Canberrans warm to new solar energy law

Canberra Times
Friday 4/7/2008 Page: 9

Canberrans are delighted with new laws that allow residents to be paid for solar energy and hope the ACT will become the "solar capital." Residents who produce solar power will be paid almost 60c for every kilowatt hour of electricity they generate, a payment called a "feed-in tariff."

Executive director of Canberra community group Sea Change, Vanessa Morris has a solar hot water system and is keen to add some panels to her roof to make the most of the tariff when it comes into effect next year. "I want to boil my kettle knowing that I am using the sun, not some old technology," she said. "The subject of solar power is immensely popular in Canberra.

People are really excited by it." The group's Jamison arts, which encompasses the suburbs of Cook, Aranda and Macquarie, has set itself the ambitious goal of reducing the ecological footprint of the three suburbs by 30 per cent in the next three years. The group held a public meeting to gauge Canberra's interest in solar energy. About 200 people showed tip and the group proceeded to use its strength in numbers to get a provider to sell it solar systems as cheaply as possible.

It negotiated a deal with Armada Solar and about 53 people have signed on to buy solar panels. "So many have a vision of Canberra as the solar capital. We have the public inclination, we have the roofs and we have such a need to increase the amount of renewable energy uptake in Australia," Ms Morris said. The ANU's director of the Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems, Professor Andrew Blakers, was enthusiastic about the legislation.

"I think it's a wonderful thing to have happened. I congratulate Mick Gentleman for a well-run campaign to get (the legislation) accepted and I think it's going to put Canberra on the solar map," he said. A feed-in tariff was a better incentive than the Federal Government's rebate because those enjoying the tariff had a vested interest in making sure their system worked for 20 years.

The rebate encouraged residents to buy the cheapest possible system and possibly use it only in the short term. Professor Blakers estimates that over the course of the year in Canberra a resident could get $900 to $1000 a year through the tariff, depending on system size. "The system costs a fair bit so you're not going to make a fortune for it," he said.

"But it's attractive enough for a lot of people to invest and the more people invest the more everyone's a winner in the long run." Labor backbencher Mr Gentleman said,"Where we have seen this (tariff) work in other countries, it has generated a social change within the community when people start to take it tip.

"It might start with an interest in solar electricity and then (people) start looking at other things they can do to combat climate change." Phil Harveyson, of solar business Green Frog Solar in Fyshwick, said a lot of his clients had been waiting for a tariff to install a system.

"It's certainly going to help in getting people over the line for solar, giving them an incentive, especially as the Federal Government made it harder for people to access the Commonwealth rebate," he said.