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Australian Government incentives on solar power in homes

Jonathan Buck on September 3, 2008 | 777 Views | 3 Comments

First admission: I work for the IEC, the organization that supports wattwatt.

Second admission: I work in communications. 

But I couldn't help sharing this from Australia thanks to my colleague Pierre de Ruvo who works for one of IEC's certification schemes. He pointed out an initiative from the  Australian Governement where residents can claim grants and receive rebates for investments in solar power in their homes.

To quote the publication: "The Solar Homes and Communities Plan encourages the long-term use of photovoltaic technology to generate electricity from sunlight and to increase the use of renewable energy in Australia.
The key objectives of the program are to:
• reduce greenhouse emissions;
• assist in the development of the Australian photovoltaic industry; and
• increase public awareness of renewable energy.
The program provides rebates to homeowners who install photovoltaic power systems on their principal place of residence, and grants to community organisations that install photovoltaic power systems for educational purposes."

Oh, and did I mention that they use IEC Standards (IEC 61215 or IEC 61646) and certification to judge eligibility? Well now I have.  I will post a wikiwatt to keep the links. 

3 Comments

Photo #1 by Jack Sheldon on September 29, 2008 at 6:53 p.m.

Well I have to question objective number 1 of the Australian Government, which apparently has failed to do its homework. The use of photovoltaic technology will more than likely increase greenhouse emissions over conventional power generation. The manufacture of photovoltaic devices generates more greenhouse emissions than will ever be saved during the lifetime of the technology.

For the other two objectives, why not, they're one way of spending taxpayers' money.

Photo #2 by Jonathan Buck on October 7, 2008 at 10:56 a.m.

Just read this interesting post on GIGS technology - may be Jack's comment is becoming outdated? I would appreciate any input to this important discussion.

 

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/10/thin-film-solar.html

 

Photo #3 by Jonathan Buck on October 27, 2008 at 9:07 a.m.

Jack - Please see the following two studies (one from the US Department of Energy) which show the calculated payback for PV. I think the technology has moved on and now offers a good return:

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy05osti/37322.pdf

http://www.ongrid.net/papers/PVvsInputEnergySWCph.pdf

 

Thanks to Pip Robbins at http://www.carbonfreetechnology.com

 

 

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