11:50 am November 6, 2019, 50.2% of electricity in Australia is generated from renewable sources for a short span of 10 minutes. It is the first time ever, in history, that clean energy supplied more than half of the power in this Oceania country.
Despite only lasting for 10 minutes, this is still a major milestone for us in shifting to clean energy sources. And a great encouragement as well.
About 16,000 people searches for solar panel installation every month. Offering solar panel installation service in Melbourne, Sundra Energy is excited for the result.
Solar energy is one of the most adopted clean energy solutions in Australia, thanks to its simplicity and government rebate. In fact, 21% of Australian houses have installed rooftop solar panels. And that accounts to 2 million houses.
While reaching 50% Australia wideis huge, the state of South Australia has reached the benchmark almost 10 years ago. Unsurprisingly, the state now regularly meets the mark.
The first time for Australia is just a portal to a greener future. More importantly, Australian homes are taking more incentives to make the 50% constant.
Collaboration to greener energy
Other than the increasing number of households installing solar panels, more houses are installing home battery solutions. Examples like the infamous Tesla Powerwall and the Tesla South Australia Battery are steps that citizens, organizations and the government working collaboratively for a cleaner environment.
The Victorian Government, for example, is providing a 50% rebate for solar panel installation up to $2225. The rebate covers the most common 4kW solar system installed in Australian households.
And Australia is in one of the best locations in the world to harness solar power. Kurtliffman has done a thorough analysis on how much solar panels are required to power Australia with reference to solar energy across Australia, the efficiency of solar panels and the associated cost.
The result is stunning, at least to me. The area of land required is less than the metropolitan area of Melbourne, 67% of it to be precise. With other renewable energy sources in development, the estimated area would reduce to a certain extent as well.
Eliminating roads, high-rise buildings and other sun-lit spaces, Melbourne can be more than the cultural capital, but the power capital of Australia as well.
However, there are other cities in Australia that is more ambitious than Melbourne. The Council of Sydney has announced its renewable energy master plan 2030 in 2014. The target? Making the largest city in Australia running only on renewable energy 16 years later. Meeting such target is not simple at all, especially for a city hosting a 5.23 million population.
Closing in at 4.93 million, making Melbourne the same is a difficult task for sure. However, solar panel system installers in Victoria have been striving to a similar success. In the end, Australia will have a “virtual power plant” spread across the entire country.