This is a post from: Treading Lighter - Journeys Into Sustainable Living.

Solar Feed In Tariff Update

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With the recent changes to the solar panel rebate (surely only a Government could make it this complicated?), the Australian solar industry is having a hard time getting a decent head start against its coal powered competitors; so a petition has been launched calling for the introduction of a national feed-in tariff.

What’s a feed-in tariff? It’s a rebate awarded to a household for the electricity it generates from its grid connected solar panels. Essentially, an ongoing reward for installing them.

There’s two models of tariff – net & gross. The net model currently favoured by the individual states that have a tariff (VIC, SA, NT, QLD, TAS) only rebates for the surplus the house feeds back to the grid. As Gavin shows with his quick calculations based on the Victorian program in this post, that’s about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

The gross feed-in tariff sees each household rebated instead for all the electricity it generates. The ACT is currently the only supporter of this model. (WA & NSW are yet to decide.)

So, why is a gross feed in tariff better? Well, we Australians are a simple lot really, dangle a carrot and we’ll take it. Dangle a bigger carrot, and we’ll take that instead. And put simply, a gross feed in tariff will produce a bigger carrot.

The opportunity for a bigger carrot higher rebate will create more demand, benefiting both the domestic solar power industry (by helping kick start a ‘green’ economy, thus providing jobs and job security), and Australia (by reducing our reliance on fossil fuel generated electricity, thus reducing our carbon emissions). It’ll also help us meet those 2020 renewable energy targets (PDF).

If you’d like to join those wanting to see Australia launch a national gross feed-in tariff (which as at an update of this morning has collected more than 4000 names in under 7 days), head over to feedintariff.com.au.

What are your thoughts about a feed in tariff? Should it be net or gross? Should it be National or State administered? Leave us a comment below.

(Update: As at Feb 5, the petition is now nearly 7000 names long. Great work, people!)

This is a post from: Treading Lighter - Journeys Into Sustainable Living.

Australian Solar Power Needs A Gross Feed In Tariff

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Personally I think this is fantastic news, as it really shows that renewable energy is starting to be seen as a viable source of power in Australia.

And lets face it, given the abundance of the stuff, it surely has to be a no-brainer?

What really caught my eye though was the headline of the story, which strangely, wasn’t promoting solar, but rather nuclear, with a result of just 20%.

Funny how the media works…

Photo: Solar Power

This is a post from: Treading Lighter - Journeys Into Sustainable Living.

26% Believe Solar Is The Way

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A builder from Melbourne, Sid Jager, was featured in the article after commenting about the way the threshold for government assistance towards the solar panel rebate is applied. With a family income above the nominal limit of $150,000, he is unable to claim the $8,000 towards the total $14,000 cost of a solar panel system.

Mr Jager consequently decided not to install the panels “because of the cost and not being eligible for the rebate”.

Now either this guy doesn’t have many marketing smarts, or he’s telling us that solar panels are too expensive. Either one is not particularly good; besides being a builder – Mr Jager also runs a solar panel business.

(By the way, if you’re interested in applying for the Federal Government’s Solar Panel Rebate, here’s your best starting point.)

Read The Australian’s article in full here

This is a post from: Treading Lighter - Journeys Into Sustainable Living.

Are Solar Panels Too Expensive?

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