'Huge surge': Solar energy take-up hits new high as gas, electricity prices jump

May 7, 2017 Carl Paola

Fears about rising energy prices have driven consumers and businesses to install solar panels at the fastest rate in at least a decade, lifting total national capacity to the equivalent of powering a city the size of Melbourne. New figures from the Australian Photovoltaic Institute show the country has passed 6 gigawatts of solar capacity as of the end of March, or enough to supply about 1.3 million "There's been just a huge surge recently on the back of the energy concerns earlier in the year," Renate Egan, chair of the institute, told Fairfax Media. Total capacity could top 7 gigawatts within a year with a host of solar farms and a rise in companies turning to solar driving the extra demand. That level would be the equivalent of about 1.5 million households' supply, or about Sydney's size.households.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/huge-surge-solar-energy-takeup-hits-new-high-as-gas-electricity-prices-jump-20170426-gvtc3k.html