An IEA survey of solar power applications in Australia shows that the country installed 5.2 GW of solar capacity in 2024 and reached a total of 40 GW, including 26.1 GW of distributed systems and 13.4 GW of centralized installations.
Utility-scale installations of 5 MW or more contributed 2 GW, while rooftop systems across residential, commercial and industrial sites contributed 3.2 GW to the annual total.
Solar installations in 2024 exceeded the cumulative total of all installations completed up to the end of 2015, which stood at 5.1 GW.
“Despite recording a record volume of installations in 2024, Australia did not rank among the world’s top ten markets for annual installations. This marks the second consecutive year outside the top 10, a position it has held since the IEA photovoltaic power systems program (PVPS) began tracking markets in the 1990s,” said the IEA.
For rooftop solar Australia outranks most nations, with 44% of free-standing homes having systems installed, including about 50% of homes in Queensland and South Australia.
“With low insolation relative to the rest of Australia (3.7 kWh per year), Tasmania has only 20% of free-standing homes powered by solar PV,” said the IEA. “South Australia, with a population of 1.77 million, rooftop solar alone has routinely been sufficient to power the state with excess power from rooftop and large scale being exported to neighboring states for over the four hours around mid-day.”
A trend toward larger residential systems has prompted a reclassification of typical system sizes. Residential installations were previously defined as 10 kW or less, up from 3 kW in 2012, and are now defined as up to 15 kW. Commercial systems are classified between 15 kW and 100 kW.
The report notes that Australia’s ambition for utility-scale solar falls into the 10 GW to 30 GW range. Despite incentives such as the Capacity Investment Scheme and its 40 GW target, issues related to connection approvals, congestion management and fragmented access arrangements increase costs and risks for grid-scale projects, the report finds.
Australia ranks in the top ten globally for total installed capacity and records a world-leading installation rate of more than 1.52 kW per capita.
“With an impressive total 26.1 GW of distributed solar and an additional 13.4 GW total centralized solar, combined with excellent insolation, solar power now meets over 20% of the nation’s total electricity demands,” the report says.
The National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Australia 2024 lists University of New South Wales Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics Director Professor Renate Egan as the lead author, with contributions from experts at six other Australian universities and clean energy specialist businesses.
