QUEENSLAND suburbs have become the state's fourth-largest power station.

New figures show the combined generating capacity of solar panels in the Sunshine State has hit nearly one gigawatt. That's enough electricity to power 150,000 homes, a city the size of Cairns.

Data compiled by solar industry consultant Sunwiz from official records of renewable energy certificates shows that Queensland has one-third of Australia's solar power capacity.

Sunwiz found that more than one in five Queensland dwellings was now hooked up to solar power.

The 360,000 installations produce 986 megawatts of capacity.

"The 'people's power station' is the fourth largest in the state,'' Sunwiz founder Warwick Johnston said.

Queensland's power distributors paid households $242 million for solar power in the 2012-13 financial year.

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The Newman Government slashed the solar feed-in tariff power generated into the grid from 44c/kW to 8c/kW for new customers.

Mr Johnston said while solar demand had slowed since the change, "Queensland continues to be the Sunshine State.''

Todd Featherstone of Ashmore said he was not surprised more people were using solar energy.

"I installed solar on my roof a few months ago after I saw on the news that power bills would be going up more than 20 per cent," he said.

"My daily usage was around four kilowatts of energy but my solar system produces more than 32 kilowatts a day. It's insane. I won't see another bill again."

Mr Featherstone said the initial costs were steep but recommended splashing the cash for the long term benefits.

"My electricity bill was around $2400 a year but now I can run my pool, air-conditioning and household appliances without worrying about skyrocketing costs. I am actually saving money," he said.

"I am hoping that on my next bill, because the system is over-producing, I may even see some cash back so it practically pays for itself.

"I could see the benefits straight away. It's hardly surprising solar is getting to be so popular. It's a great energy solution."

Nationally, solar power generation capacity has reached three gigawatts, accounting for 9.3 per cent of electricity demand.