Every month we publish small-scale renewable energy installation data files.
These data files provide a list of:
- small generation units (small-scale solar panel, wind and hydro systems) and kilowatt (kW) capacity by installed postcode
- solar water heaters and air source heat pumps by installed postcode.
The data represents all systems that have had certificates validly created against them. The data includes new installations, upgrades to existing systems and stand-alone (off-grid) systems.
This data is not publicly available via the REC Registry and does not include systems that are pending registration or have been failed.
Note: A 12-month creation period for registered persons to create small-scale technology certificates applies under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000. Therefore, the 2023 and 2024 figures will continue to rise due to the 12-month creation period. We expect the total installed capacity for 2023 may reach 3.1 gigawatt.
Total investment in wind and solar generation capacity, including Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme capacity for 2016 to 2022 is available under large-scale renewable energy data.
Summary of postcode data
This data is current as at 31 October 2024.
Small-scale installations by installation year
There are a total of 5,755,400 small-scale installations.
Table 1: number of small-scale systems installed by year
| Installation year | Hydro systems (Deemed) | Solar PV panel systems (Deemed) | Wind systems (Deemed) | Solar water heaters (including air source heat pumps) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 3 | 118 | 18 | 10,075 | 10,214 |
| 2002 | - | 251 | 11 | 21,839 | 22,101 |
| 2003 | - | 664 | 13 | 28,653 | 29,330 |
| 2004 | - | 1089 | 17 | 30,991 | 32,097 |
| 2005 | - | 1406 | 11 | 33,964 | 35,381 |
| 2006 | - | 1115 | 6 | 35,924 | 37,045 |
| 2007 | - | 3480 | 12 | 50,977 | 54,469 |
| 2008 | 1 | 14,064 | 43 | 85,385 | 99,493 |
| 2009 | 5 | 62,916 | 58 | 194,695 | 257,674 |
| 2010 | 3 | 198,208 | 136 | 127,093 | 325,440 |
| 2011 | 1 | 360,745 | 44 | 105,050 | 465,840 |
| 2012 | 2 | 343,320 | 8 | 69,466 | 412,796 |
| 2013 | 2 | 200,407 | 3 | 58,299 | 258,711 |
| 2014 | 1 | 180,139 | 11 | 58,728 | 238,879 |
| 2015 | - | 141,500 | 12 | 58,704 | 200,216 |
| 2016 | - | 132,697 | 10 | 62,018 | 194,725 |
| 2017 | - | 174,942 | 10 | 64,144 | 239,096 |
| 2018 | - | 224,852 | - | 66,976 | 291,828 |
| 2019 | - | 284,031 | 1 | 65,357 | 349,389 |
| 2020 | 2 | 370,320 | - | 74,403 | 444,725 |
| 2021 | 0 | 377,458 | 0 | 99,284 | 476,742 |
| 2022 | 1 | 315,717 | 0 | 122,018 | 437,736 |
| 2023 | 0 | 333,387 | 0 | 162,561 | 495,948 |
| 2024 | 1 | 241,982 | 0 | 103,542 | 345,525 |
| Total | 22 | 3,964,808 | 424 | 1,790,146 | 5,755,400 |
Small generation unit installations
Table 2: total number of small generation units installed to date
| System type | Installation quantity | Rated output (kW) |
|---|---|---|
| Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels | 3,964,808 | 24,751,031 |
| Wind | 424 | 1,469 |
| Hydro | 22 | 55 |
| Total small generation unit installations | 3,965,254 | 24,752,555 |
Note: Total may not sum due to rounding.
