The Sun Comes Up on Commercial Solar

In a manner no different to your common household TV or computer, the “technology adoption” life cycle applies to Australia’s solar PV market. The question is, where are we now and what is next?

The Australian PV Institute maps solar PV installations across the nation and their data shows PV well and truly on the radar of the Early Majority.

The percentage of dwellings with PV is significantly higher in QLD, SA and WA than in other states and territories. Nearly all states and territories, excluding the Northern Territory, are reaching a stage where PV is out of the Early Adopters stage and into the Early Majority.

What does this mean?

For one, it means that solar PV is a rapidly growing industry. But more importantly it shows opportunity: opportunity for new markets and new technologies to get a foothold in the next big thing.

True innovators in a field will steer away from attempting competition for the Late Majority, a demographic which typically rewards price leaders.

But solar PV isn’t a one-dimensional technology. Within PV lie other technologies (like storage/batteries) and a clear delineation of customer segments: residential and commercial. The latter is now the focus of the market innovators, and as such is where the really exciting stuff is now happening.

So what is the “next big thing” in renewable energy?

Large-scale commercial PV.

One example is our upcoming 665 kW project at Northam Boulevard shopping centre. With a PV size previously reserved for standalone power stations, this system will use a conventional roof-top installation along with a PV frame car park structure. This car park will provide shade to customer vehicles, along with generating electricity.

These commercial systems can be owned by the property owner, financed as a business asset, or owned by a third party who then sells the electricity at a discounted rate to the end user, as we’ve previously described in our article about the emerging trend of PPAs.

This size and type of system will become commonplace in WA. Commercial Early Adopters will reap the benefits of trusting in a technology which has already been proven globally, and will have their investment returned well before the Late Majority even consider commercial PV as a revenue stream.

Is it as simple as installing the biggest system you can? No. Not at all.

Too often a business owner will open Excel and start on solar.xls, with misconceptions about how the system will operate or how the business will be compensated.

Any business decision where the cost of completion is in the 6-7 figure range needs appropriate due diligence, and for typically less than 3-5% of the system cost, a business owner can have an expert PV analyst design the ideal PV system for the site and its associated energy consumption.

Now is the time to jump on board with commercial solar. By the time the Early Majority are interested, the innovators will have their money back.