Creating a better future
Show Your Support for Solar and Wind Feed In Tariffs
There has already been a lot of discussion on feed-in tariffs on this site. 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. But in Australia feed in tariffs are state-based and vary considerably.
Energy Matters is a retail supplier of renewable energy products such as solar and wind power equipment. The team at Energy Matters instigated the development of FeedInTariff.com.au, an online petition to get a national, uniform feed in tariff system after repeated calls from industry and customers.
It is essential that businesses and private citizens do their part in generating electricity from renewable resources. There is little doubt that small, disaggregated forms of power generation are a necessary part of the solution, and it is only reasonable that those people who make the significant investment to purchase and install these systems are compensated appropriately. After all, we all benefit from these actions.
If you've had an experience with feed in tariff systems in any part of the world, we'd love to hear about it. Please post your comments below.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Gavin Keeley on May 14, 2009 at 7:13pm -
I am intrigued that so much of the debate focuses on the production of electricity when there are huge issues related to the waste in distribution and consumption. For instance should ther be greater lobbying for the banning of normal light bulbs or those pesky halogen downlighters? Just reducing this waste may yield far greater CO2 savings than that from switching generation. BTW I am a strong supporter of Solar and other renewables! The other concern I have is that people talk of the inefficiency of solar and wind whereas traditional power generation all relies upon a heat source (coal, gas, even nuclear) boiling water (not the most efficient heat coefficient) to produce steam that turns a turbine (energy loses in friction) spinning a magnet in a coil to generate electricity. Is Solar really that inefficient compared to all that!
My conclusion is that the current system can't possibly reflect the true economic reality and a seeming subsidy for renewables is more than justified to reflect the hidden subsidies in the current system.
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Comment by Tim Woodhouse on February 3, 2009 at 8:38am - I believe that feed-in tariffs are the only way to get large scale adoption of solar/wind systems in the short term as there needs to be a financial incentive for the majority of people to act. However I am not confident that our Government is sufficiently far-sighted and courageous enough to make this decision - I hope to be proven wrong!
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Comment by Lee Stewart on January 30, 2009 at 10:13am - An interesting fact is that Germany adopted a feed in tariff many years ago and they fixed the price at 4 times the market rate for 20 years. This has allowed homes, businesses large and small to make the investment and in some cases local councils are making it compulsory to have solar panels for all new buildings.
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Comment by Marcus Lam on January 29, 2009 at 1:10pm - I hope in the future, more households will switch to solar/wind systems. Perhaps solar power feels very futuristic to many people. So, they haven't considered changing. We should take action and inform people that now is the perfect time to change.
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