A surge in Australia’s commercial-scale solar PV market has helped deliver the highest monthly volume of PV capacity so far this year.
According to the latest report from solar industry analysts SunWiz, a total of 69MW of solar PV was added for the month, a major up-tick in market volume for 2015.
The volume was driven largely by growth in Queensland, New South Wales and Victorian markets, and particularly due to a surge in the commercial (30-100kW) markets in these states.
SunWiz said that while the total for July was not much to boast about in comparison to 2014 levels, it marked the highest monthly PV level for 2015 so far, and offered hope of a possible turn around in the fortunes of the market.
Still, 2015 is well short of 2014, the report says, with a total of 419MW registered for the year to July, which is 10 per cent less than this time last year, the report says.
As noted, the trend towards commercial solar continues, with 75+kW systems being particularly popular in July. As the graph below illustrates, commercial solar is now 30 per cent of the solar PV market in Australia, and growing – mostly in the 10-30kW market in the major states, like NSW and South Australia.
“NSW is the go to state for commercial PV, though volumes have fallen back from their peak,” the report says. “Commercial volume is sliding in Queensland and SA, but appears to have turned the corner. Victorian commercial volume is building to be number 2 nationally.”
© 2015 Solar Choice Pty Ltd
