The amount of energy produced from Photovoltaic Panels (PVs) last year shot up to 131,303.7 kWp in 2018, increasing by over 16 per cent from the previous year. 

According to figures by the National Statistics Office (NSO) published on Friday, the domestic sector amounted to 52.1 per cent of the total amount, followed by 43.8 and 4.1 per cent in the commercial and public sectors respectively. 

The peak power rating of an average PV system in the domestic sector, the NSO said, stood at 2.9kWP, while that for the commercial and public sectors totalled 45.2 and 20.9kWp respectively.

Where are most PV panels located?

According to the statistics office, most of the energy was generated in the South Eastern and Northern Harbour districts at 19.6 and 17.8 per cent of the total.

Increases were highest in the Northern Harbour district and lowest in the Southern Harbour district, the NSO said. 

The stock of PV installations amounted to 25,007 last year, of which 84.5 per cent were installed in Malta and 15.5 per cent in Gozo and Comino. 

The Northern Harbour and Western districts accounted for 37.5 per cent of the total stock of PV installations with 4,831 and 4,544 installations respectively.