Solar industry

snapshot
clean energy council data series 2009

All figures relate only to Australia and are correct at time of publishing.
© Copyright Clean Energy Council 2009
 Solar snapshot
Percentage of households using
solar energy (SWH and PV) in 2008
Source: ABS 2009

55

50%

40%

30%
21.8

20%

10% 6.9 7.6

8.8
5.7
4.6
3 3.3

0%
vic tas act nsw sa national qld wa nt

The total number of Australian households using solar energy

increased by 60 percent between 2002 and 2008

7.6 percent of Australians have solar

systems installed in the home

clean energy council data series 2009 solar industry snapshot 0

 Solar photovoltaics (PV)
Total installed capacity – solar PV Source: Watt M. 2009

105

100
cumulative installed capacity, (mw)

83

80 70

60
61

52
46

40 29
34
39

25
23

20 9
11
13
16
19

0
92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08

There is currently more than

100MW of installed capacity from
solar PV in Australia – enough to
power 26,000 homes for a year

clean energy council data series 2009 solar industry snapshot 0

 Solar photovoltaics (PV)
Annual capacity of PV installed Source: Watt M. 2009

15 22 combined mw
annual mw of solar pv installed

off grid
grid connected
12

9
10

6 6 7
7 8 12

3 2 2 2
3 3 4

3
4

0 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08

Since 2007, more solar PV (particularly grid-connected) was installed in Australia than any other period
on record. This trend coincides with
– A steep rise in rebates available from the Australian Government for PV installations
– A rise in awareness of climate change
– New global PV market entrants and
– A global reduction in the cost of PV.

In 2008 (Jan–Dec), more

than 22MW of PV was
installed around
Australia – the highest
annual amount on record

clean energy council data series 2009 solar industry snapshot 0

Solar photovoltaics (PV)
A sample of Australia’s solar manufacturers Source: Clean Energy Council 2009
Company Manufacturing facilities
Cell and Module Manufacturers

Origin Regency Park, SA (Sliver® cell pilot plant)

Component and System Manufacturers

Conergy Bundamba, Qld & Canning Vale, WA

M&H Power Systems Melbourne, VIC

PV Solar Energy Sydney, NSW

Selectronics Mooroolbark, VIC

Power Solutions Australia Mooroolbark, VIC

Mono pumps Melbourne, VIC

Latronics Moffat Beach, QLD

Solco Welshpool, WA

Plasmatronics Melbourne, VIC

Swiss-Electric Solar Glynde, SA

Solar Energy Australia Mt Kuringai, NSW

Rainbow Power Company Nimbin, NSW

Battery Manufacturers

Century Yuasa Batteries Carole Park , QLD

Redflow Energy Seventeen Mile Rocks, QLD

Exide Elizabeth, SA

Battery Energy Power Sydney, NSW

Concentrator System Manufacturers

Solar Systems Melbourne, VIC

Australia’s solar PV industry is thriving

with at least 17 major Australian owned
companies currently manufacturing and
distributing PV products to a domestic
and international market.

clean energy council data series 2009 solar industry snapshot 0

 Solar photovoltaics (PV)
National total of accredited installers and designers,
Mar 2005 – Mar 2009 Source: Clean Energy Council 2009
total national number of installers & designers

938

800

600

400 392

237 237 232

200

0 march 05 march 06 march 07 march 08 march 09

In the last year, the number of accredited solar PV installers and designers has increased
by more than 100 percent

As at March 2009, the total number

of accredited installers reached 938
and continues to rise

clean energy council data series 2009 solar industry snapshot 0

 Solar photovoltaics (PV)
Accredited installers and designers by state,
Mar 2005 – Mar 2009 Source: Clean Energy Council 2009
number of installers & designers

250
200
150
100
50
0 vic nsw + act qld wa sa tas nt

march 05 48 77 49 24 23 7 9
march 06 43 77 53 24 23 5 12
march 07 41 69 46 28 23 6 19
march 08 79 113 78 54 34 15 19
march 09 286 246 170 118 74 29 15

