From the category archives:

Solar and renewables policy

Western Australia Horizon grid Solar Power Buyback rates to change from July 2012

March 22, 2012
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Western Australia’s Horizon power has announced regionally differentiated pricing for its Renewable Energy Buyback Scheme. The new rates have been set by Horizon to reflect the ‘real value’ of solar power to the electricity grid in each of those areas, and will replace Horizon’s current ’1-for-1′ Solar Buyback offered to most areas of the grid, in [...]

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NSW Parks and Wildlife undaunted by low Solar Feed-in Tariff

March 20, 2012
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Despite the low rate recently recommended by NSW’s Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) last week, the state’s far western Parks and Wildlife service will carry on with installation of solar PV system. The already has 12 solar PV systems installed in the western part of the state, and will install more in the future, indicative of [...]

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Find the Best Solar Power PV Deals in Geelong, Victoria

March 20, 2012
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Geelong, located just west of Melbourne, is a good place for installing a solar PV system. Victoria offers Standard and Transitional Solar Feed-in Tariff incentives for solar PV. Additionally, with electricity rates rising, the price of solar PV falling, and up-front rebates available through the Federal Solar Credits scheme, now is a great time to find the best solar [...]

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Find the best solar PV deals in Newcastle, NSW

March 19, 2012
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Newcastle, just north of Sydney, and a good place to install a solar PV system, even after the collapse of the state’s Solar Bonus Feed-in Tariff scheme. The cost of installing a solar power system has never been lower, and there are up-front financial incentives available through the Federal Solar Credits rebate scheme, so purchasing a system [...]

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NSW Solar Bonus Feed-in Tariff Scheme: IPART Final Report Released

March 14, 2012
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The long-awaited result is finally in: IPART has made its recommendation as to how the NSW government should replace the state’s now defunct Solar Bonus Feed-in Tariff Scheme. Under IPART‘s recommendations, NSW residents interested in installing solar PV systems will not be eligible for a standard, state-wide Solar Feed-in Tariff. Instead, the government, as foreshadowed [...]

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Find the best solar power system deals in Hobart, Tasmania

March 9, 2012
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Hobart, Tasmania residents and businesses may benefit from installing a solar PV system through the 1-for-1 Solar Buyback scheme on offer through electricity retailer Aurora Energy. Recently cost of solar PV systems has reached record lows. Additionally, the Federal Government offers up-front rebates in the form of Solar Credits. Obtaining the greatest benefit from a system, however, requires first understanding how [...]

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Find the best solar power PV system deals in Darwin, NT

March 7, 2012
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Darwin is one of Australia’s northernmost cities, and its location in the sunny tropics makes it one of the best places in Australia to install a solar PV system. The 1-for-1 Solar Buyback scheme on offer through NT Power&Water means great returns on investment for those who find the best deal on solar power. Because of [...]

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Find the best solar PV system deals in Canberra, ACT

March 6, 2012
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Canberra, ACT has a reputation for being one of the ‘greenest’ cities in Australia. Although there have been cuts to subsidies for small-scale solar power in the ACT, Canberra residents and businesses still stand to benefit from installing a solar PV system through the 1-for-1 Solar Buyback scheme on offer through ACTewAGL. The best returns on investment [...]

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Mowanjum Aboriginal Corporation goes Solar

Mowanjum, WA Solar PV system installation March 5, 2012

The Mowanjum Aboriginal Corporation, with the assistance of Solar Choice as tender manager, installed approximately 130kW of solar PV across its headquarters in June 2010.  The aim of the installation was to reduce Corporation power bills, which can be especially high during the wet season, when temperatures can soar above 40 degrees and life without airconditioners can be [...]

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Comparing solar PV system output: PVoutput.org

February 29, 2012
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Those in the market for a solar PV system and carefully considering their options are constantly on the lookout for more information on solar system sizes and components (namely, inverters and solar panels). It is not always easy to get specific, accurate information on how a system might operate once installed in a certain area. PVoutput.org [...]

