Rooftop solar is now accounting for around 7.4 per cent of total electricity demand in Queensland’s south-east corner, including Brisbane and the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. The figure is […]
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.
What could a federal incentive for home solar battery storage look like?
Strong government incentives paved the way for rooftop solar power to achieve the prominence that it has in Australia. Home battery storage is the next frontier in distributed energy, but […]
Rooftop solar soon to be Queensland’s largest generator
Rooftop solar on Queensland homes and businesses could soon become the state’s biggest power generator, according to energy minister Mark Bailey. “Rooftop solar is already the second largest power station […]
WA government nixes ‘solar tax’ proposal for Synergy customers
Western Australia’s Labor government has ruled out introducing what a “solar tax” – the proposed doubling of grid connection charges for the state’s more than 175,000 solar households – describing […]
NSW government to clear path for post feed-in tariff meter replacements
The NSW government will rush through a series of bills next month in the hope of avoiding anticipated bottle-necks and lower charges as nearly 140,000 households in the state seek […]
Commercial Solar PV Price Index: February 2016
Average prices for commercial-scale solar PV system installations have remained largely unchanged between this month and last, according to figures from Solar Choice’s installer network database. Commercial solar system prices […]
Residential solar PV price index – February 2016
Average solar PV system installation prices for Australia have risen for the 2rd month running, according to data from Solar Choice’s installer network database. The average price per watt for […]
With shortfall of electricians to change meters, NSW solar homes face crisis as feed-in tariff end-date looms
More than 150,000 NSW households face the prospect of hefty bills and unexpected losses on the value of their rooftop solar output at the end of the year when the […]
Tasmania government urged to consider strategy to boost wind & solar
The Tasmanian government is being urged to support the development of more rooftop solar and wind energy, as it negotiates the state’s biggest energy crisis after losing the grid connection […]
One chart shows solar PV’s stunning progress over 40 years
A new graph by Earth Policy Institute and Bloomberg – sourced via this story on Treehugger – offers a stunning reminder the incredible journey solar PV has been on over […]
Queensland Productivity Commission report ignores benefits, emphasises costs of QRET
A new study from the Queensland Productivity Commission has estimated the state’s renewable energy target of 50 per cent by 2050 will cost $10.8 billion in subsidies, and has advised […]
Queensland government will not retroactively cut solar feed-in tariff payments
A proposal to make retrospective cuts to Queensland’s Solar Bonus Scheme has been ruled out by the state government, immediately after it was recommended in a report into driving down […]
QLD Productivity Commission: Solar Bonus Scheme should be ended early
The Queensland Productivity Commission has recommended bringing an early end to the state’s solar bonus scheme, arguing that it has done its job and is too costly to be continued. […]
Commercial Solar PV Price Index: January 2016
Mirroring the Residential PV Price Index for this month, commercial system prices have undergone a slight up-tick since the end of last year. Average commercial solar PV system prices currently […]
[WATCH] Drone flyover video of Amaroo School’s 600kW solar array
Solar Choice has previously published a number of articles about our iconic Amaroo School solar project – the largest rooftop solar installation in the ACT and the 11th largest installation […]
The cost, productivity & return on investment for 2kW solar panel systems.
How much does a 2kW solar system cost, how much energy can you expect it to produce, and what sort of a financial return will a home see on a […]
Australia’s new solar milestone: One panel per capita
There are now as many solar panels installed in Australia as there are humans in the country, according to recent analysis from the folks at Sunwiz, Australia’s leading solar market […]
Australian Anti-Dumping Commission to reexamine Chinese panel dumping complaint
The Australian Anti-Dumping Commission (ADC) has reopened the case against Chinese solar panel manufacturers accused of dumping polycrystalline solar photovoltaic modules into the Australian market. The case was taken up […]
Residential solar PV price index – January 2016
After about 5 months of steady declines since about August of 2015, the average price of solar PV system prices rose slightly (approximately 5c/W) between December of 2015 and January of […]
Battery storage for solar in Western Australia
Around 20% of the homes in Western Australia have solar panels installed on their roofs, according to the APVI. This makes WA the Australian state with the 3rd highest concentration […]
Once coal-fired, Brisbane Powerhouse resurrected as 100kW solar power plant
The Brisbane Powerhouse, the city’s former coal-fired plant turned popular hub for Queensland’s bustling theatre and arts scene, has come full circle and is again generating power. This time however the Powerhouse is generating […]
Queensland Labor fights for fair rates for solar homes
The Queensland Labor government’s promise of a better deal for rooftop solar households has met with resistance from its most senior bureaucrat in the department of energy. Paul Simshauser, appointed […]
Commercial Solar PV Price Index: December 2015
December marks the second month running where the installer-nominated ‘Solar Choice Discount’ has been excluded from our calculations, resulting in pricing more reflective of actual retail commercial solar system prices […]
60MW of rooftop solar installed in November – nearly 30% commercial
Households and businesses around Australia have added another 60MW of rooftop solar PV in the month of November, taking the nation’s total for the year to date to 654MW. In […]
Residential solar PV price index – December 2015
On average solar PV system prices dropped for the month of December 2015 were lower across all capital cities for all system sizes than those from November 2015. The drop […]
Victorian government clears roadblocks to rooftop solar PPAs
See this explanatory article on solar PPAs Victorian households will now have access to rooftop solar at little-to no up-front cost through leasing deals solar companies, following regulatory changes announced […]
Aerial photos of completed 600kW solar array on the ACT’s Amaroo School
Solar Choice has commissioned aerial photos of our iconic Amaroo School solar project. The gallery of these images below showcases the scale and elegance of the arrays, which span multiple […]
SA government reveals 4-point plan to attract investment dollars for renewables
The South Australian government has released the details of its plan to invest $10 billion in low-carbon generation by 2025 – a major part of the state government’s new climate […]
Adelaide plans to become world’s first carbon-neutral city
A plan to make Adelaide the world’s first carbon neutral city has been signed by the city’s Lord Mayor Martin Haese and South Australian premier Jay Weatherill. The deal was […]
WA solar households could face new ‘solar tax’ under Synergy proposal
A network proposal that would effectively double the charge to connect Western Australia’s more than 191,000 solar households to the grid has been slammed as unfair and counter-productive. Under a […]
South Australia’s Retailer Feed-in Tariff to increase to 6.8c/kWh (but does it really matter?)
South Australia‘s Retailer Feed-in Tariff (RFiT) will increase from the 2015 rate of 5.3c/kWh to 6.8c/kWh for the duration of 2016, according to a report from the Essential Services Commission […]