Solar News
In the lead-up to the recent Federal Election, RPC planned a Renewable Energy Policy Forum, inviting the Candidates for Page to respond to a "wish list".
You've heard the renewables naysayers happily espouse coal and coal seam gas (or nuclear power!) when they speak of rubbish tips around the world filling up with unwanted solar panels
At last week's student strike I was asked to speak about how renewable energy and RPC can help people take action to solve the climate crisis.
Can you afford not to? For your family, your planet and your wallet, what makes sense (and saves you dollars!) in 2019.
Nickel-Iron (Ni-Fe) batteries have some interesting features but are not recommended for grid interactive or off-grid solar systems.
Find out why you should not use Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries on a home solar system.
Sustainable House Day gives people the chance to get a real-life look inside houses that have been designed, built or fitted out with sustainability in mind.
A micro-hydro system can produce sustainable power 24hrs a day, if you have a property that has a water course with a significant drop in height.
Head to the NSW Liberal government website and you will find a strap line reading: 'After 100 days in office we've shown we're a Government that delivers'.
Nigel Morris, solar consultant from Solar Business Services has sent a Request for Freedom of Information to the New South Wales Government, saying this was a last resort to obtain information about the Solar Bonus Scheme.
Solar industry representatives had previously asked for the Coalition's modelling data, with specific requests for: the kilowatts installed up until the most recent reporting period under net metering and gross metering at 60 cents and 20 cents and the capacity applied for, but not yet installed, under net and gross metering. These requests had not been met, leading to the FOI request.
Read the ABC article here
West Australian Energy Minister Peter Collier has thrown his support behind a national solar feed-in tariff.
PREMIER Barry O’Farrell made a plea for unity in the party room yesterday after he was told by his own MPs to fix the solar bonus scheme or face an all-out mutiny.
One thing is clear: coal is no longer the best option but is the answer really nuclear power? No, well it doesn't have to be.
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and Energy Minister Chris Hartcher today announced special provisions would be put in place to protect those with genuine hardship cases resulting from the NSW Government’s changes to the Solar Bonus Scheme.
The New South Wales Government has capitulated to public pressure by promising compensation for those hurt by its cuts to a solar rebate scheme.
Solar power is rapidly gaining popularity throughout the world. It's non polluting, no noise, no harmful or unpleasant emissions or smells.
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell has smoothed the way for a backdown on his unpopular plan to slash solar feed-in tariffs, saying he will consider alternative proposals as long as the $759 million shortfall is met.
After a pretty good start, things aren’t going so well for NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell. First, there was his imaginary budget black hole, which turned out not to be a black hole, but a piece of bizarre political posturing that only made him look like a rank amateur.
From California to Germany to China, the solar industry is booming. Last year alone, more than 18,200 MW of solar power was installed worldwide.
The O’Farrell government’s proposal to slash the NSW solar scheme is not only a broken promise, it is unjust and unfair on the NSW people.
New data reportedly showing the cost of NSW’s Solar Bonus Scheme has been overstated is a get out of jail card for Premier Barry O’Farrell, Greens MP John Kaye says.
As both coal and nuclear are unsustainable, renewable energy will on day no longer be the alternative, but the mainstream energy source.
Solar panel owners, rally in Lismore after a plan by the State Government to slash the amount of money (60 to 40 cents per kilowatt hour) paid for electricity fed into the power grid by solar panel systems.
Australia is the lucky country for harnessing solar power; it has some of the best wind regimes in the world and very hot granite (geothermal).
A new lobby group needs your help in convincing the state government to retain the current feed-in tariff.
The Australian Solar Energy Society (AuSES) is calling on media, business, consumers, installers, families and people interested in a sustainable future for Australia to rally to save solar.
The NSW Government’s announcement to retrospectively change legislation guaranteeing $0.60c/kWh for PV system owners (to $0.40c/kWh) has sent chills down the spine of the solar industry.
Up to 110,000 participants in the state government’s solar bonus scheme will have the rate they are paid for generating electricity slashed from 60¢ a kilowatt hour to 40¢ from July, a move that will save the NSW budget an estimated $470 million.
There is considerable doubt as to whether nuclear energy could reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the longer term.
News Alert! Solar Rally next week.
Calling all solar workers. Solar supporters. NSW residents who want a solar future.
