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Forum Index : Solar : Grim light cast on solar bonus
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| Feral Newbie  Joined: 03/12/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 39 |
It would appear that the State Governments offer of solar for the family home was not really what we have been led to believe. Sign up for this scam and you effectively pay three times the price for their power that you use after you sell your surplus to their grid. Below is an extract from the Courier Mail. 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. Who wants to accept their offer now ? |
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| dwyer Guru  Joined: 19/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 573 |
Hi Feral You are correct as l knew this abit of scam and l wouldn't be bother with this State Government offer as someone have to pay money back .Question What happern if anyone want to sell the propley and new owner move in and what happen next ?????? I simple go on alone without all their paper work to fill in maybe some red tape hiding some where . Dwyer |
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AMUN-RA Senior Member  Joined: 10/03/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 144 |
Feral all Anna Bligh has done with this is create a lot of problem for the industry.For the last fortnight I have had 20 calls for solar grid connect from exited people who have read the papers and news reports only to have to explane to the how the system realy works,result no sales but at least I tell them the truth. The first thing you need to do is fit solar hot water otherwise all the power generated by a 1kw unit will be used to make hot water(wasted money). You are right on the money we do pay in effect 44c which buy the way isn't enough should be 60-80c and gross metered think Anna just copied SA to save her actually thinking about it.More information for the public that dont understand would be good people also believe that they will have power during a grid failure if they have solar panels on the roof,once again I have to dissapoint them. We don't need rebates we need a Fair price for solar power generated and gross metered and no more wild claims from a premier & media who don't know what they are talking about 
MICK 1 Conergy 2kw grid connect Every day the sun shines & gravity sucks= free energy. |
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sPuDd Senior Member Joined: 10/07/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 251 |
This doesn't make sense to me. If I was using 10Kwh a day, and with solar I now use only 9kwh a day, how do I pay 44c/kwh? 10kwh @ 15c/kwh = $1.50 9kwh @ 15c/kwh = $1.35 How am I paying 9kwh @ 44c/kwh = $3.96??? How is this any different from just turning off some appliances? Very confused - sPuDd.. 
EDIT: OK, spent some time searching, and as far as I can tell net metering requires you to hit 0 (zero) grid consumption, after which any power you put back into the grid is 44c. But any power used in a period that does not reach zero use is charged to you at 44c. That’s wild. The Gov achieves greenhouse targets & makes you pay for the whole thing at peak rates. So this is really a case of false advertising, or hidden fine print. Shame the rag that ran the story didn't make this more plain. They're as bad as the Gov. sPuDd.. It should work ...in theory |
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GWatPE Senior Member Joined: 01/09/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
Hi sPuDd, I cannot see how someone with a solar system could be penalised in the way you describe unless everyone normally pays the 44c. I have detailed what the SA gov is implimenting on a thread in the windmill category. AGL in SA will credit based on gross export. The bill is the total of $value of total import plus GST, plus connection fee plus GST, minus $value of total export. If the total credit balance is above $100, this can be paid to a nominated bank account number, sorry no cash. The credits are accumulated, as I carry my summer credit through winter. You do need to have separate metering for import and export. My disk meter was taken away and replaced with an LCD type. I have lost the satisfaction of seeing the meter turn backwards. The separate metering was initially to enable the GST component on the import to be calculated. With the disk meter I did not pay any GST as there was a credit. Now the GST component can be charged on the import. Hopefully a national policy will resolve some of these issues... Gordon. become more energy aware |
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| kamel Newbie Joined: 07/04/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5 |
I have to admit... that was the way I always assumed it worked. IE. You only got a credit, or payment, for energy exported after you deducted your own use. Kinda like growing your own Veggies in the backyard. It saves you buying them... and if you grow more than you need, then you can make some money on them. |
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| Jon Bennett Newbie Joined: 01/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 27 |
Doesn't read as bad as what everyone says to me, quoted from Department of Mines and Energy. "The solar bonus of 44c/kWh will be paid for electricity fed into the grid at times when the solar system generates more electricity than the household or business is using at any instant. When the meter reader visits a customer's home or business at the end of the quarter, the total amount of electricity exported to the grid and the total amount imported from the grid will be read and passed onto the retailer to calculate the bill. The customer's quarterly solar bonus payment for this excess electricity exported to the grid will be deducted from their total grid-connected electricity consumption charge on their electricity bill. The customer's grid-connected electricity consumption will also be lower (than without a solar system) as a result of the household or business consuming a portion of its electricity directly from the solar system. If the solar bonus payments are greater than the total grid-connected electricity consumption charges over a 12-month period, the customer is entitled to have this balance refunded, rather than maintaining an ongoing credit. " It looks to me like if at any point you are generating more power than you are using you are paid for that power, any times you are using more than you are generating you pay for that power. Makes sense to me, in a sense you use your own power first if you are generating and using at the same time, if you want to maximise the $ benefit try not to use power at the same time you are generating it. regards jon |
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| petanque don Senior Member Joined: 02/08/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 212 |
As I understand it is a net export arrangement in SA. So assuming you have a 1 Kw solar system. If you have no base load in you house (most people would have something) During the sunny part of the day your solar system could earn you 44 cents per hour. However if your fridge starts running assuming your fridge uses more than 1000w your solar system will only save you the going rate for power e.g. 15c Kw/hour. If you live in a household that there are people home during the day it is likely that the times of low consumption will be less. If you have electrical devices on standby (baseload) the credit produced will be less again. It was suggested to me that a 1 Kw system typically would produce 4-5 Kw hours per day. So as an investment it won’t make you rich. However with taxation on earnings a dollar saved id worth more than a dollar earned. Equally compared to the stock market this year a solar system may give a good return. |
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