Anything but coal: solar the most popular energy source in Australia

By Peter Hannam
Updated May 25 2015 - 10:08pm, first published 2:14pm
Site manager Nick Wain at the Royalla Solar Farm, near Canberra. Photo: Matt Bedford
Site manager Nick Wain at the Royalla Solar Farm, near Canberra. Photo: Matt Bedford
Royalla Solar Farm - support is generally strong from large-scale solar, survey finds. Photo: Graham Tidy
Royalla Solar Farm - support is generally strong from large-scale solar, survey finds. Photo: Graham Tidy

Solar energy is the most popular source of electricity in Australia with more than three times the backing of coal-fired or nuclear power, a survey by Ipsos has found.