National Solar

Disclaimer

Geoscape Australia believes this publication to be correct at the time of printing and does not accept responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of the information herein. Readers should rely on their own skill and judgement to apply information to particular issues.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission of Geoscape Australia.

Overview

National Solar is a national digital dataset representing photovoltaic solar panel information for each state and territory of Australia. The National Solar dataset has relationships with the Buildings and G-NAF products produced by Geoscape Australia.

Geoscape Australia welcomes your feedback on the National Solar product. We also publish regular product development updates on our website (www.geoscape.com.au).

Release Summary

This product was released to customers on 30 September 2026 with data extracted on 25 September 2026.

  • This release is a full national data population for Version 1.4 of the National Solar product, described by the National Solar Product Guide v1.4.

Any issues that have been identified for this release are described in the Issues section.

This release includes updates for the areas listed in the table below.

Locations of updated areas by State

State

Location

Urban Area (km2)

NSW

Albury City Council

1

NSW

Armidale Regional Council

43

NSW

Bathurst Regional Council

28

NSW

Bega Valley Shire Council

1

NSW

Berrigan Shire Council

5

NSW

Bland Shire Council

3

NSW

Blayney Shire Council

1

NSW

Blue Mountains City Council

12

NSW

Bogan Shire Council

2

NSW

Bourke Shire Council

3

NSW

Brewarrina Shire Council

1

NSW

Camden Council

9

NSW

Campbelltown City Council

6

NSW

Carrathool Shire Council

5

NSW

Central Coast Council

40

NSW

Cessnock City Council

46

NSW

Clarence Valley Council

2

NSW

Cobar Shire Council

3

NSW

Coolamon Shire Council

1

NSW

Dungog Shire Council

22

NSW

Edward River Council

6

NSW

Eurobodalla Shire Council

37

NSW

Federation Council

17

NSW

Glen Innes Severn Shire Council

6

NSW

Goulburn Mulwaree Council

47

NSW

Greater Hume Shire Council

7

NSW

Griffith City Council

22

NSW

Gunnedah Shire Council

9

NSW

Gwydir Shire Council

8

NSW

Hawkesbury City Council

7

NSW

Hay Shire Council

2

NSW

Inverell Shire Council

10

NSW

Kyogle Council

2

NSW

Lachlan Shire Council

3

NSW

Lake Macquarie City Council

14

NSW

Leeton Shire Council

5

NSW

Lithgow City Council

37

NSW

Liverpool City Council

3

NSW

Liverpool Plains Shire Council

9

NSW

Lockhart Shire Council

4

NSW

Maitland City Council

28

NSW

Mid-Coast Council

1

NSW

Mid-Western Regional Council

15

NSW

Moree Plains Shire Council

8

NSW

Murray River Council

10

NSW

Murrumbidgee Council

4

NSW

Muswellbrook Shire Council

18

NSW

Narrabri Shire Council

10

NSW

Narrandera Shire Council

4

NSW

Northern Beaches Council

2

NSW

Oberon Council

7

NSW

Penrith City Council

1

NSW

Port Stephens Council

33

NSW

Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council

17

NSW

Shellharbour City Council

6

NSW

Shoalhaven City Council

49

NSW

Singleton Council

42

NSW

Snowy Monaro Regional Council

1

NSW

Sutherland Shire Council

3

NSW

Tamworth Regional Council

60

NSW

Tenterfield Shire Council

9

NSW

The Council of the Municipality of Kiama

17

NSW

The Council of the Shire of Hornsby

4

NSW

The Hills Shire Council

5

NSW

Upper Hunter Shire Council

12

NSW

Upper Lachlan Shire Council

10

NSW

Uralla Shire Council

9

NSW

Wagga Wagga City Council

1

NSW

Walcha Council

3

NSW

Warrumbungle Shire Council

10

NSW

Wingecarribee Shire Council

43

NSW

Wollondilly Shire Council

