Tamworth and Armidale still lapping up 'prolific' solar power as cost of electricity soars

Solar experts and installers have been run off their feet with installations more than tripling over the past two years compared to the two decades before hand, and the lack of qualified workers has only made their schedule busier.

Homeowners are requesting new panels all the time, and Armidale-based Sunman Solar managing director Geoff Bragg said there are a number of factors contributing to that.

"It's always been a combination of factors, primarily it's cost-saving because it is the cheapest form of electricity you can get," he said.

"But I think the second motivation for the vast majority of people is they're saying 'I'm going to save some money, but I'm also doing something good'.

"It's feel-good to know you're making your own energy and reducing emissions, there's a small proportion who are doing it firstly for the environmental reason."

Mr Bragg said solar initially took over in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when significant rebates were offered to people who took up the option.

READ ALSO:

While it died down slightly after those ended, he said the tone had been set and it remained consistent for a number of years, until the last couple when it picked up momentum again.

Between 2001 and 2019, the average amount of solar panels installed per month in the Tamworth postcode was 20.2, but it has more than tripled since then.

From January 2020 through to December 2021, an average of 77.1 were installed per month. The peak occurred in June 2020 when 151 installations took place according to the CSIRO data.

In total more than 6400 installations were made in the Tamworth postcode over the past 20 years, meaning close to 9.7 per cent of the population boasts the technology - roughly one in every 10 people.

The take up of solar has not surprised Wynergy's Ben Wynn, whose Tamworth-based business works in the commercial sector of the industry, assisting with projects including solar farms.

He said business has been booming over the last few years, although he had believed for more than a decade that it was only a matter of time until such an explosion would come.

"I knew it was going to get that prolific, China and South Korea took over the manufacturing and drove substantial efficiencies in the manufacturing of solar panels," he said.

"Both in terms of lowering production costs and per-unit costs, and increasing the wattage output and efficiency of the solar cells themselves.

"And when you look at what we call the marginal costs for making that energy, you've basically got a panel sitting in the sun making electricity versus coal or gas or oil being burnt, and all of the maintenance that goes along with it.

"So when you look at the marginal costs of clean, renewable energy and particularly solar, versus those other types of energies it was always going to be a huge winner, it was just a matter of when."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: