Western Australia’s Independent Market Operator says it expects the state’s electricity demand to increase by nearly 2 per cent cent a year over the next decade, depending on the impact […]
Category: State Government Solar Panel Feed-In Tariffs
Solar Choice blog entries about Solar Feed-in tariffs in WA, QLD, VIC, TAS, NT, SA, ACT, NSW, and the NSW Solar Bonus Scheme. Contact Solar Choice for a free solar quote comparison and brokering advice
Abbott says RET driving up power prices, while solar appears to sink market electricity price in QLD
Are clean energy schemes driving up the price of electricity? In the case of the carbon tax, the answer seems pretty clearly to be ‘yes’–that’s what it was intended to do, initially […]
Elephants and baboons go solar as Solar Choice manages project tender for Melbourne Zoo
Two of the Melbourne Zoo’s most iconic animals have some of the greenest digs on the campus, thanks to the brokering efforts of Solar Choice Commercial. Managing a tender of […]
Florida woman evicted for off-grid living, while QLD utilities move to encourage it
A Florida woman was served orders to vacate her own home for not being to connected to water or electricity mains, according to OffTheGridNews. The woman, Ms Robin Speronis, made […]
New solar connection guidelines for Queensland come into effect from 1 July
From 1 July 2014 Queensland’s two state-owned electricity network companies, Ergon and Energex, will jointly implement new standards for new solar system owners seeking to connect to the grid. The […]
What NSW’s 2014-15 benchmark feed-in tariff rates mean for solar homes
NSW’s Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) last week released the benchmark rates for solar feed-in tariffs in the state for the year 2014-2015. The range for rates, which are […]
Sunshine Coast Council shows support for solar in RET Review submission
Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Council has predicted that local governments could lead significant growth in Australia’s utility-scale solar market, developing projects to protect themselves and their ratepayers against rising electricity prices. […]
NSW’s recommended solar feed-in tariff rates fall slightly in final IPART report
The volatility of Australia’s solar support mechanisms has been illustrated afresh this week, with NSW again lowering the recommended feed-in tariff price for rooftop PV in the state. NSW’s Independent […]
Aussie solar growth continues with Queensland leading on residential installs
The Australian solar market is still showing signs of healthy growth, according to the latest report for Green Energy Markets, with a rising share of commercial based systems, particularly in […]
Rooftop solar continues to grow in Queensland
Queensland‘s rooftop solar rush continues unabated, with the addition of 3,687 PV systems in May adding 16.2MW of new solar capacity to the grid. According to metering figures from Energex, solar […]
Queensland regulated residential electricity prices to increase 13% from 1 July 2014
The average Queensland home on a regulated electricity tariff will see its power bills increase by around 13% for the financially year 2014-2015, or $191 annually, according to the Queensland Competition […]
Regional Queensland solar feed-in tariff set for 6.5¢/kWh
The Queensland Competition Agency (QCA) has released its final determination on the 2014-2015 solar feed-in tariff for regional Queensland (i.e. the Ergon Energy network), raising the rate slightly from 6.3¢/kWh to […]
Murdoch Uni develops algorithm to predict solar output in SW Australia
Researchers at Murdoch University have developed a web-based simulator to calculate the hourly power output of photovoltaic and concentrated solar thermal (CST) power systems for south-west Australia that accounts for […]
Sunny Australia’s solar uptake lags behind dreary UK’s
Queensland continues to remain the hot-spot for rooftop solar installations in Australia, accounting for much of the installs in the month of March, and showing an increase as falls were […]
Solar PV Price Index – May 2014
1.5kW and 2kW solar PV system prices continue to rise from April to May while 3kW-5kW remain steady and 10kW system prices have fallen. This month’s article includes for the […]
New solar export rates coming for New South Wales
Although New South Wales historically had the most generous Feed In Tariffs in Australia ($0.60c gross), those days are long behind us. For the last few years however, solar customers […]
Recommended feed-in tariff rates for NSW to fall again
Feed-in tariffs for rooftop solar in New South Wales have been slashed again, with the state’s pricing regulator recommending a retailer contribution of just 5.3c/kWh for solar energy exported back […]
Victoria Greens launch campaign to stand up for rooftop solar owners
Victoria’s Green Party has announced a campaign to support the rights state’s current and would-be solar-powered households, which already number over 207,000. If just one in 10 solar system owners […]
Analysis: WA moving to 100% renewables by 2029 cheaper than status quo
The WA Greens have published a new analysis that suggests that the state could move to 100 per cent renewables by 2029 with a cheaper outcome than business as usual. […]
Solar PV system prices for April 2014
Average 1.5kW solar system prices appear to have plateaued between March and April after steadily rising over the course of the last 8 months or so, while prices for 2kW […]
Rooftop solar: Queensland’s 6th largest power plant
The combined capacity of rooftop solar arrays in south-east Queensland, the area managed by the energy distributor Energex, has now surpassed 800MW, making it the sixth biggest generator in the […]
Solar Council’s ‘Save Solar’ campaign goes full bore in WA
The Australian Solar Council‘s campaign to keep the country’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) and its incentives for small-scale solar intact is now in full swing in Western Australia, with a […]
Are Australian solar homes getting a fair deal? QLD & NSW vs Minnesota
Australian solar households are beginning to ask themselves if they are getting a good deal for the excess solar electricity that they export back to the grid during day time […]
Queensland solar feed-in tariff rates set at 6.3¢/kWh-8.7¢/kWh
Households in Queensland regional areas will receive a feed in tariff of between 6.3c/kWh and 8.7c/kWh for electricity exported back into the grid. The price has been announced by Queensland […]
Minnesota’s ‘Value of Solar’ approach to net-metering: A model for Australia?
The solar industry in Australia has not been without its share of political & policy calamities. Government policy–especially on the state level–must appear to both those inside and outside the […]
WA’s Horizon Power says distributed solar & energy storage may play big role in grid’s future
Horizon Power, the utility that provides power to regional and remote parts of Western Australia, has recognized that the future of electricity is likely to form around distributed power, and […]
Battle for the RET begins in WA as Solar Council ramps up campaign
The Australian Solar Council will in the coming days unleash a massive ad campaign in Western Australia, where one of the key issues in the upcoming 5 April senate election […]
Solar PV Price Index–March 2014
Between February and March, average 1.5kW and 2kW solar PV system prices continued their steady rise in all cities included in the PV Price Index except for Adelaide, while pricing […]
QLD’s new ‘unfair’, market rate solar feed-in tariff could mean customers go off-grid
Some 40,000 Queensland solar households will soon be at the mercy of their electricity retailer after the state government confirmed it would axe the state’s 8c/kWh feed-in tariff at the […]
Queensland 8c/kWh solar feed-in tariff will be cut (as scheduled) from July, 44c/kWh rate safe
The Queensland government will remove the 8c/kWh solar feed-in tariff rate guaranteed to solar system owners who signed up after the state’s 44c/kWh was closed to new applicants. Solar households […]
With next phase of large-scales renewable scheme underway, ACT doubles target to 550MW
The Australian Capital Territory has stepped up its efforts to make renewable energy a reality, with plans to double the cap on its reverse-auction feed-in tariff for large-scale renewable projects […]
