The Australian Government supports the deployment of renewable energy in Australia's electricity supply through the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme. The RET guarantees a market for additional renewable energy generation, using a mechanism of tradeable Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).

Solar Credits is a mechanism within this scheme that provides additional support to households, businesses and community groups that install small-scale solar PV electricity systems by multiplying the number of RECs able to be created for eligible installations. More RECs equates to a larger rebate.

Each solar power system installed essentially earns a quantity of RECs, and these are typically credited against the upfront purchase price of a new system reducing the cost.

For systems installed from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012, the Solar Credits multiplier is three, and the government expects this to reduce by a factor of one each financial year until the standard rate of RECs creation (a multiplier of one) applies for systems installed from 1 July 2013.

The Governments aim is to reduce support of the Solar Credits scheme over time, reflecting reductions in technology costs. Solar electricity is eventually expected to be at paritiy with conventional fossil fuel generated electricity costs without any reliance on rebates.

The next proposed rebate drop is expected from June 30, 2012. However the Federal Goverment has a history of changing solar rebate policy at short notice. In mid 2011, the multiplier was unexpectedly reduced by a factor of 2, from 5x to 3x - and a month earlier than expected.

So what's the bottom line? Those thinking of going solar, should do so now to maximise their solar rebate & obtain the best price. Systems will need to be installed by June 30 at the very least, possibly earlier if the government chooses to reduce the rebate earlier. Installation lead times for most providers mean that orders will need to placed well before these dates.

Learn more about solar power and solar specials.

IPART - the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal have just released their draft report on changes to regulated electricity prices.

The report forecasts an average 16.4% increase in NSW electricity prices as of July 1 2012. This has been reflected in recent media activity with most other states prediciting similar annual increases.

The predominant drivers were Network costs, Retailer costs & Carbon pricing. Their report also acknowledges the pressure these increases place on households - "IPART recognises that the percentage rise in average electricity bills is likely to outstrip the percentage rise in average household income and therefore many households will spend an increasing proportion of their income on electricity bills, particularly those in low income, high consumption households. IPART strongly supports measures that will help to limit electricity prices increases while maintaining the viability of the electricity retail industry."

Interestingly Green Scheme's which encompass various wind & solar programs were shown to have little or no impact on electricity rises (see "Green Schemes" on graphic above). In fact electricity generation costs had dropped by 2% which some commentators attribute to the "merit order effect" from the growing volume of solar installations which are starting to influence lower wholesale electricity costs.

Learn more about eliminating your power bill with solar and how solar is now more afforable than ever.

Recent changes to the feed-in tariff scheme have amended the amount that can be earned by customers that install eligible solar photo-voltaic (PV) generators.

Customers with eligible PV generators are entitled to receive an additional premium, which has been determined by the Essential Services Commission. The amount reflects the fair and reasonable value to a retailer of electricity fed into the network, and all retailers selling electricity to eligible customers are required to pay the amount.

The Commission has released its Final Price Determination for the solar Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Premium to apply from 27 January 2012 – 30 June 2014.

The FiT Premium, which is credited on solar customers’ electricity bills when they generate more electricity than they use, reflects the fair and reasonable value of fed-in electricity to electricity retailers.

The Commission’s Final Determination is to set the FiT Premium as follows:

Feed-in Tariff Premium (nominal cents per kWh and GST exclusive)

All electricity retailers are required to provide at least this minimum FiT Premium to solar customers but may choose to credit a higher amount.

Solar customers are entitled to receive both the FiT Premium from electricity retailers and an additional credit from the electricity distributor, ETSA Utilities. Under the feed-in legislation, ETSA Utilities must pay eligible solar customers 44c/kWh of fed-in electricity (for those that connected, or obtained ETSA Utilities' approval to connect, the PV unit prior to 1 October 2011). From 1 October 2011, those solar customers that connected, or received approval to connect, the PV unit will receive a credit from ETSA Utilities of 16c/kWh.

Under the amended legislation, those receiving 44c/kWh also get the FiT premium determined by the Commission, which results in a total FiT amount of 51.1c/kWh from 27 January 2012. This will increase to about 53c/kWh from 1 July 2012. The total FiT amount is over 7 times the current value of wholesale electricity produced by the systems, and over 4 times the value of electricity being generated by wind farms (approximately 11c/kWh)

For further details & PDF Fact sheets visit Essential Services Commission of South Australia Web Site.

