The ACT Greens are tabling a bill to make it mandatory for all new houses in the nation’s capital to have solar hot water, heat pump or efficient gas hot water systems. Similar legislation is already in place in many places around the world, including Hawaii and some parts of India.
The bill will come up for debate in the Legislative Assembly in the next fortnight. According to Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur, the requirement for such systems will not only save people money over the long term in respect to energy costs, but will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Electric and gas hot water systems are responsible for around 20% of an Australian household’s carbon emissions. Installing a solar hot water system households water heating related reduce carbon emissions substantially, but also allows for savings of up to 75% on water heating costs.
Currently, Australian households can benefit from substantial Federal and state solar hot water rebates that in some cases reduce the price of a solar hot water system to a point comparable with standard systems.
In other ACT Greens news relating to solar energy, Greens MLA for Molonglo, Shane Rattenbury has called on the ACT Government to extend the territory’s feed-in tariff to include larger grid connect solar power installations.
The ACT already has the most generous feed in tariff program in the nation; allowing owners of home solar power systems the opportunity to profit from their investment. Mr Rattenbury says that for an extra 65 cents a week on electricity customers’ bills, and additional 10 megawatts of generation could be added to the ACT grid.
The extension of the feed in tariff would encourage the development of more solar farms in the ACT.