119

NSW

Wollongong City Council

9

NSW

Yass Valley Council

1

QLD

Balonne Shire

2

QLD

Banana Shire

16

QLD

Barcaldine Regional

4

QLD

Blackall Tambo Regional

2

QLD

Bundaberg Regional

56

QLD

Burdekin Shire

9

QLD

Cairns Regional

20

QLD

Cassowary Coast Regional

16

QLD

Central Highlands Regional

34

QLD

Charters Towers Regional

9

QLD

Cook Shire

4

QLD

Douglas Shire

5

QLD

Etheridge Shire

1

QLD

Flinders Shire

2

QLD

Fraser Coast Regional

2

QLD

Gladstone Regional

31

QLD

Goondiwindi Regional

8

QLD

Gympie Regional

56

QLD

Hinchinbrook Shire

6

QLD

Ipswich City

29

QLD

Isaac Regional

13

QLD

Livingstone Shire

31

QLD

Lockyer Valley Regional

149

QLD

Longreach Regional

2

QLD

Mackay Regional

39

QLD

Maranoa Regional

13

QLD

Mareeba Shire

15

QLD

Moreton Bay City

1

QLD

Murweh Shire

3

QLD

North Burnett Regional

15

QLD

Paroo Shire

2

QLD

Quilpie Shire

1

QLD

Rockhampton Regional

14

QLD

Scenic Rim Regional

13

QLD

Somerset Regional

46

QLD

South Burnett Regional

35

QLD

Southern Downs Regional

56

QLD

Sunshine Coast Regional

1

QLD

Tablelands Regional

19

QLD

Toowoomba Regional

112

QLD

Townsville City

44

QLD

Western Downs Regional

33

QLD

Whitsunday Regional

14

TAS

Burnie City Council

6

TAS

Central Coast Council

33

TAS

Central Highlands Council

3

TAS

Circular Head Council

6

TAS

Derwent Valley Council

1

TAS

Devonport City Council

6

TAS

George Town Council

1

TAS

Huon Valley Council

5

TAS

Kentish Council

6

TAS

King Island Council

1

TAS

Latrobe Council

13

TAS

Meander Valley Council

9

TAS

Northern Midlands Council

1

TAS

Waratah-Wynyard Council

14

TAS

West Coast Council

1

TAS

West Tamar Council

5

VIC

Alpine Shire

5

VIC

Bass Coast Shire

12

VIC

Baw Baw Shire

23

VIC

Benalla Rural City

22

VIC

Campaspe Shire

30

VIC

Cardinia Shire

64

VIC

Casey City

13

VIC

Gannawarra Shire

4

VIC

Golden Plains Shire

12

VIC

Greater Bendigo City

40

VIC

Greater Geelong City

59

VIC

Greater Shepparton City

50

VIC

Hepburn Shire

9

VIC

Hume City

4

VIC

Indigo Shire

19

VIC

Knox City

1

VIC

Latrobe City

21

VIC

Loddon Shire

4

VIC

Macedon Ranges Shire

57

VIC

Mansfield Shire

11

VIC

Melton City

5

VIC

Mitchell Shire

22

VIC

Moira Shire

17

VIC

Moorabool Shire

17

VIC

Mornington Peninsula Shire

47

VIC

Mount Alexander Shire

13

VIC

Murrindindi Shire

23

VIC

Nillumbik Shire

25

VIC

Queenscliffe Borough

1

VIC

South Gippsland Shire

27

VIC

Strathbogie Shire

10

VIC

Surf Coast Shire

23

VIC

Wangaratta Rural City

14

VIC

Wellington Shire

18

VIC

Whittlesea City

22

VIC

Wodonga City

3

VIC

Wyndham City

17

VIC

Yarra Ranges Shire

82

Total

3,000

^ Location names are derived from intersection with the most recent Local Government Area dataset.

Spatial files of the updated areas are available upon request via support@geoscape.com.au.

Change Notifications

Versioning Update (Starting June 2026)

Beginning June 2026, all data products will transition to a standardised versioning format: MAJOR-MINOR-EXTRACT (e.g., 004-000-001). This approach provides a clear and consistent structure, making it easier for users to identify product versions and understand update levels at a glance. The change is intended to improve transparency, reduce ambiguity, and support more efficient integration and usage of our data products.

Implementation of New Zip File Naming and Packaging Standards (Starting August 2026)

As part of ongoing improvements to product consistency and packaging standards, updates to zip file naming conventions and internal packaging structure will be implemented, starting in August 2026.

