Wide Bay is nation’s shining light for most homes with rooftop solar

Wide Bay households are leading the nation when it comes to rooftop solar, as one homeowner reveals why he made the switch more than a year ago.

Bundaberg home owner Gavin Quinn said his solar installation has paid for itself twice over.

A new report has confirmed Wide Bay households lead Australia for rooftop solar, with 63 per cent of houses in some parts of the region having solar panels installed since 2001.

Solar Analytics, a software company selling solutions to help home owners optimise their rooftop solar configuration, found that 1065 houses in Bundaberg had rooftop solar installed in 2023, the most in the country.

Hervey Bay came in at number five, with 939 installations.

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Queensland postcodes took out five of the top 10 positions, with Sunshine Coast (third), Mackay (sixth) and Toowoomba (seventh) also featuring.

Data from the Clean Energy Regulator shows the new report confirms a long-term trend in the Sunshine State, with Bundaberg leading the country in total installations since 2001 with 20,454 installations.

With the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data reporting 32,687 free-standing houses in Bundaberg, this means 63 per cent of Bundaberg houses have rooftop solar.

Solar Analytics CEO Stefan Jarnason said the higher uptake of rooftop solar in Bundaberg than other states and postcodes was due to a number of factors including the greater consistency of sunny days throughout the year, meaning a solar installation in Bundaberg will generate around 30 per cent more electricity than a comparable installation in a Melbourne home.

Other factors include a greater proportion of home ownership: ABS data shows 39.2 per cent of Bundaberg homes are fully owned, higher than regional Queensland as a whole (31 per cent) and Australia (32 per cent).

Also, following the introduction of the solar rebate in 2011 and steady reduction in price of solar panels, the current trends are showing a growing uptake of rooftop solar among low to middle-income earners.

At a cost of around $5 per month, Solar Analytics allows home owners to optimise their energy usage and solar panel configuration.

The final factor is the recursive nature of solar installations, with word of mouth driving more installations when home owners can see the benefits experienced by family, friends and neighbours.

“It’s always been an absolute no brainer of a financial investment,” Mr Jarnason said.

“What has changed is, everybody now has multiple friends or family who’ve put solar on their roof and seen the changes happen.

“What has changed is, everybody now has multiple friends or family who’ve put solar on their roof and seen the changes happen; they’ve seen the savings.

“So it’s no longer this unknown technology ... the risk has gone.”

Gavin Quinn paid $10,000 to have solar panels installed in his Thabeban home within two years of building it 15 years ago.

After initially having “a power bill situation that just went absolutely through the roof”, Mr Quinn is now regularly putting more electricity back into the grid than he is consuming.

Gavin Quinn was motivating by the cost savings and sustainability of solar power, but above all by the additional control provided over his energy consumption.

Mr Quinn estimated that he has saved around $20,000 in energy bills since he had his rooftop solar installed.

Mr Quinn agreed with the word of mouth factor in driving the uptake of rooftop solar in Bundaberg, noting he sees “a lot of sales activity” from solar panel vendors around the neighbourhood.

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He said he was initially motivated to have the solar panels installed out of a desire to have more control over his power usage.

“You’ve got to really invest your time and interest into it if you want to save money,” he said.