Australia is a perfect place for solar power. The popularity of solar power has been growing year to year in Australia, and for good reasons. Plenty of Australian companies have already gone solar, Australia’s potential for solar power is massive, and, of course, solar panels are instrumental in the fight against climate change. In fact, the list of reasons not to adopt solar energy is shrinking every single year. In this blog, we’re going to take a look at why solar power and Australia go together like peanut butter and jelly, like Holmes and Watson.
More and more companies and institutions across Australia are installing solar panels, and it’s not hard to see why. No matter the industry or the business, people have nothing but good things to say about solar panels. The University of New South Wales, for example, has three solar panel systems totaling 237kW installed on their campus. They’ve stated that the install was easy and painless and that they’ve gotten their ROI right on schedule. In a totally different field, Pullman Hotels and Resorts have a 100kW solar panel system on the rooftop of one of their properties. They’ve said that the install minimized disruption to guests and surrounding residents, meaning that solar panel installations can be painless both for the recipient and the community around them. It’s easy enough to find these testimonials almost anywhere you look. More and more, companies are turning to the reliability and functionality of solar panel systems.
Currently, Australia has over 8 GW of rooftop solar panel PV capacity. This is a tremendous number and represents the end result of years and years of growth in this area. More electricity than ever before is coming from rooftop solar, and solar power in general. However, Australia still has huge amounts of untapped solar potential. Studies have shown that up to a whopping 179 GW of solar panels can be installed on rooftops across Australia. To put that number into context, Australia uses about 229.4 TWh of electricity per year. If Australia reaches its rooftop solar potential, then 245 TWh of electricity could be output per year.
Simply put, this means that Australia’s entire energy needs could theoretically be satisfied with solar power. Obviously, there’s no practical way to reach this number given our current manufacturing levels of solar panels, the money invested in the technology, and the feasibility of installing all of those solar panels. However, the overall point remains: Australia is well adapted to solar energy. After all, what else would you expect from a place that is among the top 10 sunniest countries in the world?
Sadly, climate change has had a huge effect on Australia. Average annual temperatures are up while average rainfall declines, bushfires are getting worse every year, people’s homes are at the risk of sea-level rise, the water supply is declining, and more. Unless we begin to take action now, we risk these problems getting worse, with a very human cost attached to them.
The worry over the environment is very real, too. In a survey conducted in 2019, Australians said that the second most important problem facing them was the environment. The survey results placed the environment after the economy, and head of the government/politicians, social issues, and immigration/population. On top of that, the environment by far saw the biggest rise compared to past surveys. Climate change isn’t just a theoretical problem we all need to tackle, it’s a real problem that’s affecting us, and we can see that borne out in the feelings of Australians.
Of course, to zero in on the top two responses to this survey, we all have to understand that the environment and the economy are intrinsically linked. Though this is a topic worth its own paper, we’ll go over it briefly here. The effects of climate change, from climate disasters, agricultural issues, the threat to our infrastructure, the burden on our health, and more carry with them huge consequences upon the economy. Being proactive in our approach to climate change, by installing solar panels, for example, can also have an impact on the economy.
Australia has a huge role to play as we move into our uncertain future. Given the amount of sunlight that Australia receives and the resulting potential for the generation of solar power, it just makes sense to consider solar panels. There’s so much to gain with solar panels.
We have offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra and a national network of fully accredited solar installers. Sustainability is at our core. Since 2003, the foundation of Todae Solar has focused on sustainable business development.
