Rooftop solar reaches 1 percent

All the rooftop panels add up to 1 percent

Rooftop solar panels are delivering 1 per cent of Australia’s electricity and that figure is forecast to increase to 3 per cent by 2022.

Speaking on ABC Radio, Managing Director and CEO of the Australian Energy Market Operator, Matt Zema said the rising price of electricity is one of the key factors in Australian homes adopting renewable energy sources.

Mr Zema said the feed-in tarriffs offered by the Federal Government and some of the state governments have also offered incentives for home owners to install solar panels.

According to Mr Zema in 2011 to to 2012, rooftop systems generated about 1 per cent of the total energy used across the eastern seaboard.

“We expect that to grow at a rate of about 13 per cent per annum between now and 2021-22 – 3 per cent, roughly, of energy used across the eastern seaboard,” he said.

Chief Executive of the Climate Institute, John Connor commented on the negative impact the winding down of government rebates on solar will have on the solar industry.

”I think there’s a big risk here that this is an industry that has been played around with more than most and not given the stability that most players would like,” he said.

Australia’s Climate Commissioner Professor Tim Flannery added that regardless of the changing regulation, “the costs are now coming down to the point where those sort of subsidies are less and less important.” “I think in future we’ll be living in a world where we’re all pro-sumers,” he said.