Solar Choice’s Commercial PV Price Index is published monthly to act as a bellwether for commercial-scale solar PV system pricing trends across Australia. Systems of 10kW, 30kW, 50kW and 100kW in […]
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.
Could solar homes & businesses face fallout from carbon tax repeal?
The Australian Greens have raised concerns that the Abbott government’s scrapping of the carbon pricing scheme will have serious repercussion for Australian households and small businesses with rooftop solar. The […]
Victorian electricity retailer set to hit solar system owners with additional fees
Victoria looks set to become the first Australian state to hit solar households with an additional fixed charge on their electricity bills, according to a proposal that has recently come […]
15,000 new Australian households going solar monthly, with Queensland leading the way
Australians continue to install rooftop solar at a rate of more than 15,000 households a month, according to new data from Green Energy Trading, adding peak capacity of 64.8MW in […]
Echoing Australia, Florida and Utah utilities working to undermine solar growth
Echoing the conflicts currently underway in Australia, utilities in the American states of Florida and Utah are making efforts to slow down the progress of burgeoning solar industries there. In […]
Decarbonising Australian electricity sector would require reaching 100% renewables by 2050
Australia would need to switch to 100 per cent renewable electricity generation by 2050 in order to achieve the kind of rapid decarbonisation required to meet its global climate obligations, […]
Inefficient pricing, not renewables, to blame for Australian electricity cost pain: Grattan Institute
The situation in Australia’s electricity sector have come to what might be described as perfect storm conditions for leaving the grid, and unfair & inefficient pricing mechanisms are largely to blame, […]
Retirement savings at risk if RET is slashed: IGCC
The Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) has advised the panel tasked with reviewing Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) that the superannuation funds of millions of Australians are at risk […]
Solar PV Price Index – July 2014
Although higher average system prices in Melbourne and Hobart between this and last month resulted in an apparent increase across all system sizes included in our calculations (except for 1.5kW), […]
Rooftop solar will slow or reduce electricity demand in WA
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 […]
Australian Solar Council and Solar Citizens slam government on plans to scrap ARENA
Australia’s Solar Council has launched a campaign to save the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, warning the federal government that dumping it would damage the solar industry and put Australia well […]
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 […]
First Solar says utility-scale solar price will halve by 2019–if RET remains intact
The cost of utility-scale solar in Australia will halve over the next five years, making it cheaper than wind energy by 2020, according to predictions from one of the world’s […]
FRV suggests energy storage ‘multiplier’ incentive to encourage renewables, reduce peak demand
Spanish renewables group, FRV, has suggested the introduction of a form of banding, or a “multiplier,” to encourage the development of energy storage. FRV suggests a multiplier could be applied […]
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 […]
ACIL Allen’s RET modelling shows homes & businesses could install 14GW+ of solar by 2040
Australian households will likely invest $30 billion in rooftop solar in the coming decades, assuming the major share of investment in the country’s transition to clean energy. Modelling conducted by consulting […]
Palmer’s backing of the RET ensures scheme’s survival, but cuts still likely
After several oscillations, Clive Palmer has suddenly (and apparently wholeheartedly) thrown his party’s backing behind Australia’s embattled Renewable Energy Target, currently the nation’s most important remaining support scheme for renewables. […]
ACIL Allen report on Renewable Energy Target bodes ill for Australian solar industry
The Australian solar industry is in grave fear about its future, following the release of various scenarios from ACIL Allen, the company doing the modeling for the Abbott government’s review […]
Australia in danger of becoming a renewable energy ‘laggard’ globally if RET is cut
The world’s largest solar manufacturer, Yingli Green Energy, has warned Australia that the maintenance of the Renewable Energy Target is crucial for the ongoing business and future stability of the […]
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. […]
Renewable energy policy uncertainty holding Australia back in global solar boom
Renewable energy policy uncertainty threatens to put Australia even further behind the global solar pace, according to the comments from within two of the booming industry’s biggest players. In an […]
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 […]
Power Japan Plus introduces dual-carbon batteries to replace lithium-ion
Power Japan Plus, a Japanese battery technology start-up, revealed a new carbon-based battery as a replacement for lithium-ion technology. The new battery, trademarked Ryden, offers comparable energy densities to Lithium-ion […]
NSW government backs RET but recommends substantial changes
The NSW government has fallen short of calling for Australia’s Renewable Energy Target be scrapped, instead recommending significant changes to the legislation, including delaying its large-scale component, and clamping rooftop […]
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 […]
