With more than 1.6 million solar power systems now installed throughout the nation, this year’s Solar Citizens Supporter Survey could see a record number of responses.
Solar Citizens is an independent non-profit community based organisation with a mission of advocating for solar energy, system owners and those wanting to go solar in Australia. The annual survey plays an important role in the group’s planning of activities and campaigns.
“The information you contribute helps us represent your interests better to politicians, give a voice to solar owners and supporters in the media and, most importantly, reach more Australians who have solar, want solar or support solar,” says the group’s National Director, Claire O’Rourke.
While solar power has become mainstream in Australia since the group’s founding, many challenges remain and no doubt new ones will present themselves in the years ahead.
“Our love affair with solar just keeps growing stronger, but powerful interests are trying to hold Australia back. Misinformation about solar and renewable energy is rife in politics and the media and solar owners still aren’t treated fairly by power companies,” said Ms. O’Rourke.
You don’t need to be a member of Solar Citizens (membership is free) or even have panels installed in order to participate in the survey; which takes around 10 minutes to complete.
Launched in 2013 with the assistance of various sponsors including Energy Matters, Solar Citizens’ membership grew quickly – the last total we are aware of indicated the group had more than 80,000 members.
The organisation has been behind many successful campaigns, including playing a role in helping to save ARENA and preventing a discriminatory penalty being applied to all solar owners in South Australia and Queensland. Solar Citizens was also a strong voice in the effort to save Australia’s Renewable Energy Target.
An ongoing battle for Solar Citizens is striving to see systems owners receiving a fair price for solar electricity they export to the mains grid.
In partnership with GetUp!, Solar Citizens also developed the Homegrown Power Plan, which shows how Australia can be 100% powered by renewable energy sources by 2030.
