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Which Australian postcodes are shaping up to have the highest number of small-scale solar power systems installed this year? Let’s see what the most recent Clean Energy Regulator data reveals.
As mentioned yesterday, the Regulator states 193,960 solar power systems (small-scale – <100kW) with a combined capacity of 1,337 megawatts had been validated this year up until last Monday. Australia’s Clean Energy Council announced early this month that in total, the number of solar installations across Australia had eclipsed the 2 million mark.
While there’s still a few days left to go in 2018 and the final results for the year won’t be known for a while1,here’s how the leaderboard looks at this stage in terms of number of installations from January to the end of November 2018.
1. Postcode 6065 – Western Australia
WA’s 6065 postcode’s localities include Wangara, Wanneroo, Hocking and Ashby. Between January and the end of November this year, 1,067 solar panel systems were installed with a collective capacity of ~6.9MW.
2 Postcode 6210 – Western Australia
WA’s 6210 postcode’s localities include Mandurah, Silver Sands, Meadow Springs and Erskine. Between January and the end of November 2018, 1,035 solar panel systems were installed with a collective capacity of ~5.5 MW.
3 Postcode 6112 – Western Australia
WA’s 6112 postcode’s localities include Wungong, Haynes, Brookdale and Bedfordale. Between January and the end of November 2018, 1,006 solar panel systems were installed with a collective capacity of ~5.8 MW.
4. Postcode 3977 – Victoria
VIC’s 3977 postcode’s localities include Skye, Cranbourne, Devon Meadows and Sandhurst. Between January and the end of November 2018, 992 solar panel systems were installed with a collective capacity of ~6 MW.
5. Postcode 4655 – Queensland
QLD’s 4655 postcode’s localities include Hervey Bay, Eli Waters, Scarness and Pialba. Between January and the end of November 2018, 982 solar panel systems were installed with a collective capacity of ~6.2 MW.
6. Postcode 3029 – Victoria
VIC’s 3029 postcode’s localities are Hoppers Crossing, Tarneit and Truganina. Between January and the end of November 2018, 976 solar panel systems were installed with a collective capacity of ~6.4 MW.
7. Postcode 4670 – Queensland
QLD’s 4670 postcode’s localities include Bundaberg, Burnett Heads, Avondale and Bucca. Between January and the end of November 2018, 964 solar panel systems were installed with a collective capacity of ~6.8 MW.
8. Postcode 4740 – Queensland
QLD’s 4740 postcode’s localities include Mackay, Beaconsfield, Chelona and Sandiford. Between January and the end of November 2018, 890 solar panel systems were installed with a collective capacity of 6.8 MW.
9. Postcode 6164 – Western Australia
WA’s 6164 postcode’s localities include Aubin Grove, Hammond Park, Treeby and Cockburn Central. Between January and the end of November 2018, 856 solar panel systems were installed with a collective capacity of ~4.8 MW.
10. Postcode 4350 – Queensland
QLD’s 4350 postcode’s localities include Toowoomba, Westbrook, Athol and Glenvale. Between January and the end of November 2018, 852 solar power systems were installed with a collective capacity of ~6.2 MW.
Collectively, the top ten had installed 9,620 solar power systems with a collective capacity of ~61.26MW according to the most recent Clean Energy Regulator figures.
There’s not a lot separating some of the postcodes, so when the final figures are in there may be some shuffling, or perhaps other postcodes stalking into the top ten.
You can see in the figures that capacities weren’t always commensurate with ranking. This could be the result of a number of small commercial solar installations boosting figures in some postcodes, or folks in those areas generally installing larger home solar systems (or a combination of the two).
As for the overall top postcode since the Regulator began tracking, that distinction appears it could go to QLD postcode 4670 (Bundaberg area), with 12,620 installations.
These figures don’t include an important figure – installed watts per capita. Some postcodes punch well above their weight; for example we mentioned yesterday that South Australia’s Renmark postcode boasts close to 1,000 watts of small scale solar installed per person, compared to the Australian average of around 300 watts.
2018 has certainly been yet another big year for solar energy in Australia!
Footnotes
- December installation figures won’t be published until around the middle of next month. Also, the Clean Energy Regulator’s figures are based on Small-scale Technology Certificate (STC) creation, and there’s a period of 12 months after a system has been installed during which certificates for it can be created. STCs form the basis of Australia’s major solar subsidy ↩
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Whilst, as the report above indicates, the figures and rankings do not include Watts per capita, also, unfortunately omitted, in the context of the ranking, is the number of systems per 1000 dwellings, or, per thousand people, although, I believe that the former – number of systems per thousand dwellings – would be the most appropriate quantity for using in such rankings.
Whilst it is nice to know that my postcode, is the third highest ranking in the report above, and, the Cockburn postcode – about 10-15km away, is also in the top ten rankings for the whole of Australia, it may not be fair to other postcodes that have a higher stauration – expressed in number of systems per thousand dwellings, who should be recognised by rankings in terms of the number of systems per thousand dwellings.
Anyway, I wish everyone a safe, happy, and, peaceful Christmas and New Year.
Unfortunately I wouldn’t have had time this morning to determine the number of households or population in each of Australia’s ~2,800 postcodes, then perform further number crunching to produce the type of rankings you’d like to see.
But if you’d like to generate this information for yourself, have at it :). Here’s a couple of starting points.
http://www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/RET/Forms-and-resources/Postcode-data-for-small-scale-installations
http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/Home/2016%20QuickStats
Interesting that a postcode from the most populous state NSW doesn’t make the list. What is different?
share such a great information about solar postcodes:
https://www.funsolar.in/
So there is a Funsolar in India? There used to be a Chinese Funsolar but they were bought out and had their name changed. That link you provided chews way too much bandwidth for Australians without NBN. We don’t have the sort of internet speeds you get in Mumbai. Please keep this in mind for all future off topic spam.