Australia Solar Panels
Rows of solar panels face skywards at the Greenough River Solar project near the town of Walkaway, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Perth October 10, 2012. Australia switched on its first utility-scale solar farm on Wednesday, bringing the country a small step closer to achieving ambitious renewable energy use targets that traditional coal and gas power producers are now fighting to soften. Reuters/Rebekah Kebede

Australia is ready to stand tall with affordable solar power, thanks to the cost-effective solar photovoltaic systems installed in households and businesses.

According to the latest global PV report from the International Energy Agency, “Trends in Photovoltaic Applications,” Australia and a number of other regions are praised for using solar PV as cost-effective means for electricity generation.

The report also notes Australia has the world’s cheapest prices for grid-connected systems in residential and commercial solar PV systems at the rate of US$1.76/W (AU$2.48) and US$1.61/W (AU$2.27).

Thanks to the price cushion, Australia was able to scale up its rank to 8th position from the 10th slot in the coveted IEA’s list of Top 1o global PV markets.

Solar PV now accounts for 2.5 percent of Australia’s total electricity needs. But this figure is still small when compared to Italy’s eight percent or Germany's seven percent.

Affordable Prices

When it comes to prices, Australia’s solar PV modules are either on par with most EU countries or cheaper than many of them. In the Asia Pacific market, Australia competes with both Japan and China. The duo had the lowest prices in 2014, at US$0.61c/W. This was higher than Australia’s US$0.52c/W price in 2013, reports Renew Economy.

In terms of solar capacity, Australia had 0.9 GW installed capacity at the end of 2014, up from 0.8GW in 2013. Australia had 4.1GW of installed PV systems and is on track to reach 5GW by the end of 2015.

Overall, the Asia-Pacific region continues to be the largest regional market for PV, with a total of 23.8 GW installed in the region, led by China with its 10.6GW and Japan’s 9.7GW.

Globally, 2014 saw sustained growth in the PV market with 40GW of PV capacity installed, exceeding the 37GW set up in 2013. This raised the total installed capacity to more than 177GW.

Chief scientist’s support

Meanwhile, Alan Finkel, Australia’s new chief scientist, is expected to add a new stimulus to the renewable energy sector. Known for his vision of ushering in a world that is free from coal and gas, Finkel reposes great faith in the potential of renewables, including solar power and also advocates energy storage for energy security.

Finkel is currently the Chancellor of Monash University and President of the Australian Academy of Technology Sciences and Engineering.

As Australia’s chief scientist, Finkel will be the main communicator in promoting better understanding and appreciation of science and evidence-based thinking, reports Energy Matters.

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