There has been a rush for homeowners without solar power to install prior to December 2016. Why?
From 1st January 2017, the government solar incentive, which provides a significant discount off the upfront cost of a solar system, is due to be phased out.
The incentive has had a huge influence on accelerating the growth of solar in Australia to the point where over 1.5 million homes now have solar panels installed.
Currently, for a 5kW solar system, which is large enough to meet the energy requirements of a medium-sized family home, the average incentive is $3,914. This incentive comes as a one-off payment which is usually used as a discount off the upfront cost. On January 1st, for the 5kW system example, the incentive will drop approximately $260. This will happen again every year until the rebate completely disappears.
In order to qualify for the current, full incentive, your system must be installed and commissioned by the cut-off date of 31st December 2016.
There has been a misconception that solar incentives have already been cut. Why?
What has essentially changed is the feed-in tariff. The feed-in tariff is the money you receive when your solar system produces energy you cannot use and pushes it back into the grid.
Across Australia, the feed-in tariff was very generous, 4-5 years ago, and many households made a lot of decent money from it. However, this is all relative, because at the time installing a solar system was also very expensive. For example, a small 1.5kW solar system would have cost you around $10,000.
Because of advances made in solar technology and huge competition in China helping to drive prices down, you can now purchase a family sized 5kW system for as little as half that.
Advantages of Solar Power…Is it worth it? Why?
Even if you put aside the compelling eco-friendly argument for solar power, and just look at the economic benefits. It absolutely is!
- Investment paybacks as short as 3-5 years.
- Protection from rising electricity costs.
- Electricity bills cut by up to 75%.
With the STC incentive phasing out from January, now is the time to get quotes and run the numbers. The financial case may never look stronger than right now.