Home: Renewable Energy News: Wednesday 20 May, 2009

Renewable Energy News

WEDNESDAY 20 MAY, 2009 |

NSW Electricity Prices To Jump On July 1

NSW electricity price increase
Electricity prices in New South Wales will rise by an average of 20 per cent from July 1 this year.

According to an announcement earlier today from the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), a typical residential customer of Energy Australia, Integral Energy and Country Energy on regulated tariffs can expect to pay around $3.53, $3.89 and $3.92 more per week respectively for electricity.

These figures represents an increase of around 21.7 per cent, 21.1 per cent and 17.9 per cent for regulated residential customers of Energy Australia, Integral Energy and Country Energy, respectively.

The increases will make grid connect solar power an even more attractive prospect for home owners, particularly given the current $8,000 solar rebate available to households with an income of under $100,000. While this rebate ends on June 30, from July 1, the new Solar Credits scheme will kick in; offering a lesser rebate, but open to nearly every household in Australia.

Additionally, a feed in tariff is also on the cards for New South Wales. The state remains one of the only hold-outs in this regard, but the New South Wales government has been investigating the implementation of a program for some time now.

A gross feed in tariff will pay the owners of a solar power system a premium rate for all electricity generated by a system. Gross feed in tariffs in other states such as the ACT, in combination with the rebate, means that not only can a solar power system pay for itself in a few years; but also can generate revenue for a household over the medium to long term.

Kyocera Solar Panels Chosen For Toyota Prius

Kyocera solar panels for Toyota Prius
Kyocera Corporation has announced its successful bid to supply solar panels for the new Toyota Prius.

The Kyocera solar panels will power a ventilation system, an optional feature for the hybrid car. The system will drive the fans while the car is parked during the daytime; automatically moderating temperature rise inside of the vehicle even during hot seasons.

Kyocera developed a special solar cell for the application to cope with heat, vibration and shock that may be experienced in normal operation for the vehicle. The Prius rooftop solar array will generate up to 56 watts of power and each solar cell has a conversion efficiency of 16.5%.

The new Prius was unveiled by Toyota early this week. Japan prices for the Prius will start at just over 2 million yen, around AUD$ 27,000 based on current exchange rates, far less than previous models. The company said it already has 80,000 advance orders in Japan for the new model and aims to sell up 400,000 of the cars globally a year.

Toyota says the new Prius will achieve economies of up to 38 kilometres per litre in Japan; a further improvement on previous generations of the hybrid vehicle. Starting with the 2010 model year, the engine will utilise an electric water pump, allowing for an engine design with no serpentine belts, improving efficiency. According to Toyota, a Prius plug-in hybrid powered by lithium-ion batteries (instead of the standard 38-module nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack) will be available for fleet buyers beginning late 2009.