Australia is one of the world leaders in the uptake of roof-top solar systems, but it is falling behind when it comes to the rollout of large-scale solar farms, a new study has found.
As speculation mounts about the federal government changing its climate change policies, an analysis by the Energy Supply Association of Australia found South Australia and Tasmania had some of the highest per capita wind generation in the world.
The report found Australia ranked sixth in the world when it came to the uptake of solar photovoltaic roof-top systems on a per capita basis (with 0.19 kilowatts). The top three countries were Germany (0.47 kilowatts), Italy (0.31 kilowatts) and Belgium (0.19 kilowatts). 
By contrast, in the United States, the world's biggest economy, only 0.5 per cent of households, or 600,0000 homes, have solar PV installed. A small-scale solar system is defined as less than 100 kilowatts.
When combined with wind power, Australia ranked eighth (0.35 kilowatts). Denmark (0.97 kilowatts), Germany (0.95 kilowatts) and Spain (0.63 kilowatts) are the top three countries in the world in terms of per capita uptake.
On a cumulative basis for both wind and solar, Australia did not feature in the top countries, but it ranked highly when it came to market penetration, 15 per cent of households having a solar system on their roofs.
Australia (3800 megawatts) ranks 11th in the world for wind generation per capita, ahead of countries like China and France.
South Australia (0.87 kilowatts) and Tasmania (0.6 kilowatts) were second and third in the world respectively in wind energy output on a per capita basis, behind Iowa (1.83 kilowatts) in the United States.
Energy Supply Association of Australia chief executive Matthew Warren said the new analysis showed Australia had not been a laggard on renewable energy generation.
"More than one in seven households now have solar PV systems mounted on their roofs, which is a 15 per cent penetration rate," Mr Warren said.
"We have double the penetration rates of the next best country, Belgium, and more than three times the level in Germany, which is considered a world leader in solar generation."
The Australian Financial Review revealed last month the postcodes at the front line of Australia's solar revolution were mostly in regional cities and outer-suburban battlers rather than inner-city elites, with solar panels being used as a way to alleviate double-digit power bill increases over the past five years.
But Australia is still on a steep learning curve when it comes to large-scale or utility-sized solar systems.
AGL Energy's 102-megawatt solar farm in Nyngan is the only large-scale example, although there are other small examples in the Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
By contrast, California has more than 7.3 gigawatts of large-scale solar capacity out of a total of 9.4 gigawatts of installed capacity. Spain and Italy also have developed large amounts of utility-scale solar.
Not surprisingly, coal remained Australia's dominant energy source, accounting for more than 70 per cent of its electricity generation, the report found.
The only two countries with a greater reliance on coal are Poland and Estonia.
The new Turnbull government has moved to embrace renewables and new Resources and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has backed a doubling of the renewable energy industry.
A report by the Australian Energy Market Operator in   August found there were a projected 73 new wind farm and seven large-scale solar projects that are due to come into effect over the next few years to help meet the renewable energy target of 33,000 gigawatt hours, or 23.5 per cent of clean energy, by 2020, as coal and gas power stations were decommissioned.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt is understood to be considering bringing forward the purchase of international permits to mid next year when the new safeguard mechanism for big polluters comes into effect.
This would allow 140 of the biggest polluters to buy international permits to offset their domestic emissions.
Critics have warned the scheme could be "gamed" by companies who will buy permits rather than changing their own behaviour.