Solar bonus plan payments face cut

Sunday Mail Brisbane
Sunday 13/4/2008 Page: 17

THE State Government has been accused of undermining one of its own major initiatives to combat climate change. Environmentalists warn that a scheme designed to encourage Queenslanders to install solar panels to boost the amount of renewable energy flowing into the electricity grid is set to flop. Changes to the scheme mean it will be difficult, if not impossible, for most families to generate enough surplus power to qualify for the payments promised. In fact, people who install solar power will effectively be penalised financially, says Queensland Conservation coordinator Toby Hutcheon.

The Queensland Consumers Association, Property Council of Queensland and the country's biggest producer of solar panels, BP Solar, have also expressed concerns. When the Solar Bonus Scheme was announced last month, Premier Anna Bligh said households and businesses would be paid 44¢ for every kilowatt hour generated by solar panels and fed into the state grid. Electricity used would be charged at the normal 15¢ per kilowatt hour.

In the first week, more than 5000 people rushed to sign up for the scheme, which is due to start on July 1. But it has since been revealed that, unlike the current "gross tariff" scheme where people are paid for all the energy provided by their solar panels to the grid, the new "net tariff' model will deduct household usage first, so that people will only be paid the 44¢ rate for any extra power generated above their own consumption. "So in effect, they will be charged 44¢ for the electricity they consume, instead of the 15¢ everyone else pays," Mr Hutcheon said.

Modelling done for Queensland Conservation by sustainable energy experts at the Queensland University of Technology shows that using the 1kW solar systems that the Government is bulk-buying as part of the scheme, few households across the state will be able to generate more power from their solar panels than they consume. "What the graph shows is that even 400 of the most energy-efficient customers would use more than a 1kW system will generate, so it's very unlikely anyone will get the 44¢ tariff," Mr Hutcheon said.

Ian Jarrett from the Queensland Consumers Association said he had written to Energy Minister Geoff Wilson seeking further explanation about the scheme. "If some of the main features are not in the best interests of consumers, then the Government should be prepared to change it," he said.

Steve Greenwood, executive director of the Property Council, said the commercial sector was disappointed with the scheme's new direction. Sustainability and Climate Change Minister Andrew McNamara admitted some people would use more power than their solar panels generated but said: "It depends a lot on what other things they do. "I hope people do more than just put a solar panel on their roof and not do anything to save energy." Mr McNamara said he had reduced his own electricity power bill to $80 a quarter.