New Solar Credits Scheme Will Dumb Down The Benefits Of Solar Power

SOLAR DAILY

Under the Solar Credits Scheme, due to replace the solar rebate in July, homes installing solar panels will be supplied with five Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for every megawatt-hour of clean energy their system produces, instead of the usual one REC per megawatt-hour.

by Staff Writers
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Feb 23, 2009
In a joint statement Australia's most prominent sustainability groups say it is imperative the federal government puts an end to the host of inconsistent and confusing solar power policies, or risk Australia's solar future.

The statement, submitted to the Department of Climate Change draft Renewable Energy Target (RET) legislation committee, says the government's new Solar Credits Scheme will actually reverse the impact of installing household solar systems.

"Households investing in solar do so at significant personal cost. In return for their sacrifice, the government is effectively canceling out the greenness of their solar system," says Damien Moyse, Energy Advocate for the Alternative Technology Association (ATA).

"Supplying extra RECs to solar homes means four out of the five RECs will be phantom and not represent real clean energy generation," says Mr Moyse.

RECs are the trading currency for renewable energy under emissions trading. One REC is equal to one megawatt-hour of clean energy generation.

In order to recoup up to $7500 of the up-front cost of their system, solar-homes will have to sell the extra RECs to large energy consumers or electricity retailers.

Mr Moyse says solar-homes will be selling off five-times the RECs, despite not producing 5 times the clean energy and effectively canceling out their climate-friendly solar electricty generation.

"These phantom RECs will be helping electricity retailers achieve their Renewable Energy Targets (RET) on paper, but not in real renewable electricity generation."

Under the RET, electricity retailers are required to purchase 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

The groups are calling for the federal government to put a stop to ineffective solar policies and fulfill its election commitment to consider the introduction of a strong feed-in tariff for small-scale renewables.

"The latest evidence suggests that climate change is happening faster than predicted and the burning of coal is at the core of the problem," says Mr Moyse.

"A national gross feed-in tariff, like the one adopted by the ACT, will be a positive and decisive step to securing the future for small-scale renewable energy," says Mr Moyse.

SOLAR DAILY

Chinese group targets poor with 40-dollar solar phone

Barcelona, Spain (AFP) Feb 18, 2009
Chinese group ZTE unveiled the world's first low-cost solar-powered mobile phone targeted at the world's poor on Wednesday, which is to go on sale in June for under 40 dollars (32 euros).

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