3,069 solar installations registered with the Clean Energy Regulator · ranked top 15% in New South Wales · data current as at 2026-05-15
Based on last week's New South Wales grid mix (avg 790 gCO₂/kWh), Newcastle's 3,069 solar systems typically avoid around 18.55 tonnes of CO₂ every hour during peak generation.
Grid intensity data: Open Electricity (openelectricity.org.au) · 7-day average · updates monthly
Newcastle sits in the top third of New South Wales for solar uptake, ranking 104th in the state out of 721 postcodes in the Clean Energy Regulator dataset. New installations eased in the past 12 months (195 systems, 29% below the previous year), a natural slowdown after earlier periods of stronger uptake.
The combined impact is substantial: Newcastle's solar community avoids an estimated 29,628 tonnes of CO₂ every year — equivalent to taking 14,109 cars off the road or powering around 5,926 average Australian homes with clean electricity. This is estimated using New South Wales's average grid emissions intensity of 790 gCO₂/kWh, sourced from OpenElectricity, applied to an average system size of 9kW.