4,696 solar installations registered with the Clean Energy Regulator · ranked top 25% in Queensland · data current as at 2026-05-15
Based on last week's Queensland grid mix (avg 810 gCO₂/kWh), Cairns's 4,696 solar systems typically avoid around 29.10 tonnes of CO₂ every hour during peak generation.
Grid intensity data: Open Electricity (openelectricity.org.au) · 7-day average · updates monthly
Cairns sits in the top third of Queensland for solar uptake, ranking 83rd in the state out of 449 postcodes in the Clean Energy Regulator dataset. New installations eased in the past 12 months (354 systems, 21% below the previous year), a natural slowdown after earlier periods of stronger uptake.
The combined impact is substantial: Cairns's solar community avoids an estimated 46,483 tonnes of CO₂ every year — equivalent to taking 22,135 cars off the road or powering around 9,297 average Australian homes with clean electricity. This is estimated using Queensland's average grid emissions intensity of 810 gCO₂/kWh, sourced from OpenElectricity, applied to an average system size of 9kW.