As of just after midnight Saturday, around 146,000 households in New South Wales participating in the state’s legacy solar feed-in tariff scheme will be receiving far less for their high-value solar electricity.
As the calendar flips over to January 1, 2017, participants in the NSW Solar Bonus Scheme who had been receiving 60 cents or 20 cents per kilowatt hour for all the electricity they generate will see a reduction to an unsubsidised rate of generally around 4.7-8c per kWh* – and only for surplus electricity exports.
This rate range also assumes participants have made the necessary arrangements for the change, which in many cases also requires a meter changeover.
The legacy program was a generous scheme with a defined end date, but the change will still come as a shock for some. For those who don’t take action, the financial impact could be quite significant in terms of future electricity bills; which may be as much as $2,400 more a year as a result of the reduced incentive.
Some participants have preferred not to be at the mercy of electricity retailers’ comparatively low feed in tariff offers; choosing to also retrofit battery systems in order to store as much as they can of the high-value energy electricity they generate for the purpose of self-consumption.
Others are expanding their systems by adding more solar panels and upgrading inverters. Most PV systems installed under the Solar Bonus Scheme are quite small compared to today’s average system sizes. As the cost of solar components has plummeted in recent years; the change may present a good opportunity for an upgrade.
National solar provider Energy Matters provides an online calculator to help affected NSW households gauge an estimated impact of the change, a guide to assist participants understand the situation and actions that can be taken, plus a solar + battery calculator that can show the potential benefit of installing energy storage.
* Some electricity retailers are offering more to New South Wales solar households – so it’s important to shop around. However, it’s also important to consider all retailer offers in their entirety – check all the conditions, fees and fine print. Some retailers are more solar-friendly than others.