Solar water heater installations
Table 3: total number of solar water heaters installed to date
| System type | Installation quantity |
|---|---|
| Air source heat pumps | 670,503 |
| Solar water heaters | 1,119,643 |
| Total solar water heater installations | 1,790,146 |
Installation numbers for small-scale systems by state/territory
Table 4: small generation unit – hydro (deemed)
| Year | ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | 3 |
| 2002 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2003 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2004 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2005 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2006 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2007 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2008 | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| 2009 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 2010 | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 2 | - | 3 |
| 2011 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| 2012 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | 2 |
| 2013 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | 2 |
| 2014 | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| 2015 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2016 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2017 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2018 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2019 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2020 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | 2 |
| 2021 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2022 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| 2023 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2024 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| Total | - | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 22 |
Table 5: small generation unit – solar (deemed)
Year | ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | - | 12 | 6 | 33 | 41 | - | 15 | 11 | 118 |
| 2002 | - | 23 | 8 | 71 | 107 | 1 | 19 | 22 | 251 |
| 2003 | 3 | 134 | 10 | 150 | 246 | 9 | 98 | 14 | 664 |
| 2004 | 2 | 235 | 22 | 328 | 300 | 17 | 152 | 33 | 1089 |
| 2005 | 4 | 291 | 35 | 339 | 380 | 13 | 254 | 90 | 1406 |
| 2006 | 10 | 216 | 23 | 195 | 413 | 4 | 200 | 54 | 1115 |
| 2007 | 48 | 779 | 26 | 475 | 1037 | 25 | 828 | 262 | 3480 |
| 2008 | 278 | 2890 | 88 | 3087 | 3456 | 161 | 2036 | 2068 | 14,064 |
| 2009 | 803 | 14,008 | 215 | 18,283 | 8569 | 1452 | 8429 | 11,157 | 62,916 |
| 2010 | 2323 | 69,988 | 637 | 48,697 | 16,705 | 1889 | 35,676 | 22,293 | 198,208 |
| 2011 | 6860 | 80,272 | 401 | 95,303 | 63,553 | 2475 | 60,214 | 51,667 | 360,745 |
| 2012 | 1522 | 53,961 | 513 | 130,252 | 41,851 | 6364 | 66,204 | 42,653 | 343,320 |
| 2013 | 2411 | 33,998 | 1024 | 71,197 | 29,187 | 7658 | 33,332 | 21,600 | 200,407 |
| 2014 | 1225 | 37,210 | 1026 | 57,748 | 15,166 | 4207 | 40,061 | 23,496 | 180,139 |
| 2015 | 1066 | 33,478 | 1197 | 39,507 | 12,081 | 2020 | 31,354 | 20,797 | 141,500 |
| 2016 | 1001 | 29,498 | 1745 | 34,423 | 12,604 | 2487 | 26,740 | 24,199 | 132,697 |
| 2017 | 1946 | 43,253 | 1950 | 46,448 | 16,190 | 2393 | 31,358 | 31,404 | 174,942 |
| 2018 | 3,206 | 59,329 | 2,365 | 55,087 | 21,895 | 2,642 | 47,216 | 33,112 | 224,852 |
| 2019 | 3,808 | 77,630 | 3,505 | 70,711 | 27,089 | 2,894 | 61,740 | 36,654 | 284,031 |
| 2020 | 5,577 | 110,788 | 3,242 | 88,408 | 36,347 | 3,363 | 74,310 | 48,285 | 370,320 |
| 2021 | 6,465 | 110,228 | 1,940 | 90,193 | 32,598 | 4,115 | 83,137 | 48,782 | 377,458 |
| 2022 | 9,061 | 93,082 | 1,758 | 77,371 | 29,152 | 4,114 | 62,487 | 38,692 | 315,717 |
| 2023 | 8,418 | 105,382 | 1,359 | 81,047 | 28,015 | 5,607 | 68,396 | 35,163 | 333,387 |
| 2024 | 3,524 | 76,116 | 755 | 63,423 | 19,034 | 3,986 | 47,860 | 27,284 | 241,982 |
| Total | 59,561 | 1,032,801 | 23,850 | 1,072,776 | 416,016 | 57,896 | 782,116 | 519,792 | 3,964,808 |
Table 6: small generation unit – wind (deemed)
| Year | ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | - | - | - | 6 | 11 | - | 1 | - | 18 |
| 2002 | - | - | - | 7 | 3 | - | 1 | - | 11 |
| 2003 | - | - | - | - | 11 | - | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 2004 | - | 1 | - | 5 | 7 | 1 | 3 | - | 17 |
| 2005 | - | 3 | - | 2 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 11 |
| 2006 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | 6 |
| 2007 | - | 3 | - | 7 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 12 |
| 2008 | - | 16 | - | 5 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 43 |
| 2009 | - | 16 | - | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 58 |
| 2010 | - | 92 | - | 1 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 136 |
| 2011 | - | 35 | - | - | 1 | - | 5 | 3 | 44 |
| 2012 | - | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | - | 4 | 8 |
| 2013 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | 3 |
| 2014 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 10 | - | 11 |
