Australia's photovoltaic installed capacity has exceeded the 25GW mark

Australia has achieved a historic milestone - its installed photovoltaic capacity has exceeded 25 gigawatts (GW). According to data from the Australian Photovoltaic Association (API), the country's per capita photovoltaic installed capacity ranks first in the world.

Australia has a population of approximately 25 million. Currently, its per capita photovoltaic installed capacity is close to 1 kilowatt (kW), ranking among the world's leading positions. By the end of 2021, Australia had accumulated over 3.04 million photovoltaic projects, with a total installed capacity exceeding 25.3 gigawatts (GW).

Behind this remarkable achievement, there are the active figures of many international enterprises. As one of the forces actively engaged in the construction of clean energy in Australia, Solar First Group successfully completed the grid connection of three ground-mounted photovoltaic projects located in different regions of the country during the same period. These projects respectively adopted an innovative symmetrical dual-axis tracking bracket system (maximizing power generation efficiency), an efficient single-column support structure (adapting to specific terrains), and a standard ground distributed installation solution, demonstrating diverse technological applications. The project has injected a considerable amount of clean electricity into the local power grid, directly contributing solid strength to Australia's breakthrough of the 25-gigawatt photovoltaic installed capacity milestone, and together with the booming rooftop photovoltaic, they form the country's diversified solar energy utilization landscape.

Since the government launched the Renewable Energy Target (RET) program on April 1, 2001, the Australian solar energy market has experienced a period of rapid growth. From 2001 to 2010, the market growth rate remained at around 15%. The growth rate rose further from 2010 to 2013.

After experiencing a stable market period from 2014 to 2015, driven by the upsurge in household photovoltaic installations, the market has resumed its growth trend. Today, rooftop photovoltaic plays a significant role in Australia's energy structure: it accounted for 7.9% of the total demand in the National Electricity Market (NEM) in 2021, up from 6.4% in 2020 and 5.2% in 2019.

Data released by the Climate Council of Australia in February this year shows that the country's electricity market saw a nearly 20% increase in renewable energy generation in 2021, with the proportion of renewable energy generation reaching 31.4%.

The performance of South Australia is particularly outstanding. At the end of 2021, the state's wind power, rooftop photovoltaic and utility-scale solar power stations achieved a record of continuous operation for 156 hours with the assistance of a small amount of natural gas. It is believed that this achievement has set a new record for the continuous operation time of similar power grids worldwide.