by admin on January 23, 2009
Submissions Closed for NSW Solar Feed In Tariff scheme.
While a number of electricity retailers already operate buy back schemes, the Government is looking to further encourage and assist home owners to switch to renewable energy sources.
The Solar FIT task force is made up of representatives from the Dept of Water and Energy, the Dept of Environment and Climate Change, the Premiers Dept and the NSW Treasury.
The Task Force is expected to finalise its recommendations for a feed in tariff in early 2009, with the scheme expected to be in place by mid 2009.
For more information, go to the Department of Water and Energy website.
Federal Government rebate applications on the rise
According to Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garret, there have been an average of over 500 applications lodged each week since the May, 2008 Budget, with 700 in one week alone!
This is despite the fact that the Government had placed an annual income cap of of $100,000.00 on people wishing to install solar panels on their roofs.
Editorial: While the Australian Government and Opposition argue about the solar rebate scheme and credits, the environment continues to suffer the effects of pollution from coal burning power stations, and prices are set to spiral out of control.
With Government policy being hard to track at times, the decision about solar for homeowners considering the move should be when to do it, rather than if!
This is obviously a time sensitive issue.
I find it remarkable too that the NSW Government’s Solar Task Force opened and closed submissions from the public so quickly.
Less than two months have passed from the announcement of the Task Force on November 22, 2008 to the closing of public submissions on January 12, 2009.
While there may be a need to get the tariff finalised quickly, it makes me wonder why the the Department of Water and Energy’s website only began calling for submissions on January 8, just 4 days before they closed!
To have such a short submission period, especially in the middle of summer when most people are distracted by holidays and cricket makes me doubt whether the winning model will be a ‘gross’ feed in tariff!
by admin on January 15, 2009
Writing about something is always easier when you have a testimony!
Facts, figures and opinions are fine, but when it comes down to it, when one of the simplest ways to get a message across is to find people who have experience in the area that you are talking about.
Today I’d like to introduce you to Jill and Greg, both of whom have had solar panels fitted to their roofs, and produce part of their own power supply.
Jill and her husband had solar hot water installed on their house almost 20 years ago.
Jill said: “we’ve had such a great run out of solar hot water over the years that it only seemed natural to go to back to the grid solar power.
We had the 1 kilowatt system installed early last year, and it began making a difference to our energy costs straight away.
We’re now looking at upgrading to a larger system, probably more for environmental reasons than budgetary ones!”
Doing something for the environment is great!
Doing something to help the environment is a great motivation, and the fact that back to the grid solar panels can also save money is great news too!
Greg and his wife Maria installed a one kilowatt system after the power bill from hell last winter.
“We were so shocked at our consumption of power, and the cost, that we switched to solar as soon as we learned about the rebates from the government” said Greg.
“We’ve been saving some where around 30% on our power bill since installing the panels, but are now looking to install more panels, because with three kids, heating and cooling aren’t going to get any cheaper”.
I think that it is interesting that both these households are looking to increase their solar capacity within a year of installing the 1kw system.
This seems to be a common thread among people that I talk to, and I have taken advantage of their experience by ordering the larger 2kw system for our house at the start.
To my mind, while it may cost more, it will be cheaper than getting the installers back a second time.
While it may seem expensive to install solar panels, with the incentive of government rebates a lot of the sting is taken out of the cost.
Another thing to consider is that electricity prices are going up – with an increase of between 15 – 25% due over the next year or so.
The reason for the price increases are simple – Australia’s power stations need up grading to meet the demand from consumers, as well as the governments new carbon emissions targets.
Feed in tariffs can help – these are credits that home owners can receive for electricity that they feed into the grid, helping to reduce their costs even further.
Need more information? Simply fill in the form below with your message, and I will get right back to you.
A photovoltaic solar panel
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