One of Australia’s biggest energy industry lobbies say the nation has become a world leader in solar power installation.

New figures from the Energy Supply Association of Australia - which represents both the fossil fuel and renewable energy sector – says almost 15 per cent of Australian households have adopted the technology to power their homes.

The number is part of data sourced from around the world, which reveals household solar photovoltaic (PV) penetration in Australia is way ahead of any other nation.

Australia’s solar penetration is three times that of Germany, which is second on the world rankings and typically considered one of the most prolific solar adopters.

“Germany, the US, Spain and others are held up as being at the forefront of solar power, but it is Australia, where households have taken it upon themselves to install solar PV, that easily lead the world when it comes to solar penetration,” the ESAA report states.

While Australia leads the world on small-scale solar, Germany still wins on utility-scale installations.

Germany produces about three times more energy per million people than Australia does.

Australian Solar Council chief executive John Grimes has told Fairfax reporters that policies for rooftop solar systems let Australia get the edge.

“The economics are compelling,” Mr Grimes said.

“The cost of the technology continues to fall at such a rate that it is already much cheaper to install solar than it is to buy electricity from the grid. And with the advent of cheap energy storage technology – battery technology – that really closes the loop.

“People like the Energy Supply Association and others should rightly be thinking about this.

“If they don't start to embrace the technology as opposed to resist it, their members companies – the big utilities – are set to become the Kodaks of the future.”