WA State Government scheme designed to help residents recover the purchase cost of their renewable energy system has been suspended after reaching its quota.

Energy Minister Peter Collier said the scheme's popularity had led to the installation quota being reached quickly and it will now be suspended.

"The feed-in tariff scheme has been a great success - under the scheme, more than 65,000 homes will be generating their own renewable electricity which will add an extra 150 megawatts of renewable energy capacity to the grid," Mr Collier said.

"This quota has now been reached and it will be suspended from today (Aug 1, 2011) - applications already received or postmarked before today will be accepted, but there will be no more applications processed until further notice."

Feed-in tariff payments will continue for those residents already on the scheme for the remainder of their 10-year subsidy payment period. Synergy and Horizon Power will also continue buying excess electricity fed into the grid from all residential renewable systems under the State Government's Renewable Energy Buyback Scheme.

Mr Collier said that, despite the suspension, people would still be able to pay off their systems well within the 10 years, as was the schemes original intention.

"Wholesale prices of renewable energy systems have halved in the past 12 months which has resulted in greater affordability and means customers will be able to recover the purchase cost of their systems much quicker," the Minister said.

For more information on the suspension of the scheme, please visit the Office of Energy website http://www.energy.wa.gov.au/

As household electricity prices skyrocket, more West Australians are using other sources of energy and learning how to save hundreds of dollars and the environment at the same time. Click here to read the full article in the West Australian today.

Come along to the grandopening of Solar Shop Australia’s new retail store in Kotara, NSW, this weekend. 

Solar Shop Australia has partnered with the Dogs' Refuge Home in Shenton Park, Perth, with the aim of providing solar panels for their kennels.

Chris and Sue Wirrell - Happy with their reduced power bill!

By Chris and Sue Wirrell, Booragoon, Western Australia

After deliberating for almost 12 months, in March this year we finally decided to use the Solar Shop to install a 1.5 kW solar system for us, before our $8000 government rebate expired. With less than 1 month left for us to claim our rebate, the Solar Shop was able to have our system fully installed and operating (they even organised to have our power meter upgraded by Western Power).

After making a couple of small changes in our house PLUS having the solar power sytem installed, we have been pleasantly surprised to receive our first power bill. Even taking into consideration that W.A. still had a low buy back pricing scheme, our bi-monthly power bill has reduce by $100 ($290.10 down to $189.70, after deducting the price of the new power meter). Admittedly this is during some of Perth's sunniest months but the system was only operating for 5 of the 8 weeks covered by this power bill plus the swimming pool pump and garden bore pump were operating more often because of the hot weather. The system is performing even better that the Solar Shop salesman indicated.....under promise and over deliver.

Power bills used to be one of those dreaded pieces of mail: not now, bring on the next power bill. With W.A.'s new feed-in tariff scheme just starting we're confident of even greater savings in the future. Solar is the power of good!

UPDATE from Facebook - Reviews

... the workmanship on the expansion installation was fantastic.
I was impressed with the output from our 1.4kW system, now I'm over the moon with our 1.8kW system, just in time for W.A.'s increased buy back rates.....bring on the next power bill!

The Wirrell's solar power system

Steve DeRosa - Solar Shop Renewable Energy Advisor

Solar Shop Australia Renewable Energy Advisor, Steve DeRosa, recently gave up his Sunday morning  to plant reeds and small shrubs by the river at East Perth, as part of Planet Ark's annual awareness event, National Tree Day.

Along with his two housemates,  Steve worked on a project that aims to to maintain the integrity of the local river banks and encourage native birds to come back to the area and nest in a safe environment. In a mammoth effort, and one which we at Solar Shop are proud of,  they planted over 420 shrubs - well done guys!

Planet Ark's National Tree Day is the largest community based tree planting event in Australia, which has had more than 2 million volunteers plant over 15 million trees in its 14 year history. Make sure you stay tuned for the event in 2011.

Western Australians who own a solar power system now have another reason to smile, with the commencement of the net feed-in tariff yesterday.  For those who don't have a system, now is the time to explore buying one!

The feed-in tariff  gives system owners 40 cents for every unit of electricity that is exported, and when combined with the Renewable Energy Buyback scheme, currently at 7 cents, owners get a total of 47 cents.

In a net scheme like WA’s, the home first uses the power that is generated from the solar panels on the roof. This is used to power TVs, fridges, any appliance that requires electricity to operate. If there is any left over, the system exports this to the electricity grid to be used by someone else. And the feed-in tariff pays you for this electricity exported.

The good thing about a net feed-in tariff is that it encourages energy efficiency. The less power the home uses the more it exports. This means more smaller, or in some cases a zero dollar electricity bills and more money for you! 

So not only are you creating your very own green power, you are rewarded for using less traditional 'dirty' electricity. So having a solar power system is good for the environment and good for the family budget!

Feed-in Tariff Summary:

Model: Net (information on Net feed-in tariffs can be found here)
Tariff Rate: $0.40 + Renewable Energy Buyback Scheme tariff $0.07 = $0.47/kWh
Length: customers to receive payments for 10 years
Eligible Systems: Up to 5kW for Synergy grid, up to 10kW/phase for Horizon Grid (30kW for 3 phase grid connection)
Start date: 1 August 2010
End date: 20 years from commencement

For more information on the feed-in tariff visit the WA Office of Energy’s website.

Dozens of employees from Alcoa’s operations at Wagerup, WA,  will be given the opportunity to learn how to lessen their environmental impact next week as a result of a specialist solar energy workshop, organised in collaboration with Solar Shop Australia.

The workshop will focus on the benefits of solar technology and in particular how Australians can take control of rising electricity costs through solar power, while eliminating electricity bills and reducing their carbon footprint at the same time.

 Organised by solar energy provider, Solar Shop Australia, the workshop has been planned as part of Alcoa’s Make an Impact program, which was created in partnership with Greening Australia in 2006.  The well-established program has over 1400 members and helps Alcoa’s employees become part of the solution to climate change.  The Solar Shop workshop coincides with the Make an Impact program’s solar month in July.

 According to Lewis Sheppard from Solar Shop Australia, which is based in O’Connor, participants in the workshop will learn how solar energy can help to save both money and the environment.

 “Learning about this emerging technology is important for all householders, because it’s one thing that people can do to become more sustainable and beat rising power prices,” he says.

 “The Alcoa workforce in particular has embraced education and understanding around solar energy which is great to see – it really is a win win because this uncomplicated technology is reliable, affordable and in strong demand right across the world.”

 A series of Make an Impact workshops has been organised by Solar Shop Australia across Alcoa’s West Australian operations during July.  These include presentations at the Booragoon head office, Huntly Mine, Willowdale Mine, Pinjarra Refinery, Wagerup Refinery, Kwinana Refinery, and Alcoa’s Peel Office.

 Further information about the Make an Impact program can be found at  www.alcoa.com.au/makeanimpact.