Australia’s solar energy resources and production

The Australian continent has the highest solar radiation per square metre of any continent and consequently some of the best solar energy resource in the world. The regions with the highest solar radiation are the desert regions in the northwest and centre of the continent.

Australia’s energy resources, including solar energy resources, and the factors impacting on the development and adoption of the various energy resources to 2030 are outlined in the Australian Energy Resource Assessment.

Australia receives an average of 58 million PJ of solar radiation per year, approximately 10 000 times larger than its total energy consumption. However, Australia’s current use of solar energy is low with solar energy accounting for only about 0.1 per cent of Australia’s total primary energy consumption. The most common use of solar energy is solar thermal water heating. Solar PV systems play an important role in off-grid electricity generation in remote areas.

Electricity generation is increasing in response to government policies, notably the Renewable Energy Target, and as a consequence of the development of photovoltaic and concentrating solar thermal technologies through substantial research and development programs. These include the government’s Clean Energy Initiative Solar Flagships Program managed by the Department of Resources Energy and Tourism which has committed $1.5 billion to support the construction and demonstration of up to four large-scale solar power plants in Australia, using solar thermal and PV technologies. The Government’s aim is to establish up to 1000 megawatts (MW) of solar power generation capacity.

Source: Geoscience Australia