ATA members joined over 200 concerned residents, industry groups and environmental organisations, on the steps of Parliament yesterday, to protest the state government’s proposed new feed-in tariff laws.

Damien Moyse, ATA’s Energy Policy Manager said the government has completely missed the point of a feed-in tariff for solar power.

A government official has warned the small-scale renewables industry not to expect a “perfect” feed-in tariff when it is introduced in April 2010.

John Moriarty, from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), said on Tuesday that the tariff will “inevitably have problems” when it is implemented, but that the government will keep it under review.

UKFeed-inTariffnotperfect

South Australian Greens MLC Mark Parnell has recently commenced a campaign to stop electricity retailers in South Australia from getting renewable energy from solar PV owners for free.

In February 2008, the SA Parliament passed laws to create a solar feed-in premium of 44c/kWh for excess power sold to the grid. Some retailers have chosen to replace what they were already paying solar pv owners(between 16-24c) with the 44c premium, rather than as an additional payment. As the feed-in tariff is being paid for by a small extra charge on all SA electricity consumers the retailers are not paying anything extra for the clean, green energy.

SAGreensFeed-inTariffCampaign

Solar-homes are selling-off their clean power to electricity retailers without knowing it, becasue they don’t understand the government’s solar policies, says the Alternative Technology Association (ATA).

An ATA survey reveals that many respondants did not understand the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) system at the time of installing their solar panels, says Damien Moyse, Energy Advocate for the ATA.

A feed-in tariff is a premium rate paid for electricity produced by a renewable source such as a grid connected rooftop solar system or wind turbine, usually over and above the market rate. National gross feed in tariff programs have been established around the world, resulting in increased uptake of solar and wind power systems by home owners and businesses.
Sign the petition and help the Federal Government choose a solar future.
www.feedintariff.com.au

Honda Australia is calling on the Federal Government to use its new
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme to ensure that households using
renewable energy can directly contribute to a reduction in national
emissions.

Honda recommends that the Rudd Government implement a gross national
feed-in tariff scheme, as seen in Europe, which rewards households for
each kilowatt hour of clean energy they produce rather than how much
they feed back in.

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Germany has adopted a seemingly contradictory set of policies in its effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and increase energy security. While it has greatly emphasized renewable energy, the government remains committed to a phase-out of nuclear power and to the construction of new gas pipelines from Russia.

Germany’s support for renewables has paid off. The country surpassed Japan in 2005 as the world’s leading producer of photovoltaic panels, and it dominates the world market for wind turbines. Germany has also had success exporting its energy policy, specifically the feed-in-tariff (FIT). This system of government-mandated rates that electric utilities must pay to renewable electricity producers has been adopted in at least 37 countries. FIT is often hailed as a means to kick-start the transition away from fossil fuel electricity generation.

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The New South Wales Government has announced that it will introduce a feed-in tariff for householders who install solar photovoltaic systems. However, the design of the scheme is of critical importance.

A government taskforce is currently investigating options for the scheme and has called for public submissions.

Submissions should be sent by 12 January to:

NSW Solar Feed-In Tariff Taskforce
NSW Department of Water and Energy
GPO Box 3889
Sydney
NSW 2001
Email: FIT.taskforce@dwe.nsw.gov.au

The Clean Energy Council has released a report by Access Economics that states that a gross national feed-in tariff would provide a massive boost to the solar industry, encourage uptake of solar power and would spurr investment in the technology.

accesseconomicsreport-feed-intariff

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced to much fanfare on November 24 that the city’s municipal utility would launch one of the continent’s largest solar power programs. The mayor’s plan would direct the city’s municipal utility, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), to build or purchase 1,300 MW of solar energy by 2020.

Among provisions of the plan is a feed-in tariff for 150 MW of solar photovoltaics by 2016. This is the first official announcement of a feed-in tariff proposal by a California city, but it is not the first in the United States. Gainesville, Florida previously announced that it was formally considering a feed-in tariff to replace its solar rebate program.

Recently, the Palm Springs Desert Sun reported that Palm Desert, California was also considering solar feed-in tariffs after city officials toured Spain, one of the world’s leading developers of solar energy. Spain uses feed-in tariffs.

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