute and the University of New South Wales has revealed solar panels in Brisbane's CBD could generate significant savings.

"We've done this stocktake of the solar potential of Brisbane's CBD and from that we've worked out that Brisbane could install 188 megawatts of solar on the rooftops of the CBD and produce enough power to meet 11 per cent of demand of the CBD," the Institute's chair Renate Egan said.

"This could be done with upfront investment of about $200 million and would payback in electricity repayments $30 million a year."

To conduct the stocktake the institute used its new Solar Potential Map, which calculates how much electricity can be generated from any particular roof in Brisbane's CBD.

Ms Egan said it had found close to 50 per cent of roofs could have solar panels.

"We've started with Brisbane CBD because Brisbane and Queensland are really proactive around solar," she said.

"Queensland has got the largest update of solar in Australia, with 1.6 gigawatts of solar installed in Brisbane [and] in Queensland, and they have a target of getting to three gigawatts by 2020."

Ms Egan said the institute had also engaged with the Queensland Government about it providing the initial upfront investment to install the panels on government buildings such as Suncorp Stadium and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC).

"Anything that helps achieve our renewable energy target of 50 per cent by 2030 is being considered," a spokesman for Queensland's Energy Minister Mark Bailey said in a statement.

"Queensland already has one of the highest penetrations of rooftop solar panels in the world, and [those] solar rooftops combined are the second largest power station in Queensland."

'Like trying to develop an alpine skiing industry in Queensland'

But the Federal Minister for Northern Australia, Matt Canavan, said Queensland's renewable energy target was mad.

"It's like trying to develop an alpine skiing industry in Queensland, it's about as realistic as that," he said.

"We don't have the same renewable resources as say South Australia.

"It would cost an enormous amount of money to build in Queensland and put at risk huge amounts of jobs, particularly in the power sector.

"You've got a Labor state government more interested in the philosophy and ideology of power rather than the practicality and reality of it and providing jobs and a decent cost of living for people."

Mr Canavan said coal-powered energy would still be needed in Australia "as it is in the developing countries we are and plan to export to".

But, he said he believed there was still a place for solar.

"The Federal Government supports renewable energy, we have a realistic renewable energy target of 23.4 per cent," Mr Canavan said.

"And solar hasn't been a huge part of that so far, but it's got great potential.

"I think one of the key issues with solar and wind is the intermittency of that, as we've seen in South Australia recently."

But Ms Egan said investing in coal-powered energy made no economic sense in Australia.

Her research took into account disruptions to solar energy that could arise from weather.

"The fact is the price of solar has come down so quickly that most building managers and councils and energy providers, coal mining companies remain surprised," Ms Egan said.

"This is a game-changing technology that will be disruptive for our energy systems."

'Serious question marks' about reaching 50pc renewable target

David Blowers, an energy fellow at the Grattan Institute, agreed with the PV Institute's findings of solar power potential in Brisbane.

But he said solar was still more expensive than the current and traditional energy mix of coal, wind and gas.

"Solar is coming down in price. It's still not as cheap as wind or as cheap as building a new gas generator, but it's coming down ... and if it continues on its current path it will become as cheap as wind power in the future," Mr Blowers said.

However, he did not believe it could replace coal in the future and was not convinced Queensland could meet the renewable energy target.

"You've got to remember that nowhere in the world has levels of renewables up to 50 per cent at the moment, or at least intermittent renewables, wind and solar," Mr Blowers said.

"So there's serious question marks about what happens when you do get to that level of wind and solar.

"But if that is combined with some form of storage, be that batteries, be that other types of renewables that provide that type of storage, it is possible.

"We would have to see some serious technological improvements over the next decade for that to be achieved."