More than a quarter of a billion dollars is sitting idle in the NSW Government’s Climate Change Fund as solar uptake booms across the state. The underspend of $252.9 million between 2014 and 2017 hasn’t stopped the NSW solar uptake with increasing numbers of solar power systems being installed by NSW homes and businesses.
The largest item of fund expenditure was the previous Labor Government’s Solar Bonus Scheme Reimbursement, according to the fund’s 2016-2017 annual report.
An Environment Ministry spokesperson told The Age the scheme cost taxpayers $1.24 billion over the course of its life from 2010 to the end of 2016.
Yet almost 235,000 solar systems have been installed by NSW households since the scheme closed. This far exceeds the 148,194 solar rooftop systems installed via the scheme.
NSW Solar uptake booms as solar system costs falls
The falling price of solar and battery technology is fueling a massive boost in uptake despite scrapping of the scheme.
As of December 2017, 400,000 homes and small businesses have solar PV in NSW. That’s the equivalent of one in six houses.
The popular solar bonus scheme was ditched by the NSW Liberal Government even though the Department of Planning & Environment described it as highly effective.
Described as a ‘great success’, the scheme added more than 342 MW of renewable energy to the NSW grid. This capacity is triple the size of Australia’s largest solar farm, the Department said.
NSW now has an unsubsidised feed-in tariff set by the electricity retailer for excess energy fed by householders back to the grid.
The Environment Ministry spokesperson also told The Age last week that the bonus scheme was an ‘ineffective Labor policy’. This contradicts its own admission of the scheme’s success.
How to maximise power efficiency without subsidies
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) says power efficiency can be maximised beyond the scheme by:
- Changing to a net rather than a gross meter.
- Selecting an electricity deal based on overall benefits rather than just feed-in tariff.
- Using as much solar PV generation in-home during the day as possible.
- Taking advantage of battery storage to utilise excess energy during the night.
Cost savings arise from using solar power at the time of generation, rather than exporting it to the grid. This reduces overall electricity bills.
Contact Energy Matters for a solar power installation estimate. Discover how a Tesla Powerwall battery can keep you online even during a blackout.