| 2015 | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | 10 | - | 12 |
| 2016 | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 9 | - | 10 |
| 2017 | - | 3 | - | 1 | 3 | - | 3 | - | 10 |
| 2018 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2019 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| 2020 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2021 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2022 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2023 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2024 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total | - | 173 | - | 43 | 69 | 26 | 75 | 38 | 424 |
Table 7: solar water heater and air source heat pump (deemed)
| Year | ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 70 | 1966 | 581 | 4004 | 667 | 26 | 554 | 2207 | 10,075 |
| 2002 | 254 | 4722 | 957 | 7697 | 1886 | 97 | 1398 | 4828 | 21,839 |
| 2003 | 434 | 7231 | 910 | 8827 | 3533 | 168 | 1475 | 6075 | 28,653 |
| 2004 | 516 | 7870 | 1144 | 8927 | 3022 | 160 | 1800 | 7552 | 30,991 |
| 2005 | 448 | 8196 | 1171 | 8919 | 3193 | 218 | 2729 | 9090 | 33,964 |
| 2006 | 202 | 7648 | 1247 | 9943 | 2416 | 139 | 4728 | 9601 | 35,924 |
| 2007 | 453 | 8765 | 1414 | 16,830 | 2869 | 350 | 9157 | 11,139 | 50,977 |
| 2008 | 1001 | 20,203 | 1236 | 23,330 | 5103 | 906 | 21,208 | 12,398 | 85,385 |
| 2009 | 1974 | 85,456 | 1731 | 36,659 | 8794 | 2269 | 42,120 | 15,692 | 194,695 |
| 2010 | 960 | 38,525 | 1303 | 34,262 | 6812 | 1433 | 27,733 | 16,065 | 127,093 |
| 2011 | 1038 | 25,331 | 1267 | 30,937 | 5444 | 1725 | 26,446 | 12,862 | 105,050 |
| 2012 | 734 | 10,810 | 1171 | 18,973 | 3473 | 899 | 21,594 | 11,812 | 69,466 |
| 2013 | 453 | 9145 | 884 | 13,410 | 2983 | 827 | 19,608 | 10,989 | 58,299 |
| 2014 | 451 | 9641 | 1026 | 13,433 | 1930 | 962 | 20,613 | 10,672 | 58,728 |
| 2015 | 572 | 8612 | 1063 | 11,805 | 2557 | 803 | 23,087 | 10,205 | 58,704 |
| 2016 | 677 | 8611 | 920 | 11,442 | 2281 | 947 | 27,702 | 9438 | 62,018 |
| 2017 | 705 | 8,971 | 965 | 12,024 | 2,617 | 1,034 | 29,126 | 8,702 | 64,144 |
| 2018 | 725 | 8,877 | 987 | 12,020 | 2,850 | 1,126 | 32,085 | 8,306 | 66,976 |
| 2019 | 971 | 7,561 | 1,041 | 11,214 | 2,998 | 1,475 | 31,520 | 8,577 | 65,357 |
| 2020 | 1,663 | 7,206 | 1,059 | 11,921 | 5,015 | 1,189 | 36,982 | 9,368 | 74,403 |
| 2021 | 1,296 | 7,460 | 941 | 14,841 | 5,438 | 1,443 | 57,744 | 10,121 | 99,284 |
| 2022 | 2,030 | 20,693 | 842 | 13,936 | 4,504 | 2,110 | 67,111 | 10,792 | 122,018 |
| 2023 | 2,149 | 72,081 | 607 | 14,815 | 5,252 | 1,452 | 54,788 | 11,417 | 162,561 |
| 2024 | 1,595 | 31,880 | 362 | 10,589 | 3,716 | 1,148 | 45,140 | 9,112 | 103,542 |
| Total | 21,371 | 427,461 | 24,829 | 360,758 | 89,353 | 22,906 | 606,448 | 237,020 | 1,790,146 |
Solar PV systems with concurrent battery storage capacity by year and state/territory
Table 8: state data for battery installations with small-scale systems.
| Year | ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 8 | 208 | 3 | 129 | 34 | 5 | 137 | 169 | 693 |
| 2015 | 3 | 133 | 1 | 186 | 21 | 6 | 163 | 24 | 537 |
| 2016 | 105 | 668 | 6 | 331 | 130 | 18 | 240 | 70 | 1568 |
| 2017 | 205 | 1942 | 18 | 856 | 479 | 93 | 845 | 212 | 4650 |
| 2018 | 308 | 1876 | 8 | 1119 | 616 | 164 | 1362 | 236 | 5689 |
| 2019 | 337 | 1,503 | 22 | 2,711 | 2,292 | 94 | 1,288 | 316 | 8,563 |
| 2020 | 379 | 1,852 | 148 | 957 | 3,737 | 103 | 1,531 | 782 | 9,489 |
| 2021 | 519 | 2,755 | 390 | 1,428 | 3,308 | 126 | 3,018 | 1,624 | 13,168 |
| 2022 | 1,193 | 3,914 | 681 | 2,844 | 4,746 | 249 | 5,656 | 2,710 | 21,993 |
| 2023 | 776 | 6,032 | 565 | 4,717 | 5,172 | 373 | 6,326 | 2,957 | 26,918 |
| 2024 | 472 | 5,255 | 335 | 3,741 | 4,088 | 230 | 4,616 | 2,784 | 21,521 |
| Total | 4,305 | 26,138 | 2,177 | 19,019 | 24,623 | 1,461 | 25,182 | 11,884 | 114,789 |
Notes: The above table is based on voluntarily disclosed data for batteries that were installed at the same time as the solar PV system.
The collection of grid-connected installations with disclosed battery data commenced in September 2014.
Postcode data files
The public register of small-scale technology certificates in the REC Registry allows users to search and view details of small-scale technology certificate creation.
New file structure including historical data
The historical month-to-month downloadable data for 2001 to 2022 is now available.
We have changed the format of the current and historical Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme postcode data. Instead of hundreds of historical individual spreadsheets, we have consolidated the data to present all current and historical data into 4 spreadsheets.
Each column will show data for a month and there are no more aggregated data columns.
Please note all file names have changed to reflect the new data structure.
This will save time for users by:
- removing the need to link 20+ files together to create a full month-to-month time series
- presenting a clearer source of truth with no data overlap between our historical data files.
Please email enquiries@cer.gov.au if you have any questions.