Victoria currently has the highest

number of accredited installers and
designers Australia-wide, followed
closely by New South Wales and ACT

clean energy council data series 2009 solar industry snapshot 0

 Solar water heating
and heat pumps
Percentage of homes using solar water heaters
2008 data for SA and ACT are currently unavailable. Source: ABS 2008

54.3
52.5

50% 2002
percentage of households

2005
40%
41.9
2008

30%
20%
21.5

15.7 15.8

10% 5.6 5.9

8.5
5
2.9 3.2 2.4 2.5 3.3 2.4 2.6 2.5
0% 0.6 1 0.6 1.1

nt wa qld sa nsw act vic tas

More households in the Northern Territory use solar energy to heat their water than any other region in Australia.

The number of Australian

households using solar water
heaters has increased by
61 percent since 2005

clean energy council data series 2009 solar industry snapshot 0

 Solar water heating
and heat pumps
Household water heating energy sources
Source: ABS 2008

7%
solar
11%
unknown

11%
electric – peak So far, only
7 percent of
Australian
37%
gas households
have made the
switch to solar
35%
electric – off peak water heating

Most households in Australia currently use gas or electric water heaters.

A sample of Australia’s leading manufacturers

of solar water heaters Source: Clean Energy Council 2009
Company Manufacturing facilities
Aquamax Moorabbin, VIC

Beasley/Rinnai Devon Park, SA

Dux Hot Water Moss Vale, NSW

Rheem Rydalmere, NSW

Solahart/Edwards Welshpool, WA

Solar-Mio Albury, NSW

Solco Industries Welshpool, WA

Conergy Malaga, WA

Everlast Hydro Systems Pty Ltd Dandenong, VIC

At least nine major Australian owned companies are currently manufacturing and
distributing solar water heating products to a domestic and international market.

clean energy council data series 2009 solar industry snapshot 0

Renewable Energy
Certificates (RECs)
RECs by fuel for 2007 generation Source: ORER 2009
Yet to be
Fuel Source Created Surrendered surrendered Market Share
Hydro 712,754 152,881 559,873 12%

Wind 2,408,032 1,344,675 1,063,357 39%

Wind (deemed) 80 0 80 0%

SWH (deemed) 1,475,142 465,999 1,009,143 24%

Bagasse 528,012 105,469 422,543 9%

Landfill Gas 567,395 261,801 305,594 9%

Wood Waste 125,917 125,073 844 2%

Black Liquor 112,817 75,075 37,742 2%

Sewage Gas 65,494 43,838 21,656 1%

Solar 108,255 5,142 103,113 2%

Municipal Waste 57,412 0 57,412 1%

Food/ Agriculture Waste 22,460 19,123 3,337 0%

Total 6,183,770 2,599,076 3,584,694 100%*

Solar PV generated RECs represented only two percent of the REC market-share in 2007.
Since then, the number of PV generated RECs have seen a huge rise.

Solar water heating is the

second largest creator of
RECs behind wind energy,
with 1.5 million certificates
created – that’s a 24
percent REC market-share

clean energy council data series 2009 solar industry snapshot 10

Solar snapshot
Glossary
Accredited installer
Individual qualified to install solar PV panels through accreditation
from the Clean Energy Council (CEC)
ABS
Australian Bureau of Statistics
MW
a million watts of electricity or 1000 kilowatts
Off grid
System installed to provide power mainly to a household or village not
connected to the (main) utility grid
PV
photovoltaic (panels) – a renewable energy device that generates
electricity from sunlight
Grid connected
System installed to provide power directly to the electricity grid
REC
Renewable Energy Certificate - a tradeable certificate representing a
unit of generated renewable energy
SWH
Solar Water Heater – a renewable energy device that heats water using
energy from sunlight
Heat pump
A device that reverses the refrigeration process by transferring heat
from the air to water stored inside an insulated storage tank

Image: Rheem, Australia

clean energy council data series 2009 solar industry snapshot 11