Important news for ACT customers only: Earlier this month a strategical recommendation was made by the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (ICRC in Canberra) that would directly affect the investment […]
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 is Environmental Performance Disclosure?
Yet another reason to go solar! In the second half of this year mandatory disclosure will be introduced for commercial office buildings with a leasable space over 2000 square metres. […]
Tax implications of going solar in Australia
The Australian Tax Office [ATO] has released its findings regarding the treatment of income generated from selling electricity back to the grid. […]
REC/STC prices guaranteed at $40–but only if sold through ORER
On Friday 27 February 2010 the Minister for Climate Change announced some very positive changes to the prices of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs, also known as Small-scale Technology Certificates or STCs). […]
Free power, and the rest
The following article, by Mathew Cawood, appeared in the rural newspaper The Land on 20th of February 2010. It talks about a recent 10kW installation in country NSW that Solar Choice brokered. The installation earns […]
Home energy consumption versus solar PV generation
A previous article on this site looked at the first part of that answer, how much energy your solar cells will produce. Here we learnt that the amount of energy a 1kW […]
Gross Metering Details for Energy Australia New South Wales
There is a lot of discussion in the industry regarding exactly how the New South Wales Solar Bonus Scheme will affect properties meter boxes and connections with the grid. Solar […]
NSW feed-in tariff loophole to be closed
A loophole in the NSW Solar Bonus Scheme (the states feed-in tariff) that allowed energy retailers to only offer credit instead of cash will be closed. The NSW Energy Minister, John Robertson, […]
Putting solar cells on your holiday home – a nice little earner
For those of you luck enough to own a holiday home you no doubt already know that renting it out to friends and the public is a great way to earn […]
The Green Loans program
(N.B. the Australian government’s Green Loan program came to a close on 21 December 2010. Some information below is out of date.) A solar PV system is a great way to […]
What happens if my solar energy installation is slightly over the Feed in Tariff limit?
So you’ve made the decision to install solar panels on you roof and would like to take full advantage of the Feed in Tariff’s available. How big can you make […]
Power prices set to rise by up to 60%
The NSW Energy Minister John Robertson said last Monday that he had received verbal advice from the state’s pricing regulator that power prices could rise by up to 60% in […]
ETS voted down in the senate for a second time
The Federal Government’s proposed Emissions Trading Scheme has been just been voted down in the Senate for a second time. After the tumultuous political events of the last week, the […]
NSW Gross Feed In Reward Scheme – install within the next few months to guarantee your inclusion in such a generous scheme
It’s all good news for NSW customers who’ve installed solar energy, or will install it within the next few months. The NSW Govt released draft legislation a few hours ago […]
NSW Govt Announces Gross Feed In Reward Scheme
Wonderful news for NSW customers who will be going solar, or already have installed solar energy! NSW Govt announced an hour ago that the new feed in reward scheme starting […]
Victorian Feed-In Tariff Commences
After much deliberation the details of the Victorian feed-in reward rate have been announced, with a commencement date on the 1st of November, 2009. Official specifications for the reward rate […]
The REC Market: Determining your Solar Credit Discount
(Some of the information in this article may be out of date! Please see our Solar Credits and Rebates page for updated information on Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs, also known as […]
Solar Credit discounts legislated today!
Great news for all Australian residences and businesses looking to install solar energy. The Senate today passed the Renewable Energy Target (RET) bill, which includes legislation for the Solar Credit […]
Senate rejects climate change laws: solar credit discounts still on hold
The Senate today rejected the Government’s climate change package, leaving the solar credit legislation in limbo. Calls have been made by the Australian renewable industry for both major parties to […]
Senate should be asked to pass Solar Credits as separate legislation
Solar Credit discount legislation – which forms part of the Renewable Energy Target (RET) bill – is back before the Senate this week, together with the Emmissions Trading Scheme. The RET […]
Remote Power Rebate still available in Western Australia
On the 22nd of June, 2009, the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program (RRPGP) was closed to all Australian States and Territories except Western Australia. Households, businesses and community buildings in […]
RECs / STCs – What are they and how are they calculated?
(Although still an accurate description of the REC scheme in general, some of the details in this article may be out of date! Please click here for regularly updated information on […]
Round up of solar hot water rebates, federal and state
Round up of Solar Hot Water Rebates, federal and state by state There are a variety of financial incentives being offered at state and federal levels for solar hot water […]
NSW Govt announces ‘feed in reward scheme’ for solar
It has been a long time coming. Yesterday the NSW Government finally announced that from 1 January 2010 households generating solar power will be paid 60c per kilowatt hour for […]
Media Release from Senator Milnes on axing of remote power rebate
The following is a copy of today’s media release by Green’s Senator Chistine Milne, concerning yesterday’s abrupt cancellation of the remote power rebate: […]
Remote power rebate axed on 22 June 09, except for WA
The Federal Government announced yesterday that the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program (RRPGP) – that provided a 50% subsidy for off grid solar and wind power – is now closed […]
Solar Credit legislation deferred until at least August 2009
This morning the Renewable Energy Target bill, under which the Solar Credits Scheme was due to operate, was deferred until at least August 2009. This was the result of a […]
How solar in Australia compares to Germany, Japan and USA
If one were to conduct an examination of the history of solar power across the world, a couple of countries would emerge as those that have set the standard of […]
How the new Solar Credit scheme operates (from 10 June 09)
(Some of the information in this entry is out of date: please refer to this newer entry for up-to-date information on RECs multipliers). While the Federal Government created œsolar chaos […]
Fed Govt calls early finish to $8k rebate, effective 9 June 09
Below is a copy of the media release just provided this morning by the Federal Government, announcing that it will cease taking applications for an 8k rebate with immediate effect […]
WA govt backflip, solar feed in tariff for surplus solar energy only
Homeowners in WA have been dealt disappointing news today on solar energy feed in rewards … the state government has reneged on its promise to pay a gross feed in […]
