The winning entry. Credit RHS.
As regular readers would know, it is this column’s opinion that nothing beats a win over the Brits in an international comp. Now things haven’t gone so well in recent years with proud Aussies being forced to surrender the Ashes and we don’t want to talk about the Olympics! [Read more…]
Follow the money…
The big news in solar energy this week was the acquisition of Power-One — manufacturers of the fable Aurora Inverters — by the Swiss energy giant the ABB Group for one billion dollars. For those among us who will never see $1,000,000,000, to give you an idea of its worth, its about half of what celebrity Oprah Winfrey charged for her recent Australian appearance. [Read more…]
Solar only for the rich? You won’t see many solar panels in Pott’s Point! Photo: Flickr – philoye
There’s a false perception in Australia — perpetrated in part by the anti-solar brigade and their fellow travellers — that the only people who invest in domestic solar systems are those who are rich. According to this theory it is only those in the more affluent parts of Australia that have the resources to afford solar panels. Working and lower middle class families apparently don’t have them on their roofs because they are out of their price range. [Read more…]
Hint: It’s a bit more complicated than you might think!
By my reckoning 25% of people buying solar power systems want to save the planet as a priority. The other 75% want to save their bottom line and saving the planet is a nice side-effect.
I get a lot of emails saying: “Help! My bills are [insert large number here] dolars a quarter – what size solar system do I need?”
The answer to this question is quite longwinded – but if you want to understand whether a solar system is worthwhile for you financially – you need to understand this stuff! So I made a video to help explain. If you are considering buying a solar system I strongly recommend watching this:
[Note: Since I made this video the Victorian and QLD Feed In tariffs are no longer more generous than the rest of the country – they are both 8c per kWh at time of writing!]
Can people power get one of these built in Port Augusta?
The Victorian solar industry and supporters are the latest to suffer what is becoming an event as predictable as Gerry Harvey whinging about online retailers at Christmas time. This was when Premier Ted “The Blade” Baillieu’s government announced a slashing of the state’s feed-in tariff from 25 cents per kilowatt hour down to 8 cents.
However despite being hammered left, right and centre by newly-installed conservative governments across the nation, solar energy in this country has always enjoyed massive support from ordinary folk.
So why don’t the pollies (like video refs) see the game the same as the punters? [Read more…]
The Victorian government has just announced that their FIT has immediately been slashed from 25c per kWh to 8c per kWh.
Basically if you haven’t already paid a deposit on your solar system, you can’t claim the 25c FiT any more.
The details are a bit hard to get out of the Vic pollies at the moment. For example the 8c scheme starts on Jan 1 2013. So what happens to all the electricity a new solar system exports until then?
Also they say:
“The tariff will then be adjusted by the government each year in 2014, 2015 and 2016 based on the wholesale electricity price, before moving to a fully floating market price in 2017.”
Anyone care to hazard a guess as to what that actually means?
Read more from the Age here and from the horse’s mouth here.
Without solar – wholesale electricity would be more expensive.
Last week we here at SolarQuotes HQ we were thrilled to bring you news of a major CSIRO report which found that solar energy intermittency — defined as when cloud cover causes a reduction in the efficiency of energy drawn from the sun — can be successfully managed.
To the great consternation of solar critics and the delight of solar fans, the major study found that, not only could proper management techniques limit the problem of solar intermittency, but it could also contribute to solar energy taking its rightful role as a major energy source in Australia.
This week we’d like to follow up that with another cracker study: this time from the REC Agents Association (RAA). According to this report, the increased takeup of solar by Australian consumers has contributed to a reduction in power consumption and a lowering of wholesale electricity prices across the National Electricity Market. [Read more…]
We mocked up Silex solar’s concentrating solar technology in the SolarQuotes garden using our unwanted Shannon Noll Cds.
Good news stories about the Australian solar industry have been as rare as hen’s teeth lately. With the taking of the cudgels by state governments to the highly successful feed-in tariffs (can someone please explain that again — just one more time!), to the slow sinking of the fed’s Solar Flagships program, to the march out the door of Australian solar manufacturers, its been a grim time for solar fans.
The announcement last month from R&D company Silex Systems that construction on Australia’s largest solar power station at Mildura, VIC, has begun gladdens the heart. And the hip pocket nerve. After all Victorian and federal taxpayers are helping to fund this venture to the tune of around $120 million.
Whilst many Australian state governments dither over the solar feed-in-tariff (FIT) issue, China has come charging out of the changing sheds recently with a brand new, highly-polished, national feed-in-tariff system.
They are kicking the world’s ass when it comes to high value manufacturing (where was your iPad made?) and now it looks like they are serious about installing solar power domestically. [Read more…]
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