Home owners in the ACT can once again take advantage of the Territory government’s Feed-in Tariff scheme, with households now eligible for 30.16 cents per kilowatt hour for their generated power, on the medium-scale scheme that was originally intended for solar farms, commercial-scale installations, and community group projects.

The closure of the ‘micro-generator’ scheme in June, for new systems 30kW and under, was met with disappointment amongst the public and the solar industry. The united voices of a group of ACT-based solar companies, including Solar Shop Australia, the nation’s number one supplier of grid-connected solar, helped to turn the tide.

In the lead-up to the Rally for Solar in Canberra on June 21, Andrew Towndrow, our Manager in the Territory, said that “The Solar industry welcomes any alternative to closing access to the system, whether that be a lower tariff rate (34 cents) with regular reduction over time, allowing the industry to stand on its own two feet”.

Members of the Greens and Liberals Party banded together in the ACT Parliament to push the necessary changes through, delivering a practical solution for the problem of how to support the solar industry through a time of flux.

But critics warn that this temporary solution may hinder the approval of medium-scale projects, and point out that it will only delay the inevitable slow-down that will come after the medium-scale scheme hits its own 15-megawatt cap.

“This should be a wake up call to Federal, State and Territory Governments to develop a longer term strategy that does away with boom-bust industry," Andrew Towndrow said.

"They need to provide an ongoing sustainable incentive for the average Australian household to adopt renewable energy while eliminating the pass through cost burden on the remainder of the society and tax payers.”

The message for ACT households (and those planning commercial projects) is clear: now is a good time to take action.

Book a free home consultation with one of Solar Shop Australia’s Renewable Energy Advisors today, and check out our current special offers for great solar system deals, available with with $0 deposit finance.

The ACT Government announced on 1st June that the ‘Micro-Scale Solar Generation’ scheme for residential solar systems up to 30kW in size was to close to new participants.

ACT households are no longer able to access ANY incentives to encourage them to install roof-top solar power. The immediate result of this announcement has been the disappearance of this fledgling industry in the ACT, with the solar industry forced to lay off staff, with more to go in the coming weeks, if possible positive changes are not made to the scheme to maintain its accessibility to ACT householders going forward.

A group of ACT-based solar companies have met with Government, Greens & Liberal MLA’s to voice concerns about the dire situation and be part of workable solution that builds a sustainable local renewable energy ndustry.

To reinforce this, ACT solar businesses are leading a Rally for Solar on the Winter Solstice next Tuesday as a call for action for the ACT Assembly to work towards a win:win:win solution to this legislatively-created problem:

Businesses that have been represented in meetings with the local Government are: Akora Energy, Envirofriendly, Pure Solar, Pyramid Power, Solargain, Solartec and Solar Shop Australia.

"The ACT industry is already feeling the impact of this sudden announcement, and will be forced to rapidly change their business models if they want to keep their doors open beyond the end of July, “ said Andrew Towndrow, ACT Manager of one of Australia’s largest solar energy retailers, Solar Shop Australia.

“While the ACT Government has shown a strong commitment to renewable energy with the announcements earlier in the year, the impact of recent developments on the local solar industry will be devastating”.

The simple, reasonable request from Industry, and the householders they serve, is for Feed-in-Tariff incentives to be maintained for householders to access until there is “grid-parity” (i.e. Where the cost of electricity and the cost to install solar energy are equal and incentive support is no longer needed.)

“Solar industry welcomes any alternative to closing access to the system, whether that be a lower tariff rate ($0.34 cents) with regular reduction over time, allowing the industry to stand on it’s own two feet”.

“We would encourage all parties to try and find a solution that delivers a soft landing for industry and a sustainable future for all the workers that this industry supports”.

Solar companies, employees, householders and affected 3rd party suppliers (ie – installers and electricians and  climate action groups) are invited to participate.

Contact:
Andrew Towndrow
Phone 02 6202 2603
Fax 02 6202 2699
Mob 0448 968 829
Email andrew.towndrow@solarshop.com.au
facebook.com/rallyforsolar
twitter.com/rallyforsolar

As reported in The Advertiser and on Adelaide Now last week, South Australia's electricity distributor ETSA Utilities has won an appeal at the Australian Competition Tribunal which will see the typical residential electricity bill rising to $1270 a year, a 10% or $120 jump. The decision was made to give ETSA permission to recover an extra $301 million over five years to put towards the management of the electricity network.

This news prompted dismay from many South Australians who are already struggling to pay their utility bills, which are likely to rise by around 28.5% over two years, bringing total water, gas and electricity charges to $2812 per household, up from $2189.

