Australia’s 2017 solar PV installation tally already eclipsed – in July

The amount of solar PV installed in Australia so far in 2018 has already surpassed the combined total of all installations for the whole of 2017, and it has done so just over half way through the year.

According to the latest data from industry analysts, SunWiz, and as you can see in the charts below, installations of large and small-scale solar PV sailed past the 1.4GW mark in the month of July, and well past the total installed for all of 2017, at 1340MW (1.3GW).

And while rooftop solar continues to boom, large-scale solar is rapidly becoming the star of the show, with SunWiz now tracking a mind-boggling 275 solar farms in various stages of the development pipeline, with total capacity of 36.9GW.

The below graphs, also from SunWiz, show the tally of tally and stage of big solar projects in each state, and where they stand on the development spectrum, as well as the capacity by stage, at bottom.

The above chart illustrates the flurry of big solar proposals that is happening around the nation right now, particularly in Queensland and New South Wales.

But as Giles Parkinson reported on Monday, not all of these projects will actually get up.

Many – large-scale solar and wind – are reportedly being told that they face significant curtailment without either adding battery storage or old-style machinery known as synchronous condensers to deal with system strength issues.

“Both options are causing headaches for developers, because either way they are trashing their financial models, and could cause extensive delays to projects that many expected would begin construction anytime soon.”

Still, the number of solar farms that are currently being built – illustrated by name in the map below – is nonetheless impressive.