Wagga rooftop solar installations put city in top 10 postcode across NSW

According to data from the federal Clean Energy Regulator, the total potential output of all the rooftop solar panels in Wagga's postcode combined has exceeded 36 megawatts.

If every rooftop panel in the postcode was running at 100 per cent capacity, it would exceed the maximum output of the Burrinjuck hydroelectric station and equal just under half the output of the Blowering station.

Kirk Hamblin, co-owner of Hamblin Solar in Wagga, said the company had been in demand.

"We've been quite busy for a long period of time but we did notice a spike after the new year around January February and March.

"It had been a bit slow over the previous five months but it has picked up again."

Mr Hamblin said Wagga homeowners had given a couple of reasons for why they had chosen to install solar panels.

"The main reason is when someone gets a large and unexpected power bill, and that tends to prompt them to reach out and get a quote for solar," he said.

Wagga's postcode is currently ranked 10^th for most small-scale solar installations with 6558 locations between 2001 and April this year, including nearly 2000 new locations in the past two years.

The ranking puts Wagga ahead of Coffs Harbour and behind areas in Sydney's suburbs, the Central Coast, Tweed Heads and Dubbo as the only other inland regional location in the top 10.

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SolarWise Wagga owner and manager Alex Manley there were some seasonal variations in the demand for solar.

"There has been a steady increase in rooftop solar; it is becoming more like the air conditioning industry in that's it's more mainstream now," he said.

"The incentives are becoming lower but people are still backing solar as the cost of energy has just kept going up."

Mr Manley also said the cost of energy was the main reason behind customers seeking to install solar and more people were looking at battery storage and smart home management to save on energy costs.

"On average, most people would offset about 50 per cent of their energy costs and some would get a bit more," he said.

Both Mr Hamblin and Mr Manley said Wagga had numerous solar installers who delivered quality work and encouraged anyone who was approached by a door-to-door salesperson from outside the city to get another quote for comparison.

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