Posts By Staff Writer On SolarQuotes

Footy finals and photovoltaics: when too much sun and sports is barely enough

October 7, 2013 2017-10-25T10:11:35 by 3 Comments
solar stadium

Sports stadiums are going solar.

Laid low for the past week with a virus readers. Unkind friends have called it footy finals fever which seems to strike your sports-mad correspondent at this time every year. But with the excitement of the AFL final series (just completed) and last weekend’s Rugby League finals, with a touch of netball, Rugby Union and A-League pre-season included, perhaps they have a case? What a great way then to introduce the rising use of photovoltaics in sports stadiums. [Read more…]

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Will the Coalition’s $500 Solar Rebate do more harm than good?

September 23, 2013 2017-10-25T10:11:46 by 3 Comments
Greg Hunt's new solar rebate scheme may really stuff up the solar industry...

Greg Hunt’s new solar rebate scheme may really stuff up the solar industry…

Nothing more we like at SQHQ that a good old fashioned brouhaha. After all a bit of air clearing is needed after the uncertainty (and dare I say disappointment) of the way solar policy was gleefully trashed following the election. This of course included the change in government policy on solar rebates, war declared on renewable energy agencies and indeed anything that looked like it could be called progressive energy policy from the previous government. As such our very own Finn Peacock, took the baseball bat to the new solar rebate policy announced by Greg “The Smiling Assassin” Hunt (By the way does anyone else think that Mr Hunt and David Potter from ABC’s “Rake” look worryingly familiar?) [Read more…]

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Solar lighting: Mandarin 2 adds style to practicality

September 18, 2013 2017-10-25T10:11:56 by 1 Comment

The Victorian Premier’s Design Awards are currently being judged. Not your usual port of call for this correspondent I hear you say but bear with me readers! That’s because one of the many excellent designs under consideration is the Mandarin 2 solar-charged light which is flying the flag for solar lighting under the category “product design”.

Described on the Design Awards site as a “simple” design that “works” under the toughest of conditions, the Mandarin 2, as its name implies, offers a robust solar lighting alternative to more expensive and polluting energy sources such as kerosene. The handheld solar charged light is described as durable and reliable and ticks that important box for SQ readers — powered by renewable source — solar. [Read more…]

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Any positives for solar power under the new Coalition government?

September 9, 2013 2017-10-25T10:12:07 by 9 Comments
How will solar fare under Abbott and the Coalition?

How will solar fare under Abbott and the Coalition?

Here at SQHQ — as with all of those supporting alternative energy — we’re surveying the damage after the Coalition’s expected yet stunning landslide win on Saturday night. Both the Liberals and Nationals took a slash and burn approach to solar power in Australia and the whole renewable energy sector during the campaign. This approach included policy announcements such as the gutting of ARENA and the end of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and “Sloppy” Joe and his finance mates have given no inkling of changing their minds on this all important issue. See last week’s article for more details. [Read more…]

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Taking the politics out of solar power policy

September 2, 2013 2017-10-25T10:12:17 by 4 Comments
Renewable energy is too important to be trusted to pollies.

Renewable energy is too important to be trusted to pollies.

At the end of a depressing week for renewables, talk over the SQHQ water cooler has been centred along the lines of: is it time to keep pollies out of solar power policy?

First we had the shrill and frankly rather desperate tactic of Kevin “The Queensland Kid” Rudd bucketing on the carbon tax introduced by his predecessor Julia “Who?” Gillard. The Kid seemed to aiming to appease the fossil fuel lobby (or was it Murdoch?) when he said his previous government had “got it wrong” on the carbon tax. [Read more…]

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Can Solar and Mining be Best Of Frenemies?

August 26, 2013 2017-10-25T10:12:34 by 2 Comments
A happy compromise or supping with the devil?

A happy compromise or supping with the devil?

Whenever we hear of the future of the battle for the future of Australian energy, the picture we get in our press and from Canberra and the state capitals is one of conflict. One of subsidies for renewables such as solar power systems — whether utility scale solar or domestic PV — versus continued monetary support for fossil fuel-powered industries such as mining.

But is there a middle path readers? One that sees a future for sectors such as mining to use solar power systems to help offset rising energy costs? An absorbing article in Australian Mining this week appears to point in this direction. [Read more…]

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Community solar lights up the Blue Mountains

August 20, 2013 2017-10-25T10:12:45 by 2 Comments
The beautiful blue mountains. Photo flickr/10uta02

The beautiful blue mountains. Photo flickr/10uta02

Shameless plug to start this week’s column readers. August has seen community solar take off in a big way in my region of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. This may be due to a combination of the upcoming election and a very strong grassroots realisation of the need for solar energy at a community level.

This remote SQHQ regional outpost has been a flurry of community solar activity as more residents become aware of the need to mitigate high electricity prices, as well as help preserve the beautiful Blue Mountains environment. [Read more…]

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Solar power users left fuming at betrayal in the West

August 12, 2013 2017-10-25T10:12:53 by 9 Comments
WA premier ripping up contract

This numpty thinks he can rip up 75,000 commercial contracts!

It was a grim atmosphere here at the SQHQ bunker earlier this week as Finn popped his head around the corner to deliver the news of the solar power betrayal in the West.

He was talking of course of Premier Colin “The Backstabber” Barnett and his chair sniffing mate “Two-up” Troy Buswell to slash the feed-in tariff in Western Australia from 40c to 20c in the next year. The decision, which (call me cynical) coincides with attempts to bend over backwards for the state’s fossil fuel giants, will affect 75,000 WA households that installed solar from mid 2010 to 2011 on the promise of the 40c level. The cuts renege on a 10-year agreement to maintain solar feed-in tariffs in WA. [Read more…]

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Solar Farms: Re-election chance sees government invest in ‘very, very large’ projects

August 5, 2013 2017-10-25T10:13:05 by 3 Comments
solar farming

Clearing the land for a solar farm!

Never underestimate the power of an election to get our pollies moving on environmental issues folks. Thanks to opinion polls showing the Ruddslide bringing both major parties neck-and-neck in the latest “Most Important Election Since the War” even solar farm policy is on the move. Or so it seems. [Read more…]

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Solar policy being forced by people power?

July 31, 2013 2017-10-25T10:13:16 by 8 Comments
people cheering for solar

I’ll tell you what we want, what we really, really want. Solar!

As solar policy gets pushed around from pillar to post in Canberra and the state capitals, it’s good to know the real decision makers — the Australian people — support the concept in a big way.

This week saw the release of a CSIRO study — funded by the Australian Solar Institute for the Australian Photovoltaic Association — which indicated huge support from Aussies for domestic solar electricity despite almost nationwide cuts to feed-in tariff incentives for rooftop solar. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy
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