Solar ... In the news

Sorry Michaels, did that make any sense?

Basically lets say the FiT is 12p and capped at 3,000kWh, then a great location generating 4,000kWh would get £360, whilst a not so good location could still generate 3,000kWh and also get £360.

If the FiT was say 9p uncapped, the better location would still get £360, but the lesser location would 'only' get £270, and might not be able to install.

Obviously these are only example figures that compare well for aesthetic purposes. Perhaps a better figure would be 10p and capped, given the current FaTness of the FiT.

Mart.

If they cut the FIT to the point where solar pv is only viable on larger, south facing roofs in the South of England then surely there is a danger that the market will be so reduced that it becomes niche again and act against the downward pressure on prices.

Such a disappointing and backwards policy on renewables from this government when other countries such as America and China are pushing ahead.

Ed

Feed-in tariff future in doubt as government moves to slash renewable energy incentives

the consultation proposes re-banding support for small rooftop solar installations so systems with less than 4kW of capacity would be moved into a new band for systems with less than 10kW capacity and tariffs would be cut from 12.47p/kWh currently to 1.63p/kWh from January 2016, a fall of 87 per cent.

A new band for systems with 10-50kW of capacity would offer tariffs of 3.69p/kWh, representing a similarly sharp reduction on the 11.30p/kWh currently on offer for 4-50kW systems.

Under the proposals, larger systems with more than 1,000kW of capacity, typically favoured by businesses and public sector bodies, would see tariffs of 5.94p/kWh slashed by around 80 per cent to 1.03p/kWh.

But the renewable energy industry has countered that subsidies have a relatively small impact on bills and that it would be possible to reduce support gradually in a way that would put onshore wind and solar in particular on a course towards delivering projects that could be built at grid parity by the end of the decade.

A recent report by the Solar Trade Association argued it would add just £1.69 to household bills to deliver a solar industry that by 2020 could operate without subsidies while making a significant contribution to the UK's renewable energy and emission reduction targets.

Friends of the Earth energy campaigner Alasdair Cameron said the proposed cuts were "absurd" and predicted they would prevent almost a million homes, schools and hospitals from installing renewable energy generation.

"Of course the feed-in tariff should fall as solar becomes cheaper, but the government clearly plans to remove support entirely," he said. "This is politically-motivated, and will take away power from people and hand it back to big energy firms."

"Instead of championing fossil fuels, the Government should focus on developing the UK's huge renewable energy potential.
"Policies like this will further undermine David Cameron's credibility on climate change. World leaders meeting in Paris later this year will have every right to call him a hypocrite."

Mart.

Solar can meet Western Australia's daytime power needs, says state minister

"We expect that the bulk of generating capacity during sunlight hours in the [Perth] metro area in about 10 years time will be provided by rooftop solar," said Nahan. "That’s the reality. So it is going to provide the bulk of additional capacity going forward."

"Solar will also displace a lot of the existing [coal-based] capacity," he added. "It’s low-priced, it’s democratically determined and it’s something we’re committed to facilitating."

Mart.

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Solar can meet Western Australia's daytime power needs, says state minister

http://cecaust.com.au/releases/2014_02_03_Solar_Scam.html


Citizens Electoral Council of Australia

Media Release Monday, 3 February 2014


Craig Isherwood‚ National Secretary
PO Box 376‚ COBURG‚ VIC 3058
Phone: 1800 636 432
Email: [EMAIL="cec@cecaust.com.au"]cec@cecaust.com.au[/EMAIL]
Website: http://www.cecaust.com.au


Stop the solar scam now!


Australians have wasted untold billions of dollars on solar power and it is a major reason why our electricity prices are close to the highest in the world, and on track to go much higher. The sun-worshipping cult of solar power has been enforced ever since the Howard government introduced the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) on April Fools’ Day of 2001.
As of 1 January 2014 the Clean Energy Regulator identified Australia has 1,161,245 solar photovoltaic (PV) panel systems with a rated output of 3,096 MW. The catch is that for most of the day they produce far less than this maximum rating, in winter they dribble out the power and at night they produce zip, absolutely nothing.
Worse still, like a wrecking ball, these solar panels are destroying the entire electricity grid, forcing coal-fired power stations to run at slower speeds—sometimes at 60 per cent capacity as they are too big to just switch on and off. Running in such a way has been likened to a jumbo jet constantly ascending and descending, rather than cruising at a high altitude. It’s very inefficient and forces the coal-fired power stations to burn more fuel per unit power output. (This discounts any perceived zero-emissions benefit of solar power.) Then, early in the evening, peak demand occurs when the sun is setting and solar power is useless.
The grid requires reliable baseload power—intermittent solar power is killing the system. Aside from the daily and yearly solar variation, constantly shifting cloud cover can dramatically drop and spike solar PV output and wreak havoc over the electricity grid.
Over the course of the year, the entire array of Australian PV rooftop solar panels will produce 4,180 gigawatt hours of electricity, less than what just one typical coal-fired power station would produce. For example, in 2012/13 the 750 MW coal-fired Kogan Creek Power Station recorded an availability of 87.8 per cent and sent out 5,189 gigawatt hours of electricity. Commissioned in 2007, it cost just $1.2 billion to build.
By contrast, Australians have spent $8 billion of their own money on highly subsidised solar panels, costing taxpayers, businesses and all electricity consumers and having a flow-on effect estimated to have cost the Australian economy tens of billions of dollars.
Sun worshippers were crowing in January, that the enormous volume of solar panels on roofs in Victoria and South Australia saved those states from blackouts and brownouts during the five-day heat wave from 13-17 January. Solar from 350,000 homes and businesses in those states was estimated to reduce peak demand by 4.6 per cent. In fact, even this figure—small though it is—is bogus. Conventional power stations had surplus capacity and at their peak output on 16 January after 4:30 pm, the PV solar collectors were contributing just 3.1 per cent. On average they only contribute a measly 1.7 per cent to Australia’s total electricity generation.
Anyone with solar panels getting paid a feed-in tariff to sell electricity back into the grid might think solar is great. They are actually being subsidised by everyone else, particularly the poor and most vulnerable in society who cannot afford to buy solar panels, but have to pay much higher bills so the power companies can pay extra for solar power. In Queensland, the government power companies pay 70 per cent more for surplus solar power than they charge for their own power.
While Australia has only built two coal-fired power stations in the last decade, China is building around one every week and they have 29 nuclear reactors currently under construction. Isn’t it time to stop this solar scam and start building proper baseload power infrastructure, including nuclear to utilise our enormous uranium and thorium reserves, before China leaves us in the dust?
Click here for a free DVD copy of “The Fraud of Free Energy”, which reveals some of the massive “hidden” costs of solar power.
Click here to join the CEC as a member. Click here to refer others to receive regular email updates from the Citizens Electoral Council of Australia.