NEWSFLASH - New South Wales Announces Solar Feed In Tariff

 

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UPDATE November 9 2009: The New South Wales Solar Bonus Scheme will now be a gross solar feed in tariff, rather than net. Read more
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Hard on the heels of the New South Wales Oppositions' announcement yesterday regarding their support of a feed in tariff scheme, Minister for Climate Change, Carmel Tebbutt and Minister for Energy, Ian Macdonald, have announced a feed in tariff program for the state called the Solar Bonus Scheme.

“This is a significant boost for renewable energy in NSW and has the potential to generate an additional 500 green jobs. Our scheme is designed to be the most generous to operate anywhere in Australia, apart from the ACT,” Ms Tebbutt said.

The A.C.T's feed in tariff scheme operates on a gross model that pays for all electricity produced by a home solar power system. The NSW program will operate on a net basis, meaning that only surplus electricity generated will be eligible for the premium.

The New South Wales government opted for a net system was chosen because "encourages people to better manage their power use and use energy more efficiently – this is because you get paid for energy you produce but don’t use."
 
According Ms. Tebbut, the Government expects the scheme to reward system owners with around $900 annually - meaning an average solar panel system could be paid back within 12 years.
 
However, the actual payback time will far less in many cases thanks to federal funding for the new non-means tested Solar Credits program; which will offer up to $9,000 in rebates on solar power systems for homes and businesses.
 
Key details of the NSW Solar Bonus Scheme:
 
• the feed in tariff program will operate for 20 years;
• it will pay 60 c/KWh that is fed back into the grid (net tariff);
• the Solar Bonus Scheme will be payable to energy customers with solar panel systems up to 10 kW in size;
• it will commence on 1 January 2010; and
• will be reviewed in 2012 to make sure the scheme is operating effectively.
 
Shortly after the announcement, the NSW Liberal/Nationals slammed the scheme, labelling it a "second-rate solar rebate". The Opposition had only 24 hours before reaffirmed its commitment to a gross feed-in tariff model.

Further information:

New South Wales Solar Bonus Scheme

Solar Powered LED Street Lights

 

Think of all the street lighting around your own town or suburb and then multiply that by millions. It's hard to imagine the number of street lights in the world, but it certainly adds up to a lot of electricity consumed. It also means a massive amount of greenhouse gases created in the supply of that power; not to mention the cost which is passed down to rate and tax payers.
 
Solar powered street lights are nothing new, but they have had their challenges. However, rapidly evolving technology along with LED lighting coming of age is now providing some real solutions for earth and energy friendly lighting applications.
 
USA company  Visible Light Solar Technologies has unveiled what it says is the industry's first intelligent solar/LED technology solution. The company's solar/LED lighting applications operate up to 85% more efficiently than their HID counterparts and offer a return on investment of between 2 - 5 years.
 
Visible Light Solar Technologies says that if rolled out across the USA, their solution could save up to 189 terawatt hours of electricity, the equivalent of taking 16 million households off of the grid and representing USD $20 billion in electricity savings. 
 
LED's also require far fewer changes than HID bulbs because they can last up to 100,000 hours and are resistant to thermal and vibrational shocks. LED lighting also avoids mercury hazards that are present in many traditional street lighting fixtures.
 
In a test installation at a school, wattage consumption was reduced from from 25,000 kilowatts per year to 920, with projected annual savings of USD $11,000.
 
While the lights have solar panels and a deep cycle battery for energy storage, they are also grid-connected. In the event of adverse weather conditions not allowing for sufficient charge, the lights will use mains grid power automatically. 
 
Additionally, Visible Light Solar's SPDI infrastructure allows voltage balancing and fixture-by-fixture programmability, so managers can program illumination levels for each fixture based on clock time, motion detection, ambient light levels, temperature and solar storage availability. 
   

NSW Opposition Reaffirms Solar Feed In Tariff Commitment

 

UPDATE 4.36PM AEST: The New South Wales government has announced a feed in tariff for the state.


The New South Wales Opposition has reiterated their commitment to a gross feed-in tariff scheme for the state to provide payments for all electricity generated by families and businesses who install their own solar or other renewable energy systems.
   
Catherine Cusack, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, said yesterday that rewarding families who install solar panels is essential if the state is to reduce its carbon footprint. New South Wales currently depends heavily on coal fired power generation and its energy related greenhouse gas emissions are rising.
   
While NSW families and businesses will be able to take advantage of the new Solar Credits program that will provide a substantial subsidy on solar power systems; NSW has the lowest rate of solar uptake of any mainland state and is the only state in Australia without a feed in tariff of any sort. 
   
Ms Cusack said the NSW Liberal/Nationals favoured a gross feed in tariff as it is the best way to generate incentive to invest in solar panels and other forms of renewables. The experience in Germany would back that view - that country has far less sunlight than Australia, but is one of the world leaders in home solar power uptake due to their gross feed in tariff program.
  
The A.C.T is currently the only state or territory offering a gross feed in tariff; with other states operating on a net model that only pays on surplus electricity fed into the mains grid. The fractured nature of Australia's feed in tariff arrangements has also seen increased calls for a national, uniform feed in tariff structure. 
  
Ms. Cusack was critical of the  Rees Labor Government, saying it "has failed to announce any policy to pay people who produce solar energy. This will mean that people who want to do the right thing to reduce their carbon footprint will not receive appropriate incentives".
 
UPDATE: The New South Wales government has announced a feed in tariff for the state.

News for Monday 22 June, 2009

 

• NEWSFLASH - Australia's Off Grid Solar Rebates Ended
  


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