Medium-scale businesses in Queensland have in the past 12 months taken up more solar energy systems than New South Wales for the first time to become Australia's most solar-savvy businesses.
South-east Queensland has for the past seven years always had the highest solar take-up on residential rooftops, largely because of the high solar-feed-in tariffs from past Queensland governments.
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Brisbane skyline going solar
Nearly half Brisbane's CBD rooftops are suitable for solar panels, which would save businesses $30 million per year on electricity. 7 News Queensland
"Close to 25 per cent of homes in the Brisbane area and in Toowoomba have solar on the roof," Australian Photo Voltaic Institute chairman Renate Egan said on Thursday.
"And 40 per cent of homes in the Greater Brisbane area have solar on their roofs."
Is the solar switching towards commercial properties?
In December 2016 there were more Queensland businesses – as well as homeowners - taking up solar energy plants than in any other state.
The statistics released by the Australian Photo Voltaic Institute on Thursday, show more than 1200 businesses installed a business-scale solar system in Australia in December 2016.
Queensland in September-December 2016 took out the top spot for new solar systems of between 10kW and 30KW and of systems 30kW to 100kW installed in the previous 12 months.
Queensland has about 350 new businesses taking up a solar system, while New South Wales around 320, Victoria 220, South Australia 160 and West Australia around 120.
Sun Wiz managing director Warwick Johnston,a director of the Clean Energy Council, said Queensland businesses faced higher commercial electricity charges because the demand from the LNG plants in Gladstone forced a rise in wholesale electricity prices in Queensland.
"So you are probably seeing businesses saying we need to switch to solar to ride out these rising electricity prices."
How much could Brisbane businesses save?
Dr Egan was in Brisbane on Thursday to promote recent research which showed Brisbane's CBD was not effectively using its CDB rooftops to collect solar energy.
"From that stocktake (of rooftops) we've worked out that Brisbane could install 181 megawatts of solar on the rooftops of their CBD," she said.
"And produce about 11 per cent of the electricity demand of the CBD."
The cost to install those panels is around $207 million, she said.
"But t would pay back to electricity payments around $30 million per year to whoever installs the solar.
"So the system itself would pay back over seven years. And beyond that, the electricity generation would be free."
One more study – the Brisbane Powerhouse at New Farm.
Earlier this week the Australian PV Institute told Fairfax Media that putting solar panels on Suncorp Stadium could generate 4684 MW per year, enough to power 806 homes.
Dr Egan estimated that would cost $3.3 million to install, however the Queensland government would not comment on installing solar panels on any specific building, despite any savings going to taxpayers.
So on Thursday the PV Institute concentrated on Brisbane Powerhouse at New Farm, a Brisbane City Council-owned building.
It paid around $140,000 in December 2015 to install a solar energy system at its performance space and is now saving around $15,000 from its electricity bills.
Powerhouse chief operating officer Lyn Patch said the venue had cut $15,000 from its electricity costs since installing 295 solar panels.
The building has one electricity meter to the Brisbane Powerhouse as the major tenant.
"It is metered to the over-riding body and then we can work out how much electricity each tenant has used and then we're able to calculate it from that," she said.
The savings are passed on to the individual tenants and to the production costs of individual productions, she said.
"And then the other savings are to our own productions and that allows us to put on more shows."
Why is it slow for other businesses to take up in the CBD?
"Because the payback (from the solar investment) is not clear," Dr Egan said.
"So the buildings' owner would put solar on the roof; and then they would need to meter the electricity to the occupants of the building.
"Which is simple enough is you have single occupants, but far more complex if you have multiple tenants and they move around during the year."
What needs to happen?
"We need to encourage new business models around financing and to look at challenges around the ownership of buildings and the tenanting of buildings," she said.
"Which is again why government-owned buildings are a natural fit to this policy and could lead by example by installing solar."
"Because they effectively have one major tenant – themselves – in the building."
Have householders now missed out on the benefits of solar?
"No," according to Dr Egan.
"It is far more cost-effective now, than it was to have invested in solar seven or eight years ago" she said.
"Because the system prices have come down so dramatically."
"A 5KW system that you would put on your roof in Brisbane now – the average price at the end of last year was $5500.
"And a 5KW system in 2008 would have cost you $30,000."
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