Electricity retailer Urth Energy has announced a retail electricity plan that allows solar system owners to sell their surplus solar energy at wholesale rates on the National Electricity Market (NEM). […]
Category: Solar Panel & Renewable Energy Policies
Solar Choice articles about solar pv, solar power policy and renewable energy policy. Solar Choice is Australia’s solar power installation brokering and solar quote comparison service. Contact Solar Choice for a free comparison of solar power quotes.
South Australia’s 16c/kWh solar feed-in tariff ends 30 September 2016
South Australia‘s 16c per kilowatt-hour (kWh) solar feed-in tariff will be the first state-backed incentive of its kind to cease payments. The 16c/kWh rate – referred to as the ‘Transitional […]
Commercial Solar PV Price Index: September 2016
The average price of a commercial solar installation fell to an all-time low of $1.26 per watt ($/W) between August and September, according to data from Solar Choice’s installer network […]
NSW to become battery storage hotspot after Solar Bonus expires, IPART survey confirms
A NSW survey on rooftop solar households in the state has confirmed what the battery storage industry has been predicting for months now – that the market for residential energy […]
Vic regulator recommends tariff changes to reflect ‘true value’ of solar
Victoria’s pricing regulator has published its final report on the Energy Value of Distributed Generation, recommending changes to tariff structures to reflect the true value of rooftop solar and other […]
Residential Solar PV Price Index – September 2016
Average residential solar system prices for September 2016 have matched the all-time low seen in December of last year, when prices dipped just below $1.60 per watt ($1.60/W). In other […]
Solar & batteries could be value-competitive with grid electricity in WA ‘within one year’
New research suggests that the cross-over point between the value of solar and storage and grid prices for Australian households may occur within one year. That is the conclusion of […]
Commercial Solar PV Price Index: August 2016
The average price of a commercial solar systems fell marginally between July and August to $1.28/W, according to figures from Solar Choice’s installer network database. Commercial solar system prices (10kW-100kW) […]
WA government moves to make solar PPAs more accessible
See this explanatory article on Solar PPAs The Western Australian government has announced changes to state energy market regulations that will boost the uptake of rooftop solar and make the […]
Victorian utility to deploy distributed batteries to defer network upgrade costs
Victorian utility United Energy will partner with Melbourne start-up GreenSync to deliver a community-based demand response and energy storage project on the Mornington Peninsula, to defer the need for costly […]
Three-year trial will pit 8x lithium battery products against one another
A three-year battery storage trial that will test eight leading technologies under Australian conditions was officially launched in the ACT on Wednesday, at the Canberra Institute of Technology’s Bruce Campus. […]
South Australia’s minimum solar feed-in tariff could be nixed under ESCOSA proposal
Rooftop solar households in South Australia face losing the 6.8c/kWh feed-in tariff after the state pricing regulator revealed it was working on a draft proposal to remove the minimum retail […]
Victorian government asks for public input on approach to state renewables target
Victoria’s state government has called for input from business and the community on the design of its renewable energy auction scheme, a key plank of its renewable energy target of […]
Residential Solar PV Price Index – August 2016
This month marks a full four years of our publishing of the Solar PV Price Index. When we first started keeping track of average system prices back in 2012, it […]
Thinking about going off-grid? Keep these points in mind
With the dawn of the age of (nearly) affordable battery storage, more and more Australian homes are considering the possibility of disconnecting from the electricity grid; or the first time, off-grid […]
Solar becoming competitive with wind as ACT moves towards renewables target
Submissions to the ACT’s latest “next generation” renewable energy tender indicate solar power is now competitive with wind energy, possibly suggesting a future shift in Australia’s roll-out of renewable energy […]
Commercial Solar PV Price Index: July 2016
The average price for a commercial solar PV system dropped noticeably between June and July 2016, according to figures from Solar Choice’s installer network database. While prices for each month […]
Investment in large-scale renewables on the rise, but Aus still unlikely to meet 2020 target
Large-scale renewable energy investment in Australia has hit its highest levels since 2013, although it remains well short of the level needed to meet the reduced renewable energy target in […]
Which retailer is offering the best electricity plan for solar customers in Sydney (July 2016)
Getting a higher feed-in tariff from your electricity retailer looks great on paper, but it does not necessarily mean that you will save more money on your electricity bills. We’ve taken […]
Melbourne ‘mini-suburb’ has a Tesla Powerwall in every home (units now on sale!)
Plans for what could be the world’s first “Tesla town” – a mini-suburb on the outskirts of the Melbourne CBD whose new-build homes will include rooftop solar and Tesla battery […]
WA pilot projects to investigate solar & batteries as solution for remote & rural customers
A $4 million Western Australian pilot project by utility Western Power has installed six stand-alone solar and battery storage power systems to test different ways that electricity can be delivered […]
ACT’s move to renewables brings price to stability amid turbulent electricity market
If current wholesale electricity prices continue as they are across Australia, the ACT will not just have zero emissions electricity by 2020 – it may also be getting most of […]
Residential Solar PV Price Index – July 2016
Average residential solar system prices dipped down to $1.63/W this month – on par with the low seen in April this year and close to the all-time low of $1.59/W […]
ACT government receives 17 ‘extremely competitive’ bids in battery storage program
Round two of the ACT government’s battery storage tender has attracted a total of 17 bids from local and national businesses proposing to install more than 8MW of energy storage. […]
Could the Renewable Energy Target once again be under threat with new government?
Australia’s biggest utilities and coal generators could push for another review of the federal renewable energy target, if the newly re-elected Coalition government is presented with a “workable” majority of […]
WA’s Horizon Power to lead the way on renewable microgrids
For Western Australian network operator Horizon Power, which averages one customer every 53 square kilometres and already operates 37 microgrids, the shift from centralised fossil fuel power generation to distributed […]
ARENA funding round results highlight falling large-scale solar costs
The final round of bidding for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s large scale solar funding program shows the costs of the technology are still falling, the Agency says, and will […]
Victoria plans for 40% renewables target by 2025
The Victorian state government has revealed plans to set a renewable energy target of 40 per cent by 2025, making it the latest state in Australia to introduce a large-scale […]
Commercial Solar PV Price Index: June 2016
Average commercial solar system prices have remained virtually unchanged for the past six months, according to data from Solar Choice’s installer network database, sitting at around $1.33 per watt of […]
Residential Solar PV Price Index – June 2016
Average solar PV system installation prices in Australia’s capital cities increased very slightly between May and June to approach $1.68 per watt. With the exception of 10kW systems, prices were […]
NSW IPART suggests slightly higher solar feed-in tariff rates for 2016-17 (and we all laugh)
The Independent Regulatory & Pricing Tribunal (IPART) has issued its final determination with regard to solar feed-in rates for the 2016-2017 financial year, suggesting a slight increase over last year’s thanks […]
