Sydney rooftop solar potential untapped: report

A new study has found Sydney rooftop solar potential remains an untapped resource, with just 6.7 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity installed across the CBD.

The figure equates to just one percent of the city’s vast solar potential, the report reveals.

The Australian PV Institute’s Spatial Analysis of Solar Potential in Sydney report, commissioned by the NSW government, reveals the city in fact has anywhere between 393 MW and 619 MW of available solar capacity.

The report provides a breakdown of suburbs with the greatest solar potential, and highlights three iconic Sydney landmarks  suitable for rooftop solar development.

25% of CBD buildings could house solar panels

A conservative estimate suggests that 25 percent – one quarter – of all Sydney CBD buildings could be fitted with solar panels.

Under such a scenario, rooftop solar PV systems would generate 507 gigawatt-hours of electricity, enough to power 75,000 homes, and offset 403,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.

An higher, averaged estimate ” indicated that an area equal to 40% of the available roof surfaces could be used to accommodate PV, corresponding to 619 MW of potential PV capacity with an expected annual yield of 777 GWh,” the report states.

“This equates to 22% of the 3,588 GWh of load in the CBD.”

Sydney rooftop solar: Possible PV array atop Central Station.
Sydney rooftop solar: Possible PV array atop Central Station. Image: Australian PV Institute

Sydney rooftop solar: Iconic buildings earmarked for solar arrays

Case studies of specific landmark buildings including Central Station, Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Overseas Passenger Terminal (OPT) at Circular Quay found all were suitable for large-scale PV installations.

The highest-rated rooftop was that of Central Station, which the report found could support a 19,600 square-metre solar array capable of generating 3599 megawatt-hours of electricity annually – the equivalent of taking 1100 cars off Sydney roads

Alexandria was identified as the top suburb for rooftop solar, with up to 110 MW of undeveloped capacity.

The study utilised the APVI’s high-tech solar mapping technology to estimate Sydney’s solar potential.

According to Mike Roberts, UNSW PhD candidate and contributor to the report, the proliferation of large, warehouse-type rooftops in the CBD made it a perfect location for solar installations.

“There is this huge untapped potential,” Roberts said “As a city, we should be looking at how this can be tapped.”

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