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 […]
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.
Energy storage: are we there yet?
As a solar industry analyst, technologist and electric motorcycle owner, you would expect me to be optimistic about where storage is up to. The reality is, every time I turn […]
Could Palmer United Party support for renewables save the RET?
Update: Clive Palmer has contradicted his WA PUP senate candidate Dio Wang, saying the RET should not be mandatory. It is unclear what his party’s official stance on renewables is. […]
Toshiba’s SCiB batteries to be deployed in Japan’s remote islands
Toshiba Corporation recently announced an order for its innovative SCiB batteries for a large-scale renewables/storage project on remote islands in Japan. The systems were installed by Kyushu Electric Power Co. […]
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 […]
Uncertainty over future of renewable energy support mechanisms driving investors away from Australia
Australia is in danger of losing investors in clean energy options such as solar and wind energy, and in carbon abatement, because of the uncertainty around environmental legislation. Several key […]
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 […]
Big changes ahead for Australian solar
2014 will be a watershed year for the Australian solar industry, and consumers will feel the impacts one way or another. The fate of Australian companies who participate in this […]
SA Premier visits Tindo Solar plant to talk renewables support as election looms
In a show of support for both local jobs and the renewable energy industry, South Australian premier Jay Weatherill paid a visit to Tindo Solar‘s manufacturing plant this week. The […]
International Energy Agency says integration of wind & solar is possible and affordable
The International Energy Agency has blown away some of the key myths surrounding renewable energy, and which seem to be affecting policy development in Australia. In a report released last […]
Climate Change Authority throws what weight it has behind the RET
Like the Carbon Tax, the fate of the Climate Change Authority (CCA) is more or less sealed, with the federal government having vowed to dismantle it once it gains control […]
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 […]
IEA says renewables cost-competitive with new-build fossil fuel plants in OECD nations
Solar and wind energy can play major roles in transforming and decarbonising the world’s electricity grids, and at little extra cost, according to the International Energy Agency. The IEA, a […]
Fossil fuel subsidies vs renewable energy subsidies in Australia: Get the facts
It seems that around the world with increasing regularity, we hear complaints from opponents of solar energy that “solar subsidies are too generous”. Without doubt, solar has received support over […]
39% of Australians think Renewable Energy Target is ‘about right’, 25% ‘too low’ according to poll
The federal government’s ire towards Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) appears to be seriously out of proportion with public sentiment regarding the incentive scheme, if the results of an Essential […]
Solar feed-in tariff rates for Queensland 2014: 7.55c/kWh for Brisbane & surrounds, variable elsewhere
The Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) has released its final report detailing its recommendations for solar feed-in tariff rates to be paid through the state’s Solar Bonus Scheme for 2014. Not […]
REC Agents Association analysis: Renewable Energy Target helps reduce power bills for everyone
The solar industry has launched its campaign to save industry incentives by releasing a new analysis that demonstrates the cost of the those incentives on household bills is effectively zero. […]
With Renewable Energy Target review underway, solar industry takes facts into battle
The review of the federal Renewable Energy Target is now officially underway–and it will be ‘extensive’. The government, having made clear on numerous occasions its intentions of eliminating ‘green tape’ […]
How you can help save Australia’s Renewable Energy Target
Renewables are currently in the hot seat as electric utilities lobby to eliminate or weaken the primary incentive mechanism left in Australia that supports them: The Renewable Energy Target. It’s […]
Solar PV Price Index–February 2014
Average prices for systems of all common sizes included (1.5kW-10kW) in almost all cities have increased this month, with 1.5kW systems rising the most. Systems in Canberra appeared to undergo a decrease […]
Paper and PV: Wood pulp-based material boosts organic PV efficiency
Solar cells today are made from a wide cocktail of materials, from earth-abundant materials (Silicon and Carbon) to exotic rare earth metals (Indium, Gallium, etc), and from polymers to organic […]
Victorian Feed-in Tariff open to low-emissions technology applicants
Anyone interested in installing small and medium sized commercial solar systems in Victoria should take note that the Victorian Government introduced a new minimum feed-in tariff rate in 2013 based […]
Australian Solar Council kicks off campaign to save the Renewable Energy Target
The Australian Solar Council has launched a campaign to protect the Renewable Energy Target (RET) and to ‘save solar’. The Solar Council has thus far been one of the most […]
Solar homes & businesses meeting more than 10% of daytime electricity demand in WA, SA & QLD
The influence of rooftop solar PV on Australia’s electricity grids is growing steadily, highlighted by recent data that shows households and businesses are supplying more than 10 per cent of […]
Axing the small-scale renewables target could cost 7,000 solar jobs
The Australian solar industry – which employs more people than the gold mining, and oil and gas industries, and nearly as many as coal mining – could lose nearly two […]
Utilities & generators pushing for weaker small-scale Renewable Energy Target
The rooftop solar PV industry in Australia is likely to see some or all of its tariff support and other incentives removed because of pressure on the government from leading […]
Victorian network operator to dispatch grid energy storage trial
Victoria’s SP Ausnet, the grid operator for the state, has plans to run an grid energy storage trial in order to examine new ways to deal with the issue of […]
