The energy generated by grid-connected solar panels in 2017 increased by 22.1% over the previous year, the National Statistics Office said on Tuesday.

Using data compiled by the Regulator for Energy and Water Services, the NSO said PV panel installations in 2017 generated an estimated 155.3 GWh (gigawatt hour = 1 billion watt hours).

The stock of PV installations stood at 22,862, last year, of which 84.3% were installed in the region of Malta and 15.7% were in the Gozo and Comino region. 

The Northern Harbour and Western districts accounted for 37.6% of the total stock of PV installations with 4,436 and 4,161, respectively.

When compared to 2016, new installations increased by 13.3 %. Increases were highest in the Southern Harbour district (16.4%) and lowest in the Gozo and Comino district (11.9%).

The domestic sector accounted for 94% (21,491)of the total stock of PV installations. The stock of PV installations in the commercial sector stood at 1,109 (4.9%) and in the public sector the number stood at 267 (1.1%). 

Most increases in the new PV installations resulted from the domestic sector. The Norther Harbour district had the highest stock of PV installations in both domestic and commercial sectors. 

Total kWp (kilowatt peak – the peak power rating of a panel) amounted to 112,341.4, an increase of 20% over 2016. The domestic sector amounted to 54% of total kWp, followed by 41.2% and 4.8% in the commercial and public sectors respectively. 

The peak power rating of an average PV system in the domestic sector stood at 2.8kWp, whereas that for the commercial and public sectors amounted to 41.8 and 20.4 kWp respectively.