The changing landscape of government solar policy

Two weeks after withdrawing the rebate on grid-connected domestic solar power systems, the Federal Government today (23 June) announced it would do the same for off-grid systems.

The Renewable Remote Power Generation Program ends today in all states except Western Australia. The program effectively funded up to half the costs of solar panels, wind turbines or batteries for people in remote areas.

Today’s announcement from the NSW government was more positive: a net feed-in tariff of 60 cents a kilowatt hour. This means that anyone with a solar power system can sell the excess energy they generate back into the grid for around four times the price of buying it from the grid.

The tariff applies to systems up to 10 kilowatts in size and begins on 1 January 2010.

Related Topics

  • Changes to government solar programs, again
    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...

  • A solar bird in the hand…
    It is a great idea, obvious really – put solar panels on school rooftops and install rainwater tanks to supplement their water supply. The result is a reduction in school...

One Response to “The changing landscape of government solar policy”

  1. A solar bird in the hand… by Ingenero Says:

    [...] subsidy. Unfortunately, solar incentive schemes have a habit of being abruptly withdrawn: the Solar Homes and Communities Program and the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program both ended pre… in [...]

Leave a Reply