How much did rooftop solar exports contribute to grid consumption in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) in 2024? Guess and then look at the answer.
Now the calendar has turned to 2025 and following on from our Christmas Day 2024 solar performance report, I thought I would take a look at how solar installed across the NEM1 roof stacked up last year compared to previous years have.
For full-year 2024, rooftop solar exports accounted for 25,998 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity, representing 12% of NEM grid consumption, according to OpenElectricity. Here is a list showing the increase over the last 10 years:
- 2024: 12.0%
- 2023: 11.1%
- 2022: 9.0%
- 2021: 7.9%
- 2020: 6.4%
- 2019: 5.2%
- 2018: 4.0%
- 2017: 3.4%
- 2016: 4.1%
- 2015: 1.7%
Or in a graphic:
However, in addition to these figures, there is also the electricity generated by solar owners that was not fed into the grid; that is, it was itself consumed; This avoids a significant portion of network demand.
2024 state by state
Shown below is the percentage of grid consumption met by rooftop solar exports in each NEM state for the year 2024.
- Queensland: 12.7%
- New South Wales and ACT: 11.2%
- Victoria: 10.7%
- Tasmania: 3.3%
- South Australia: 21.7%
What about WA and NT?
Western Australia is outside the NEM, but figures are available for WA’s main electricity network – the South West Interconnected System (SWIS). According to OpenElectricity, rooftop solar contributed around 26% of SWIS consumption in 2024, up from 25.2% in 2023.
As far as the Northern Territory is concerned, I have no figures. But for the states I know, another graphic:
Australian rooftop solar installations in 2024
According to the Australian Clean Energy Regulator (CER), and based on figures last updated on November 30, 266,865 small systems (<100kW capacity) had been installed up to this point in 2024. While that number appears to be well below 2023's (333,548), it took another month, and given the way the CER compiles these numbers, it will be well into 2025 before we have a final tally. Although the final number could be less than 2023, the average size of systems continues to grow.
As for the total up to November 30, the regulator says 3,989,852 small PV systems have been installed in Australia, with a total capacity of just over 25 gigawatts.
Total renewable energy in 2024
Last year, electricity generated from renewables accounted for 38.8% of electricity consumption across the NEM, only a small increase from 38.6% in 2023 due to the poorer performance of hydropower. 20 years ago, in 2004, the share of renewable energy was just 2.5%. In the same year, hard coal and lignite accounted for 92.3% of consumption, compared to 55.5% the previous year. So we’ve come a long way – but there’s still a long way to go.
The share of gas production in electricity consumption was 5.1% in 2004 and 5.3% last year.
Rely on solar energy in 2025
If you’re considering installing solar panels early in 2025, there’s good news. Although Australia’s solar panel rebate (in practice an upfront rebate) drops on January 1st each year, it is still quite generous and the value of the STCs (on which the rebate is based) still appear to be approaching their maximum possible value. For example, a 10kW solar system installed in Sydney should provide a discount of around $3,000 after management fees.
The other good news is that prices for solar power systems have remained low (for now), although the Australian dollar hasn’t fared too well against the greenback, as solar manufacturers engage in what one industry executive described as “irrational competition”) .
While you should never rush your solar purchasing decision—do your research first—keep in mind that every month that your roof no longer has solar panels is another month that you’re paying a lot more for electricity than you otherwise would would. And especially in these hotter months, that could really add up.
Footnotes
- The NEM consists of Queensland, New South Wales (including the ACT), Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. ↩
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