Solar Power in Australia has grown massively in 2010 and 2011 driven by state feed in tariffs also known as the solar bonus scheme or solar credits.This has resulted in the capacity limits being reached and most of the state solar subsidy schemes have been withdrawn (see the current state feed-in-tariff schemes below).However the Australian federal government is still offering the Renewable Energy Credit Scheme under which\u00a0 solar power generated is eligible to get solar credits which can be solar in the open market for cash.This will still drive the use of solar energy as the falling prices of chinese solar panels has made solar energy near electricity price parity in a number of places.Australia which gets a lot of sunshine is ideal for solar energy which\u00a0 promotes climate change mitigation as well besides reducing pollution.Australia has the highest average solar radiation of any continent in the world, which means solar industry has the greatest potential.<\/p>\n
Current State of Solar Power in Australia<\/strong><\/p>\n Solar power is installed on almost 250,000 homes across Australia. At the end of September 2010 ,300 megawatts of solar PV capacity was installed nationwide\u00a0 which was stupendous 10 times increase in 2 years.Solar Power in Australia supplies both the grid and off grid systems .<\/p>\n Australian Government 20% Renewable Energy Target by 2020 (Renewable Energy Target RET) In 2007 the government set that\u00a0 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity supply would come from renewable energy sources by 2020 by establishing the national Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme. Final legislation passed on August 20 2009.The\u00a0Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator (ORER)\u00a0is the statutory authority established to oversee the implementation of the\u00a0Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET)\u00a0and the\u00a0Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES).<\/p>\n Solar Thermal Power<\/strong><\/p>\n Solar Thermal Energy is facing setbacks due to drastic fall in prices of solar panel prices.In May 2009 the federal government announced the $1.5 billion Solar Flagships Program to help fund the construction and deployment of up to four large-scale solar power stations of around 250 megawatts of which two can be solar thermal. State governments and private enterprise would add to this fund to enable the deployment of the power stations.However the Floods in 2011 has put the scheme in the backburner.<\/p>\n In the following section you can read about guide on Solar Energy Rebates,Guide on Buying Solar Inverters and Guide on Buying Solar Panels.<\/p>\n GUIDE on Solar Energy Rebates<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Solar Rebates are a very important decision making factor when buying solar panels for your home or office or factory.The reason is that solar energy today is still not competitive with fossil fuel energy.However the\u00a0costs of solar energy have declined<\/a>\u00a0dramatically in the recent past.It is estimated that solar energy will be competitive with coal,gas and other fossil fuels in 2-3 years in most places around the earth.In fact it has already reached \u201cgrid parity\u201d in a number of countries like Italy,Hawai where there is a lot of sunshine and the cost of electricity is also high.Australia too has a large number of sunny hours which makes it ideal to install solar panels.State governments in Australia have been at the forefront of giving rebates and subsidies to promote solar energy in the country.This has resulted in a large boom of solar installations among residents in the country who are taking advantage of the generous subsidies.Though recently a number of provinces like New South Vales and Victoria have stopped the solar rebates , the falling cost of solar panels in Australia has still made it attractive enough for people to put up solar panels.<\/p>\n Read\u00a0about\u00a0<\/a>on how to buy\u00a0Solar Panels.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Most of the state government Feed in Tariff Schemes have closed down under a deluge of applications and have reached the limit.Now the rebates for solar energy is federal in nature where you can receive a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) or Solar Credit for the solar energy generated from solar panels.Here is a list of the solar rebates and subsidies available in different states of Australia.<\/p>\n Basic Concepts<\/strong><\/p>\n What is \u2018Net\u2019 feedin tariffs<\/strong>\u00a0are where the consumer is only paid\/credited for the \u2018net\u2019 generated electricity they export to the national electricity grid from their renewable energy generator (not for the proportion of generated electricity they use themselves). In order to receive a \u2018net\u2019 feed-in tariff the consumer needs to have \u2018net\u2019 metering that can measure the net amount of generated electricity exported to the national electricity grid. A \u2018net\u2019 meter measures the net amount of generated electricity exported to the national electricity grid.\u00a0This means a customer uses the electricity they produce first, before sending the remainder to the grid.\u00a0A net meter allows customers with solar panels to reduce their electricity bills.<\/p>\n What is Gross feed in tariffs\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0measures the \u2018gross\u2019 or total amount of electricity generated by a renewable energy generator that is exported to the grid. \u2018Gross\u2019 feed-in tariffs are where the consumer is paid\/credited for all the electricity generated by their renewable energy generator (e.g. solar photovoltaic system or wind turbine). In order to receive a gross feed-in tariff the consumer needs to have gross metering that can measure the \u2018gross\u2019 or total amount of electricity generated by their renewable energy generator that is exported to the grid.<\/p>\n It is clear that\u00a0Gross Feed in Tarffs are much better than Net feed in tariffs<\/strong>\u00a0because the feed in tariff is generally much greater than the electricity rate.<\/p>\n Australian Federal Government Subsidies and Rebates for Solar Energy Installations<\/strong><\/p>\n The Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES)<\/strong><\/p>\n The\u00a0SRES<\/strong>\u00a0provides a financial benefit for owners wishing to purchase eligible solar water heaters, air source heat pumps and small-scale solar photovoltaic panels, wind and hydro systems. Installation of these units permits the creation of Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs), which can be exchanged for financial benefit for owners.<\/p>\n Owners have two options for gaining a financial benefit for their certificates:<\/p>\n Small-scale technology certificates (STCs) are created by eligible installations of solar water heaters, air source heat pump water heaters and small generation units (small-scale solar photovoltaic panels, wind and hydro electricity systems). A STC is generally equivalent to:<\/p>\n If an SGU was installed on or after\u00a09 June 2009<\/strong>\u00a0it may be eligible for additional STCs under Solar Credits.\u00a0 This increases the number of STCs to which your system is entitled by a set factor, depending on when the system was installed, thereby increasing the financial benefit provided back to you, to support investment in small-scale renewable energy generation.\u00a0 The table below shows the current Solar Credits multiplier.<\/p>\n
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What is\u00a0 Small-scale Technology Certificate (STC)<\/h3>\n
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What are Solar Credits?<\/h4>\n