An exclusive shot of Solar Victoria’s efficient new process for handling solar installation businesses.

Well, that’s it.  They have made their decision.  The Andrews Government in Victoria had a clear moral choice.  They could either… [Read more…]

Ergon Energy say GST is included in their FiT. The Queensland Competition Authority say GST is not included in the FiT. Who is correct? And why won’t Ergon respond to our questions?

This post arises because of a query from a Queensland Ergon customer, who has discovered the solar feed-in tariff set by the state’s competition regulator doesn’t make provision for GST. [Read more…]

Many small and medium Victorian solar businesses are on their knees. The Victorian Government is killing them with its botched solar rebate.

This is serious. Really serious. Good businesses will go bust,  families will lose homes unless drastic action is taken. Now. Right now. [Read more…]

On Friday I wrote about how the New Energy Tech Consumer Code was seeking submissions.  Given its current state I said it could definitely do with some, so I’ve typed up mine and and put it below. [Read more…]

“The planet’s burning you idiots!’. But hey, at least your negative gearing and franking credits are safe. (Image: HBO)

On Saturday morning I wandered down to my local polling booth to exercise my voting power.  I have more of this than the average Australian because South Australia has a low population, yet the same number of senators as other states. [Read more…]

A number of bodies — as in organisations, not corpses ¹ — are working to come up with a New Energy Tech Consumer Code that covers the sale of solar power and battery systems, and are seeking submissions.

I’m planning to submit all over that son-of-a-bitch, so if you’ve got any suggestions you’d like included; put them in the comments and if I like them I’ll add them in. [Read more…]

I have no idea what the badge says but Finn insisted on adding it.

During our 15th SolarQuotes vodcast filmed on Friday, Finn tried to get my goat by pointing out greenhouse gas emissions would be considerably higher without nuclear power.

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Last week the Clean Energy Council announced their formerly voluntary Approved Solar Retailer Scheme would be — with the smallest of fig leafs — made mandatory for all companies installing residential rooftop solar power systems in Victoria. This means installers are faced with joining the scheme — if they can — or going out of business or moving out of state. [Read more…]

In Orwell’s Animal Farm, animals were told that doing extra work was voluntary, yet those who didn’t volunteer got their rations reduced.

In November 2013 the Clean Energy Council told solar companies that becoming an Approved Solar Retailer (ASR), which requires extra work, was voluntary. But in 2018  solar companies that had not signed up started to lose their opportunity to benefit from participation in state government solar rebate and zero interest loan schemes.

Beware of schemes that claim to be voluntary but force you into applying by other means. [Read more…]

If you are in a hurry, the summary of this post is: ‘In my humble opinion: Yes’.

I recently wrote about Labor’s Hydrogen Plan announcement where they referred to a report by ACIL Allen Consultants saying Australia’s hydrogen exports could be over $3 billion a year by 2030.  In my previous article I explained why this is extremely unlikely.

This article is going to be 2,000 words dedicated to me complaining. Specifically about why I consider the consultant report titled “Opportunites For Australia From Hydrogen Exports” worse than useless and why I think ARENA — Australia’s Renewable Energy Agency — wasted your money paying for it. [Read more…]