Queenslanders To Get 44 Cents Per Kwh For Domestic Solar Energy

Tuesday, 11 March 2008

Queensland Conservation (QCC) is delighted that from July 1st the Bligh Government has set a fair price for domestically generated solar power.

"Energy retailers already pay generators a premium price for electricity during peak demand - which coincides exactly with the peak output of domestic solar panels" said QCC Coordinator, Toby Hutcheon.

"Every kilowatt hour (KWH) of power produced by a domestic solar panel is one kilowatt hour less that comes from dirty coal. So it's only fair that people who are doing the right thing by installing solar panels get a similar price for their clean power as polluting conventional power stations." he continued.

Queenslanders with grid-connected solar panels currently have the amount they produce subtracted from the amount they use on their quarterly bill, this is equivalent to a tariff of 15.6 cents per KWH. From July 1st they will receive 44 cents per KWH, in other words for every KWH they produce they will receive a benefit equivalent to buying 2.8KWH at the normal domestic rate.

“The aim of the game must be to have every Queensland household producing clean solar energy. When there are solar panels on every home and every roof in Queensland generating clean power gets the same benefit as every dirty coal power station we’ll be well on the way to winning the struggle against Global Warming.” concluded Hutcheon.