Government Incentives For Installing Solar Power
Current Incentives
- Solar credits - federal government incentive currently 3 times the renewable energy certificate entitlement, available on the first 1.5kW of the system's capacity.
- Renewable energy certificates (RECs) now known as Small-scale Trade Certificate (STCs) then apply for the amount the system's capacity exceeds 1.5kW (see Example)
- Use the ORER site to see how many renewable energy credits you can receive for the system you want (use S.G.U solar and deeming period of 15 years).
- To get an idea of what RECs are currently trading at go to one of REC wholesalers. Note the rate you are given is the rate at date of installation for the party Air and Water Residential assigns the RECs to.
- Feed-in tariff - unfortunately the WA State Government cancelled the feed-in tariff 2 August 2011 as it had met its uptake quota of 150MB. You are still able to get paid for the power you sell back to the grid under the renewable energy buyback scheme. However Synergy only pays you 7 cents for the power you sell back but charges you 21.86635c to buy power!
As with any government policy, these incentives can change without notice so, before you purchase a system, check with the retailer what the current government incentives are.
Incentives That Have Ceased
- Green loans, subsidised loans to help you purchase your PV system.
- The means tested rebate for PV was replaced by the Solar Credits Scheme.
-
Free Home Sustainability Assessment to identify areas where power consumption could be reduced. By minimising your power consumption you maximise the amount of power you can sell back to the grid.
