Sydney might be known as the Emerald City, but when it comes to embracing green energy, how well are we actually doing? A new study has highlighted the Australia greenest suburbs based on solar installation rates, and unfortunately, only two of the top ten suburbs are in New South Wales (NSW).
Renewable energy provider Solar Run analyzed data from the Clean Energy Council (CEC) to calculate solar installation per suburb from January 2020 to December 2023. The results show how well different communities across Australia are adopting clean energy, and Sydney isn’t leading the way. In fact, NSW is trailing behind Victoria and Queensland, with Queensland claiming five of the top ten spots and Victorian suburbs taking first, sixth, and tenth place.
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The Victorian suburb of Tarneit leads the pack with an impressive 2,177 solar installations between January 2020 and December 2023. Box Hill in Sydney came in second with 2,152 installations, and the only other NSW suburb to make the list was Kellyville, ranking eighth with 1,442 installations.
Despite these efforts, NSW didn’t perform as well as Victoria and Queensland in terms of solar installations. However, it’s encouraging to see a significant number of homes in Sydney making the switch to fossil fuel-free power.
“These findings are a testament to the growing momentum of renewable energy across Australia,” says Anthony Kurta, Managing Director and CEO of Solar Run.
While the installation rate might not fully capture solar energy use—since it doesn’t account for systems installed before January 2020—it’s clear that thousands of solar energy systems have been installed in some Sydney suburbs over the past few years. The hope is that this trend will continue.
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Here are the top ten greenest suburbs in Australia based on recent solar installations:
- Tarneit (Victoria)
- Box Hill (NSW)
- Bundaberg (Queensland)
- Caloundra (Queensland)
- Mackay (Queensland)
- Roxburgh Park (Victoria)
- Maryborough (Queensland)
- Kellyville (NSW)
- Toowoomba (Queensland)
- Werribee (Victoria)
