Australia led the world in the total power of solar-powered storage batteries in 2017, according to the nation’s chief scientist Alan Finkel.<\/p>\n
Finkel bases his claim on a report by Greentech Media, a US-based company that generates daily reports and market research on electricity systems and green technology.<\/p>\n
The report estimates the combined power of batteries installed by Australia’s 1.8 million solar rooftop homes and businesses and grid batteries was 246 milliwatts (MW).<\/p>\n
That compares with a total of about 200MW by each of the USA and Germany.<\/p>\n
Given the falling price of batteries and the number of existing rooftop solar collectors \u2013 thought to be more than 1.8 million \u2013 Finkel believes many more homes will purchase batteries in coming years.<\/p>\n
One consultancy has estimated that \u00a0the number of residential battery installations in Australia is set to \u00a0jump by nearly 60 percent, or 33,000, this year, lifting the installed base to about 61,000.<\/p>\n
Installations are said to have tripled last year to 20,800.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"