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Supply Out Of Balance Australia's Rooftop PV Will Face Major Challenges

Jan 25, 2022Leave a message

2021 is a year of rapid growth for the Australian PV sector. So what will happen in 2022? How will the Australian renewable energy market develop?


Photovoltaic is a rapidly growing industry in Australia. As of September 2021, the country has a cumulative installed PV system capacity of 23,466MW, of which at least 4,117MW has been deployed within the past year.


A recent study by the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UNSW's School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering and the Australian Photovoltaic Institute found that Australia is currently deploying less than 5% of its overall planned capacity for rooftop PV. The study found that rooftop PV can generate up to 245TWh of electricity annually, which exceeds the country's annual consumption of 200TWh.


The report states that the Australian PV market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.56% between 2020 and 2025. However, factors such as supply chain disruptions due to Covid-19, increasing share of alternative clean energy sources, and delays in large-scale PV projects are expected to dampen the growth of the Australian PV market.


For example, nearly one-third of households in Australia now own and operate rooftop PV systems. But this creates problems such as reduced power generation. Growth in the Australian rooftop PV market will be more difficult.


That's because Australia's grid is designed for fossil fuel power stations that only output electricity, but rooftop PV systems both consume and output electricity. This means that rooftop PV systems can lead to "cuts" in output that are beyond acceptable limits.


Waste due to curtailment of PV generation can be as high as 20%. As more and more rooftop PV systems are deployed and power is exported to the grid, the problem will become more severe, and those users who promise to install rooftop PV systems based on allowing exports may feel cheated.


This issue means that home users may not get everything they expect from a rooftop PV system, thus affecting the confidence to deploy and use rooftop PV systems.


In addition, Australia faces significant challenges in the deployment of PV farms. The Australian outback is suitable for building large-scale photovoltaic farms. However, due to the sparse population. Power transmission in these areas requires long-distance power lines over complex terrain, and most of Australia's population lives on the coast. In addition, the construction of photovoltaic power plants on high-quality agricultural land has also aroused people's attention and doubts.


With fewer users paying for electricity from retailers, this raises the question: Who will pay for the cost of the distribution grid? This could become a tough one, so a small percentage of them don't have access to rooftop PV The people who generate the system will pay for most of the cost of the distribution grid.


Nonetheless, Australia has made great strides in PV deployment. If it can meet the challenges on its development path, Australia is likely to continue to lead the global PV market and further transition to a low carbon economy. Australia has already started by deploying more large-scale battery storage systems as an effective solution. For example, the Hornsdale battery storage system, which is deployed and operated, can store electricity during the day and feed it to the grid at a later time, while larger battery storage systems are being developed in the country.


Another solution Australia is implementing is exporting renewable energy, whether it's building transcontinental submarine cables like Suncable, or producing and exporting green hydrogen backed by renewable energy.


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