Solar power explained Place Forecast Feature

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Solar power added shows how much solar panel power went in each year, in kilowatts. A kilowatt here is the panels' rated output: the power they are built to make under test conditions.

It uses the same data from the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) as renewable energy systems, read the same way. Each year is a financial year. Until a whole July to June is in, the latest year is the last twelve months. Those months are still filling in. Each postcode's figure is shared out by private dwellings. So every small area in one postcode has the same figure per dwelling.

A figure per dwelling divides by the private dwellings the 2021 Census counted, so areas of different size compare fairly.

Reading this data fairly

  • The figures count panels on homes and on small businesses alike. One shop or factory roof can add a lot in one go.
  • An upgrade adds its new panels again. So the kilowatts per dwelling can run ahead of what is on the roofs today.
  • Panels have grown. A typical system was under 2 kilowatts before 2011, about 8 in 2020-21 and over 10 by 2024-25. So the same count of systems now adds far more.
  • Usually only an owner can put panels on a roof, and they cost money up front. So fewer panels go in where many households are renting or incomes are lower. A lower figure there shows where fewer households have had the chance to add them.

Each month is also shown on a page of its own. To see how many systems went in, look at renewable energy systems added.

Sources

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