Australia could add 4 GW of rooftop solar this year

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Australia could hit 4 GW of rooftop PV this year, even amid Covid-19 movement restrictions, according to Steve Blume, president of solar, storage and smart energy trade body the Smart Energy Council (SEC).

The SEC chief was speaking at a two-day event organized by the Washington DC-based Global Solar Council which acts as an umbrella body for national solar associations.

Blume said Australia had witnessed 22% growth in its rooftop solar rate in 2019, with 2.2 GW installed; and that figure rose to 3.3 GW of rooftop panels last year with a further 30% rise in volume in the first half of this year.

The SEC president said the 40.5 GW of rooftop solar in Australia equates to 600 W of solar per person, per day, nationwide.

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Stephan Singer, senior climate science and global energy policy advisor at the Bonn-based Climate Action Network group of civil societies, said it was time for the world's wealthiest countries to prioritize driving down emissions above ever-expanding GDP.

“Rich countries such as Germany, Belgium, and [other] countries in Europe do not need economic growth,” he told the two-day Global Solar Council event. “They need to learn to leverage on what they have and change from fossil fuels and nuclear to renewables and solar PV.”

The event was organized with the help of trade body SolarPower Europe and backed by EU investment entity Get.Invest.

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