Solar panels on rooftops across Australia did their part to support the clean energy celebrations yesterday, making a significant contribution to meeting the grid’s overall electricity needs.
Solar power systems not only generated electricity and resulted in significant cost savings for their owners, but also exported energy for use by others – putting downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices.
Looking back over the last year via OpenElectricity (formerly known as OpenNEM): As of December 25, 2023, rooftop solar’s contribution to NEM1 demand was 13.2% and Western Australia’s SWIS2; 22.7%.
Rooftop solar played a larger role in the NEM on Christmas Day 2024, meeting 22.9% of total demand yesterday. Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. the proportion was consistently over 50%. Thanks to solar, other renewables and the nature of the day, NEM wholesale electricity prices were consistently negative on average between 6:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., with the lowest average price at -$38.44 per megawatt hour at 12:30 p.m . The highest average price was $147.94 as of 7 p.m.
As for Western Australia – unfortunately OpenElectricity was having a moment so I wasn’t able to get yesterday’s numbers; and the application does not cover the Northern Territory.
Solar’s Christmas Day 2024 NEM contribution by state
Here’s what the numbers looked like in most states for December 25, 2024 in terms of contribution to electricity demand – these numbers are for rooftop PV only (utility scale not included):
- Queensland: 20.2% of total demand for the day, up to 46.9% at 12pm.
- NSW (ACT): 23.9%, 55.2% at 12:30 p.m.
- Victoria: 24.1%, 60.3% at 1pm.
- Tasmania: 7.2%, 20.7% at 1pm.
- South Australia: 33.6%, 75.6% at 1pm – tops on both counts, and by a wide margin
Another solid year for PV rooftops
According to the Clean Energy Regulator, almost 4 million solar power systems have been installed across Australia since 2001, with the majority of systems installed in the last 7 years. There have been more than 267,000 new installations this year alone – but because of the way the CER compiles its numbers, it will be well into 2025 before there is a final tally.
If you’re thinking about joining the rooftop PV revolution in 2025, many solar installers are giving themselves a well-deserved break over Christmas/New Year. But it’s a good time to start preparing your project. Here’s everything you need to know about switching to solar energy. If you’re looking for information about what’s happening with Australia’s solar panel rebate next year, check out this post.
And for existing solar owners thinking about energy storage in 2025, check out SolarQuotes’ guides on understanding, purchasing and owning home batteries.
Footnotes
- NEM: National Electricity Market – consisting of Queensland, New South Wales (including the Australian Capital Territory), Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. ↩
- SWIS: South West Interconnected System – Western Australia’s main electricity network, serving the majority of the state’s population. WA is not part of the NEM. ↩
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