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Federal Government Dumps Solar Hot Water Incentives

February 29, 2012
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The Federal Government has abruptly dropped its incentive for Solar Hot Water.  The Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme (REBS) offered rebates of $1000 for solar hot water systems, or $600 for heat pump hot water systems. Solar hot water systems will still be eligible for up-front rebates in the from of Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs, a [...]

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Find the best solar PV system deals in Adelaide, South Australia

February 28, 2012
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Adelaide is the capital of what is arguably Australia’s most ambitious state for renewable energy uptake. A number of factors make SA a great place to install a solar PV system. However, the best returns on investment and shortest payback periods on systems are available only to those who find the best deals on their solar PV [...]

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Find the best solar PV deals in Sydney, NSW

February 28, 2012
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Sydney is Australia’s largest city, and a good place to install a solar PV system, even after the collapse of the state’s Solar Bonus Feed-in Tariff scheme. The fact that the cost of installing a solar power system has never been lower, combined with the up-front financial incentives available through the Federal Solar Credits rebate scheme, means that purchasing [...]

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Find the Best Solar Power PV Deals in Melbourne, Victoria

February 24, 2012
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Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city, and a great place to install a solar PV system, thanks to the state’s Standard and Transitional Solar Feed-in Tariffs. Rising electricity rates, falling solar PV installation prices, and up-front financial subsidies available through the Federal Solar Credits rebate scheme, now is a great time to go solar for Melbourne residents. [...]

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Find the Best Solar PV Deals in Perth, WA

February 20, 2012
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Perth is WA’s biggest city, and a great place to install a solar PV system, even after the withdrawal of the state’s Solar Feed-in Tariff last year. With electricity rates rising, solar PV installation prices falling, and significant potential up-front financial subsidies through the Federal Solar Credits rebate scheme, now is a great time to find deals [...]

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Victoria Feed-in Tariff Inquiry Issues Paper Released: Submissions due 19 March

February 16, 2012
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The Victorian Competition & Efficiency Commission has released an Issues Paper relating to the inquiry into the state’s Feed-in Tariffs. The inquiry will look into Victoria’s Standard and Transitional Feed-in Tariffs, as well as the now concluded Premium Feed-in Tariff in an attempt to evaluate the efficacy of this approach to renewable energy subsidisation in [...]

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Darwin, Northern Territory Criteria for connecting solar PV systems to the grid

February 16, 2012
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The criteria for having solar PV systems connected to the grid differ from state to state. Due to the occurrence of seasonal cyclones, Northern Territory rooftop solar PV installations in Darwin and the Top End are subject to a number of additional hurdles that other state residents may not necessarily have to worry about. Blog [...]

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What the Solar Flagships trouble means for large-scale solar

February 14, 2012
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The Solar Flagships program has been receiving a lot of media attention recently for the failure of the program’s two winning applicants to meet the deadline for funding requirements. The 250MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in Chinchilla, Queensland has managed to have this deadline extended, while the Moree Solar Farm, a 150MW solar PV [...]

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1-to-1 Solar Buyback vs Solar Feed-in Tariffs: The Economics

February 9, 2012
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Most states in Australia currently have or have had some sort of Solar Feed-in Tariff scheme in place. Solar Feed-in Tariffs, which pay solar system owners a premium per kilowatt-hour for the power that they feed into the grid, are one of the key incentive mechanisms for the promotion of renewable energy generation across the [...]

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Solar Power Brisbane – Solar Choice Opens Brisbane Office

February 6, 2012
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Solar Choice, Australia’s Solar Energy Brokering service, has opened a new office in Brisbane, Queensland. The creation of a new branch comes with increasing demand for solar PV installations in the Sunshine State, which currently offers the most generous Solar Feed-in Tariff in Australia, at 44c per kilowatt-hour. Blog this! Digg this post Recommend on Facebook [...]

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South Australia Solar Feed-in Tariff: Minimum retailer payment comes into effect

February 1, 2012
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A provision for a mandatory ‘retailer payment’ under South Australia Solar Feed-in Tariff scheme has come into effect as of 29 January 2012. The state’s Solar Feed-in Tariff scheme is now composed of two separate parts: A ‘base rate’ of 16c/kWh (for those signed up after 30 September 2011), plus a retailer payment of 7.1c/kWh [...]

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