Zip File Naming

Two standard naming patterns will be used, depending on whether an extract contains spatial information:

  • Spatial Tables:

{PRODUCT-NAME}_{RELEASE YYYYMM}_{REGION}_{CRS}_{FORMAT}_{VERSION MAJOR-MINOR-EXTRACT}.zip

  • Aspatial (Insights) Tables:

{PRODUCT-NAME}_{RELEASE YYYYMM}_{REGION}_NODATUM_{FORMAT}_{VERSION MAJOR-MINOR-EXTRACT}.zip

Packaging Structure

All zip files will follow a simplified, flat directory layout:

  • No nested folders

  • The primary data file will be located at the top level of the zip.

Note: The product package will no longer include supporting content.txt files.

These changes ensure consistent packaging across all products, reduce complexity, and support improved automation and user experience.

Issues

New Issues

No new issues.

Resolved Issues

No resolved issues.

Known Issues

Solar polygons cut off at the edge of capture areas

Where a solar polygon is captured that crosses the edge of a capture area, the portion of the solar array that is outside will not be included in the product. This occurs in a small number of instances and will result in smaller than real-world solar_area and daily_estimated_power values.

Incorrect capture of solar polygons

Solar hot water heating, swimming pool heating and other rooftop features such as air-conditioning units can incorrectly be captured as solar polygons. These features are removed from the data where possible as they do not represent photovoltaic solar. Geoscape intends to continue to improve our processes to reduce these occurrences over time.

Solar type accuracy for low-resolution capture

Where a solar polygon is captured using imagery with resolution greater than or equal to 10cm, there is a reduction in the correctness of the solar_type classification. This often causes monocrystalline panels to be assigned with a ‘Thin-film’ solar_type value as individual panels cannot be differentiated in the imagery. Daily estimated power outputs for these records will be lower than the real-world value.

Future Considerations

This section outlines enhancements or changes under consideration, but not planned into a specific release. For further details on future initiatives, please contact Geoscape Support.

Z-values

Geoscape is considering including z-values for the solar table that would provide heights for each vertex of a solar polygon. There is potential for this information to be used to derive other attributes, such as the aspect of the solar panel.

Aspect

Geoscape is considering including an ‘aspect’ attribute that would describe the direction that the solar panel is facing. This attribute could potentially be used to improve estimates of the power generated by the solar array.

Improvements to Daily Estimated Power

Geoscape intends to further improve the daily_estimated_power attribute. For this improvement we would potentially assess the impact of the:

  • resolution of the imagery used to capture the solar polygon

  • aspect of the solar polygon

  • roof_shape of the building related to the solar polygon

  • surrounding heights of buildings, trees and other features such as mountains that could potentially shade the solar array and reduce the power output

Adjustments to this estimate will be made from the results of this assessment.

Annex A – Release Counts

Additional, retired and total National Solar counts and the percent change to the previous release have been listed in the table below.

TABLE

STATISTIC

ACT

NSW

NT

OT

QLD

SA

TAS

VIC

WA

TOTAL

solar

Additional

78,121

469,309

2,276

2

144,283

226,437

11,493

117,086

0

1,049,007

Retired

66,348

387,786

1,806

7

110,591

161,804

8,520

73,525

0

810,387

Updated

157,994

428,191

8,041

0

61,053

737,160

122

110,693

0

1,503,254

Total

236,453

3,057,671

73,991

24

2,715,001

1,253,090

136,181

2,379,265

1,546,646

11,398,322

% Change

4.98%

2.67%

0.64%

-20.83%

1.24%

5.16%

2.18%

1.83%

0.00%

2.09%

solar_solar_address

Total

768,250

7,393,357

285,690

3

5,089,338

2,072,657

163,516

5,148,371

2,837,860

23,759,042

solar_address

Total

233,551

4,303,396

95,298

79

2,769,296

997,246

308,992

3,577,630

1,368,183

13,653,671

solar_building

Total

257,953

5,327,530

166,156

457

3,807,211

1,753,600

603,272

5,036,081

2,177,792

19,130,052