Where's My Solar Rebate? SHCP Government Update

 

The rush for grid connect solar power systems before the Solar Homes and Communities Plan program was axed in June and replaced by the Solar Credits program saw tens of thousands of rebate applications submitted.
   
Many of the people who applied are still waiting for the results of their application.
   
The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts says it has now completed checking, cross-checking, matching, sorting and processing the remaining applications made under the Solar Homes and Communities Plan. 
   
Letters are now being posted to all remaining applicants and are expected to take a little over a week to reach those in the most remote regions.
   
According to the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA), around 90 percent of the more than 60,000 applications remaining will receive approval to go ahead with their installation, but 800 of these will be conditional approvals.
   
Over the next week, each installer will receive an email from the Department, with a list of their outstanding applications and their outcome. DEWHA says they will prioritise alerting the companies who have generated the highest workload so that these companies can plan completion of their installations. 
    
All remaining applicants will have nine months to complete their installation, followed by a further two months to complete and submit their installation report.
    
Applicants have been reminded that in order systems must be installed by a BCSE accredited installer. DEWHA says they will be allowing those with pre-approval to switch to a different installation company, provided the installer is appropriately accredited and their contract allows it. If an applicant chooses to do so, they can reflect the change in their installation report and will have the same timeframe to complete their installation. 
   

Rechargeable Battery Pre-Charged Via Solar Power

 

Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. yesterday announced the release of their revamped AA- and AAA-size "eneloop" rechargeable batteries. 
 
The company says the new eneloop can be recharged approximately 1,500 times and is a new milestone for the rechargeable battery industry.
 
The batteries are now also pre-charged at the factory using renewable energy generated from solar power, as a part of the Green Power Certification System.
 
Rechargeable batteries are becoming increasingly common and are particularly popular with people living off grid in order to power small appliances such as LED lights. One of the challenges in using rechargeable batteries is they tend to lose charge rapidly when stored in comparison to single use batteries. Sanyo says the new eneloop battery will still retain 90% of its charge after 6 months, 85% after one year, 80% after 2 years and 75% even after 3 years. Most batteries of the same composition would lose all their charge within 2 years.
 
Other "green" features of the eneloop include packaging made of recycled PET. Instead of being recycled, the packaging can also be used as a battery storage case. The batteries themselves are fully recyclable at the end of their life-cycle.
 
The eneloop series of batteries were first in November 2005 and Sanyo says that over 90 million eneloop batteries have been shipped to more than 60 countries worldwide as of the end of July this year.
 

News for Wednesday 07 October, 2009

 

• All-Energy Australia '09 Conference And Exhibition - Melbourne
  


• Ontario's New Gross Solar Feed In Tariff Pays 84c Per kWh
  

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