With these increases coming there's never been a better time to get a free in-home consultation with a Solar Shop Renewable Energy Advisor about solar power for your home.

Meanwhile, the State Government is yet to determine whether it will offer ongoing support of a feed-in tariff scheme. Currently the FIT will increase to .54 and then drop out on October 1st.

Solar Shop Australia's actively lobbying all members with founder Adrian Ferraretto taking the lead to achieve an outcome that sees at least a 1:1 FIT put in place for the foreseeable future. 

We're also working with Clean Energy Council to provide background support to their efforts. The web page for Clean Energy Council's "Save SA Solar" Campaign explains how the Government can act to end the disasterous solar “boom-bust cycle”, where demand will increase rapidly up to the end of the scheme and then be non-existent afterwards,

And they can do it at no cost extra cost to taxpayers.

By reducing the level of the government’s solar incentive (known as a feed-in tariff) to 34c for new customers – instead of raising it to 54c – the scheme can run until 2014 at no extra cost. Existing solar households would not be affected. The length of the scheme can be reduced too – so instead of payments being made to solar households for 20 years (like in the existing program) it could be reduced to 10. This would still be enough for households to make back the costs of installing the solar panels, but greatly reduces the total costs.

By taking this win-win approach, a lot more households will get assistance to install solar and enjoy the benefits,and  the total cost to SA families is the same as the government’s proposed changes.

The Clean Energy Council, and Solar Shop Australia, commend the South Australian Government for the leadership it's shown on renewable energy and calls on it to reconsider its recent legislation.

If you you want to help, then please call or write to your local MP as soon as possible. Tell them why you love solar power and why they should act to save it. You can also contact Premier Rann and Opposition leader Isobel Redmond – let them both know that support for solar power should be bipartisan.

The WA Government announced last week that a new feed-in tariff rate of 20 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) will apply to all solar system applications received from 1 July 2011. As with the original scheme, system owners will receive payments for 10 years.

The New South Wales government's decision to retrospectively slash the current feed-in tariff to existing subscribers has sparked many solar panel owners and industry players to stand up and voice their opposing views. Read our previous post about the closure of NSW solar bonus scheme here.

Solar Shop Australia is a firm believer in solar power and other renewable energy sources, and strongly opposes the NSW's government to stop the solar benefit scheme. Together with other solar owners, Solar Shop Australia joined the Australian Solar Energy Society (AuSES) in the "Solar's Last Chance Rally" - a call-to-action for the NSW government who have a responsibility to the hundreds of small businesses, their families, and the wider NSW public.

If you didn't manage to get to the rally, check out the event photos below.

Power in numbers indeed!
Over 1,500 solar supporters turned up to rally against the
NSW government's slash of solar bonus scheme.

Customs House forecourt is full, crowd spilling out onto streets.

Getting good press at the rally!

 
Solar supporters happy to let NSW Government know
they've messed them around!

Voicing out!
Neil McEwan, 18 month Solar Shop customer from Carlton.

Some things you can do to help:

• Show your support by 'liking' the Rally for Solar Facebook page here.
• Sign the online petitions - a list of online petitions can be found compiled here.
• Follow Rally for Solar on Twitter at @rallyforsolar
• Help update solar supporters by using #rallyforsolar / #nswsolar hashtags in your tweets 

In a shock move that has disappointed the industry and will anger solar power customers, The NSW Government has today announced the permanent closure of the Solar Bonus Scheme to new applicants.

NSW Minister for Resources & Energy, Mr Chris Hartcher also announced the reduction of the feed in tariff rate to 40c for those already signed up for the older 60c/kWh tariff (those at the new 20c tariff won't be impacted). This applies from July 1 2011 for the remainder of the Scheme.

The changes to the tariff rate will affect
• those who already have a system installed and are already receiving the 60c tariff,
• those who are installed and awaiting connection, and
• those who are not yet installed but have an approval to receive the tariff.

Solar Shop Australia strongly opposes these decisions made by the NSW Government. We understand the impact that it will have on our customers and the industry, and will actively support the efforts of our industry colleagues to ensure a collective voice is heard.

If you wish to take action we encourage you to contact your local member
of parliament, or the Minister:

Chris Hartcher
Minister for Resources and Energy
Shop 3 Fountain Plaza
148 - 158 The Entrance Road
Erina NSW 2250
Terrigal@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Solar Shop will continue to update our customers as we receive more information.

For answers to your questions about the changes call the 
NSW Goverment's Energy Information Line on 1300 136 888
or see their FAQ page here.