Tuesday 8 September 2009

Reforms stifle call for household solar

Summaries - Australian Financial Review
Monday 7/9/2009

Rebates of up to $8000 for installing photovoltaic panels that were introduced by the Howard government have been replaced by a new regime, enacted through the RET legislation, which 'allows households to claim five REC's for every MW hour of electricity their panels generate.'

Although the new regime is not subject to the $100,000 household income test the Rudd government imposed on the previous rebate, it is less generous, and the fact it has not yet come into force is discouraging households from installing the panels.

Danin Kahn, chief executive of green energy company Todae advised that, "A lower REC price is obviously going to affect demand, but not as much as not actually having a mechanism to get the solar credits." Ken Edwards, principal of energy broker Nextgen reports that there may be market power issues emerging if the NSW government sells its retailers.

Nick Brass, managing director of operations at green energy company EnergyMatters advised that the market dynamic should change once the new regime came into force. The REC market has been volatile since Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull sent the emissions trading legislation to a Senate Committee in May.

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