UK And Australia Progress On Feed In Tariffs

 

With royal assent last week granted to Britain's controversial Energy Bill, Britain is now committed to dramatically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. 

The Energy Bill will oblige the UK to cut gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 and additionally see the introduction of a feed in tariff, paying owners of small grid connected wind energy and solar power systems a premium rate on all electricity they produce.

Feed in tariff programs, when implemented properly, have been demonstrated to significantly boost the uptake of grid connected renewable energy systems in homes and businesses. However, for a feed in tariff program to achieve its full potential, it must be based on a gross model. 

Under a gross model, payments are made on all energy produced, whereas a net program pays only on surplus electricity exported to the grid. A feed in tariff rate must also be high enough in terms of premium rate paid per kilowatt hour. The rate that householders and businesses in the UK will receive on electricity generated is yet to be determined.

Australia meanwhile is still thrashing out a nationalised, uniform gross feed in tariff program as proposed in a bill by Senator Christine Milne of the Australian Greens earlier this year. While most states offer feed in tariffs, prices and conditions vary widely and most are based on a net model that provides little incentive for home owners to install solar power systems.

It was expected by many in the renewable energy industry that that recent Council Of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting held over the weekend in Canberra would see a formal major announcement on the implementation of a national feed in tariff program, but according to the COAG communique: 

"COAG agreed to a set of national principles to apply to new Feed-in Tariff schemes and to inform the reviews of existing schemes.  These principles will promote national consistency of schemes across Australia."

Timelines, details of the national principles and more in-depth information regarding the agreement between governments as discussed at the COAG meeting is not yet available; but no announcements were made regarding any federal funding of related programs.

Polymer Solar Cell Breakthrough

 

Imagine having your car or even house covered in colour coded solar cells, or a solar panel as thin and as flexible as a piece of paper - yet much stronger. Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science are working towards such versatility in solar power solutions.

The team have designed  a new polymer with solar cell applications that improves on the sunlight absorption and conversion attributes of other polymers. The research team discovered that by substituting a silicon atom for a carbon atom significantly enhanced the material's photovoltaic properties. A polymer is a type of low cost plastic, used most commonly in packaging and pipes. 

Polymer solar cells have been around for quite some time,  but their  efficiency has been quite low and they also suffer from environmental degradation.  The new polymer developed by the UCLA team has reached 5.1 percent efficiency in the study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society; but according to researcher Professor Yang Yang, has improved to 5.6 percent in the lab. 

While traditional solar cells on the market such as those used in monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels have an efficiency of anywhere from 12% - 18% and amorphous thin film solar panels achieve efficiencies of up to 8%;  the advantage of the new polymer cells aside from their flexible properties is they are far cheaper to produce than monocrystalline, polycrystalline or thin film. Yang also believes that with further development, the polymer solar cell can achieve a 10 percent efficiency. 

Given the nature of solar product development, don't expect to see the new polymer solar cells on the general market for quite some time, however it's encouraging to see new technologies and efficiency breakthroughs announced nearly daily now, which bodes well for a cleaner and greener energy future courtesy of solar power

News for Friday 28 November, 2008

 

• NSW Invests $27 Million In Renewable Energy Projects
  

View all news for Friday 28 November, 2008 on one page

Recent News

 

• Thursday 27 November, 2008
  


• Wednesday 26 November, 2008
  


• Tuesday 25 November, 2008
  


• Monday 24 November, 2008
  


• Friday 21 November, 2008
  

News archive