Archive for the ‘News’ Category

The Federal Government has been very busy lately, rearranging its support for the solar industry and support for householders installing domestic solar power and hot water.

And once again it has proved the general rule that, if attractive supports (e.g. rebates) are available to go solar, grab them quick before they are reduced or withdrawn.

Solar hot water

If you ordered your solar hot water system or a heat pump before 20 February 2010, or had it installed before then, you still have until 19 March to claim the old rebate of $1600 for solar hot water systems and $1000 for heat pumps.

If you ordered your system after 20 February, eligible people can still receive a rebate under the new Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme but it’s not as attractive: $1000 for solar hot water systems and $600 for heat pumps.

Green Loans

Sadly the offer of up to $10,000 interest free Green Loan from the Federal Government to invest in home sustainability improvements like solar power are no longer on offer. It was good while it lasted.

Renewable Energy Target Scheme

While it hasn’t gone through parliament and won’t do for some time, the Federal Government is also planning to improve the subsidies provided to householders for solar power systems and solar hot water from 1 January 2011. While not as attractive as the $8000 rebate offered last year, they are presently estimating a 1.5 kilowatt solar power system will attract a subsidy of $6200.

The airwaves are currently pulsing with more warnings about possible dangers in products used in the Federal Government’s green home schemes. While there is a lot of talk, the Clean Energy Council has today reassured everyone that there have been no cases of solar panels causing house fires.
We are fortunate that in Australia our building and electrical works are governed by good industry standards. What is unfortunate is that there will always be cowboys willing to duck under the minimum standards set by industry and government. So how do you know if your solar power installation has been done properly?
Solar installations are technical and complex, and solar panels all look pretty much the same. Unless they are an electrician, it is unlikely that the average person is able to adequately judge the quality of a solar installation. You will always have to trust your installer and rely on their integrity.
Here’s a guide to assuring yourself you are getting a quality job:
Your supplier and installer must be a licensed electrician accredited by the Clean Energy Council. They will appear on the CEC’s database on their website . Furthermore, established and reputable electricians display their reputations by their dress, manner, equipment and vehicles.
Approved panels and inverters are listed on the CEC’s website.
Brand names provide customers with quality assurance. We have always supplied high-quality brand-name equipment: our panels are either Sharp or Suntech, and our inverters are either German-made SMA or Australian-made Latronics.
Make sure you get a warranty. Our solar panels come with a manufacturer-backed 25 year power output guarantee that ensures the panel will be performing at 90% of its stated output after 12 years and 80% after 25 years. Inverters from Ingenero are backed by a full product replacement warranty of 10 years. The balance of system components used are high quality, ensuring low energy loss, and are rated to meet or exceed Australian standards. If anything we sold becomes defective or breaks within the first 10 years, we come to you and fix it or replace it.
If you have concerns about the quality of your installation we suggest you pay for a second opinion from one of the installers accredited by the CEC.

We’ve done some analysis on the differences between gas hot water, electric hot water and solar hot water systems and the results are telling.
Electric hot water is five times more expensive than electric-boosted solar and 10 times more expensive than gas-boosted solar. Electric hot water also produces more than 14 times more greenhouse gas emissions than gas boosted solar hot water.

Costs per kilowatt hour

Running costs and emissions per year

Source: Sustainable Energy Development Office 2006
Reference: Western Australia Energy LPG Final Report July 2007.PDF

Federal Government’s Green Loans program has been getting a bit of negative media lately, with their accreditation program targeted. However it’s important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Green Loans is a scheme to give householders up to $10,000 interest-free over four years to pay for environment improvements to their homes.
I declare my interest here because I recently received my Green Loan and from a personal point of view I’m happy with the scheme. I used the loan to fund a solar power system on my roof and a four star energy efficient refrigerator.
I calculate that the savings on my energy bills will cover a lot of the loan repayments, but I will have to dip into my pocket to pay the rest. In four years I’ll have it all paid off, and my solar power system should keep pumping its power into the grid for at least another 20-25 years.
The process of getting the loan was slow, so you don’t want to be in a hurry. The first step is a home assessment by an accredited assessor who lets you know in a report what home improvements are eligible for funding.
Armed with a list of approved items, I then shopped around for the ones that I agreed I wanted. The tricky bit was getting the supplier invoices at the same time and prior to installation, then taking them to the lending institution. The loans system can’t seem to cope with staggered payments, so lining them up at the same time was a bit of a challenge.
But it was worth it – after all, we are talking interest-free here.

The NSW Government has just decreased (on 15 January 2010) the rebate they pay on solar hot water systems and heat pumps, proving once again that if a rebate is on offer from a government, grab it while it lasts.

Residents of NSW can now claim a $300 rebate if they switch from electric to solar hot water or heat pump. (Before 15 January, the rebate was up to $1200, depending on the number of RECs attracted by the new sysem).

The NSW rebate is additional to the $1600 Federal solar hot water rebate.

We can’t find any announcement of the change to the rebate. They seemed to just change the website information and hope that people find it.