Victorian rebates to triple in September 2019
Victorian households and the industry are rejoicing at the news of a massive boost to the number of solar panels rebates that will be made available starting next month. The Victorian Government announced yesterday a tripling in the number of rebates for September and a total of 23,000 extra rebates for the financial year under […]
Responses to climate deniers
Climate Action Network is a community based initiative to fight climate change. It has grassroots groups with distributed leadership throughout Australia. Its mission is to bring focus to climate change and climate action from Australians. Energy Matters attended a local community Climate Action seminar in Burwood, NSW, in the suburbs of Sydney on Monday April […]
Hydrogen cars: a renewable alternative to electric cars? Tesla beware!
In June in Sydney, Energy Matters went to the Australian Energy Storage conference and spoke to Ian McLachlan who is Senior Low Emission Site Specialist at Toyota, and learned a lot about Hydrogen cars! It’s really fascinating. What is a Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle (HFCV)? Both EVs and HFCVs run from electric motors. It is […]
How do I find out if my solar power system is performing? Part 2
One of the things that the keen solar power system owner is going to do is to compare what their system says it is generating and what the electricity retailer is paying you for the power you feed in to the grid. If you choose right, then you will have a system that gives you […]
How do I find out if my solar power system is performing? Part 1
Who doesn’t want to save money? And help save the planet at the same time, of course. But let’s be frank, most people get a solar power system to reduce their power costs. In a lot of cases, the savings show up in reduced power bills. But for the more analytical, we want to find […]
Besieged Victorian Premier considers expanding Solar Homes rebate program
A besieged Premier Daniel Andrews says he might consider raising the number of rebates available under Victoria’s Solar Homes Program. In the past fortnight, the Premier has faced protests by solar installers angry about the Victoria solar rebate scheme’s quota cap and poor implementation. Solar installers will hold a second rally for change tomorrow, August […]
Solar Citizens 2019 Survey
Solar Citizens have recently launched their annual solar survey: https://www.solarcitizens.org.au/survey_2019 The solar lobbying organization has been running the survey for five years now. It provides a comprehensive snapshot of Australia’s rooftop solar owners (e.g. what type of system people have, environmental and financial factors, barriers for the solar industry/consumers, campaign priorities for solar consumers).We urge […]
Regulator takes wind farms to court over 2016 South Australian blackout
The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has taken legal action against operators of wind farms whose shutdown contributed to the 2016 South Australian blackout. The “black system” occurred on September 28, 2016 following damage to transmission lines due to extreme weather. In 2017, the Australian Energy Market Operator found protection mechanisms had then disconnected some wind […]
Solar installers to drop in on Victorian Premier for Solar Homes Program protest #2
The Smart Energy Council is planning a second Melbourne protest calling on the Victorian Government to rethink its Solar Homes Program. Industry members say the scheme is damaging the state’s solar industry and sending solar operators bankrupt. This week’s rally on Thursday, August 8 will kick off at 11am in front of Premier Daniel Andrews’ parliamentary […]
Queensland customers can slash electricity bills by shopping around: QCA
Queensland customers who switch to the cheapest market offer can lower electricity bills, according to an energy watchdog. Data from the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) shows residential customers could have cut their electricity bill by 35 per cent in the June quarter if they had switched to the lowest market offer. That amounts to a […]