Renewable Energy Target achievements

30th Apr 2013

Recently solar power in Australia has reached a series of impressive and important milestones.

One of the most recent solar successes of our nation was the statistics revealing that Australia has finally hit  the mark in having over one million solar panel roof top systems installed across the country.

That means over 2.5 million Australians are living beneath solar panels situationed on their rooftops!

The state with the highest saturation of rooftop solar panel systems has turned out to be the sunny state of Queensland, a region which has often taken the lead in solar power initiatives  in the last few years.

This seems completely fitting considering the region's nickname is the 'sunshine state.'

As well as this, the federal minister for climate change, industry and innovation Greg Combet has commented on how Australia's Renewable Energy Target has been a key part of encouraging greater use of clean energy in the nation.

Australia's Renewable Energy Target currently sits at a goal of 20 per cent renewable energy sources by the year 2020, and in terms of its market mechanism it supports a range of renewable energy technologies such as solar power, wind, hydro, and biomass.

According to Mr Combet, over 2,000 solar panel systems are being installed every week this year, compared to a comparatively minute amount of 25 a week back in 2007 and we couldn't be happier about this as it shows that solar power is clearly headed in the right direction into mainstream society.

Fortunately as well, employment in the solar industry has grown more than eight-fold since 2007.

For those households purchasing small-scale solar systems, tradeable certificates are given upfront and in most cases those making the purchase receive a discount in exchange for these certificates.

Since January of this year, Renewable Energy Target Assistance has been provided under the structure of one certificate for every megawatt-hour of electricity produced  by the solar system over 15 years.

Many clean energy initiatives, including those involving solar power, have been funded through revenue garnered through Australia's carbon pricing mechanism which taxes the heaviest carbon polluters in the nation.

Hopefully, such measures are here to stay and Australia will see the continuation of its solar panel success for many years to come.

Posted by Bob Dawson

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