Solar Power Rebates

Renewable Energy Credits: RECs for short

In 2001 the government initiated  the Renewable Energy Target  which requires energy providers like Origin Energy to source a portion (aiming for 20% by 2020) of their electricity from renewable sources.

RECs are actually traded like shares with number of RECs determined by your systems size & location. For systems under 1.5kw RECs are superseeded by the Solar Credit Scheme.

Learn More About - Renewable Energy Credits

Solar Credit Scheme:

The Solar Credit Scheme mutiplies your RECs entitlement by a factor of 5. So depending on where you live the Solar Credit Scheme will save you between $5200 - $7,000 off the purchase price of your system.

Note: The multiplying effect of the Solar Credit Scheme on RECs will be reduced each year from 2012 and will be completely phased out by 2015.  Most solar companies will quote you with the Solar Credit Discount already taken off the purchase price of your system and the solar installer will look after all paper work and aspects of this credit on your behalf. 

Learn More About - Solar Credit Scheme

Feed In Tariffs:

Each state administers their own Feed In Tariffs.  Feed in Tariffs are an obligation for electricity providers to pay you a premium rate (2-3 times the standard electricy rate) for surplus electricity your systems produces and is fed back into the grid. 

Most states in Australia have Net Feed in Tariffs which means you will only be paid the premium rate on the surplus energy your system produces.

Most common solar systems installed on homes in Australia are a 1.5kW size system.  Whilst this size system will save you about $500 a year for 20 - 25 years (at current electricity rates) this system size will only produce about 30% of your homes energy need so your system will not produce any surplus energy to feed into the grid. 

So to take advantage of Net Feed in Tariffs you will need to invest in a larger system of around 3kW.

NSW & ACT - Gross Feed In Tariffs

NSW & ACT residents have the added benefit of a Gross Feed in Tariff which means instead of paying you for the surplus energy you produce your electricity supplier will have to pay you the premium rate on ALL the electricity your system produces. Saving you about $1300 a year for the next 7 years.

Note: This incentive is capped at 50MWh and currently the uptake is in excess of 30MWh so you will need to get in quick.

Learn More About - Feed In Tariffs

Who Is Eligible For Solar Rebates:

Effectively anyone who owns a property is entitled to install solar panels & take advantage of the many incentives to do so. The government inducements are not means tested and have few conditions other than -  

    * Solar panel system must be installed by a CEC accredited installer and 

    * Solar panel system must meet Australian standards.

Note: Although all the above incentives and rebates are initiated by the government they are all paid for by the Electricity Providers and indirectly by electricity consumers.