Solar News Flash by Australian Solar Energy Society (AuSES).
The NSW solar industry has been left in limbo for over a week, with approved customers not knowing whether they will be eligible to join the NSW solar bonus scheme.
Member for Pittwater Rob Stokes was today announced as the New South Wales Parliamentary Secretary for Renewable Energy.
The recently-elected New South Wales Coalition government is considering retrospective changes to the state’s feed-in tariffs as a means of reining in the cost of rooftop solar.
The costly and controversial Solar Bonus Scheme has been suspended and could be scrapped, pending the findings of an environmental summit.
New South Wales’ Solar Bonus Scheme is all but dead after industry experts and the state government agreed it was too costly to continue in its current form.
The state government may have acted unlawfully when it suspended the state’s solar panel tariff system – and angry panel installers and customers are mustering for a class action.
The myth that wealthy people are buying solar panels and the less well-off are subsidising them through higher power bills has been dispelled by new data showing which areas of NSW are going solar.
The solar energy industry has struck a deal with the NSW government that will push the Solar Bonus Scheme beyond its legislated limit, threatening consumers with further electricity price rises.
To every complex problem there is a simplistic response, which is usually wrong.
For instance, to the challenge of generating all of Australia’s electricity from renewable energy, the deniers and scoffers repeatedly utter the simplistic myth that renewable energy is intermittent and therefore cannot generate base-load (that is, 24-hour) power.
Companies that install rooftop solar panels have warned the federal government the industry is on the verge of collapse because of a slump in the value of renewable energy certificates.
The state government has put the final cost of the solar bonus scheme as high as $1.9 billion and decided that all future costs of the scheme will be funded through the state budget, rather than adding more pressure to electricity prices.
The General Manager of Australia’s leading solar power company, Conergy has applauded the NSW Liberals and Nationals for their immediate commitment to the development of renewable energy.
They're all plugged in, they’re up and running and today the Nimbin Neighbourhood and Information Centre is launching the Nimbin Community Solar Farm. The project was funded by the Federal Government as a social enterprise job creation project.
I spoke to the team leader of the project Natalie Meyer who says a project like this would be difficult to achieve in the current climate.
ABC Radio Interview [edit 2017: ABC removed the interview from their servers]
The Garnaut Climate Change Review—Update 2011 will release 8 update papers between early February and late March 2011.
The first step in saving NSW’s solar energy sector would be returning to the old system of offering a one-for-one discount off electricity bills for power fed into the grid by solar systems, the Rainbow Power Company has said.
There is a last-minute rush from homeowners wanting to buy solar panels before the solar credits rebate is slashed by up to $1200 from July.
Some solar installers are so busy they have declared their books full and are turning away customers.
At today's campaign launch, The Greens outlined their vision for real change in NSW, made the case for electing more Greens to the NSW parliament, and announced three new policy initiatives to kick-start The Greens Plan for NSW.
The Northern Rivers solar industry is calling on the Coalition to stand up for solar energy and adopt a policy which will grow the fledgling industry.
Representatives from the Northern Rivers solar industry have given Lismore MP Thomas George their vote of confidence.
The NSW Greens are proposing a tax on coal-fired power stations to pay for more generous incentives for solar electricity.
NSW Government 'nailed' solar industry when it axed the solar rebate scheme last week.
The NSW Solar Industry has been left in the dark about the conditions that grid-connected solar systems will operate under once the NSW Solar Bonus Scheme ends.
Rainbow Power Company expands the region for solar panel installations.
Television accounts for some 9.5% of the power used by the average Aussie home. The percentage is likely to be even higher for 'stand alone' home power systems.
In the last years the sudden popularity of grid connect solar systems has far surpassed the amount of sales of stand alone systems.
Unlike a lot of the newcomers in the business we still develop and design the best off-grid stand-alone power solutions for remote areas.
Innovative Grundfos pump systems work great in remote areas where water is scarce and where there is no existing power supply.
Nanosolar claims that its panels produce electricity at around 5 cents/kilowatt hour. This would be almost the same cost as power from coal and, currently, 33% of the cost of conventional solar systems.
Almost 39 years since Peter Pedals founded Nimbin-based Rainbow Power Company he reckons society has changed so much that he has become mainstream.