Solar power backflip `helps households`

A NSW backflip that will see households paid for all the electricity they generate
using solar panels on their homes has been welcomed by environmental groups.
But the state opposition says the change to the scheme means thousands of consumers
will be left $300 out of pocket for equipment they bought under the old
arrangements.
NSW has announced it will be the only state in Australia to offer a gross payment
scheme - meaning householders are paid for all the electricity they generate,
including what they use themselves.
It had originally announced it would follow other states and offer a "net payment" -
which means a household is only paid for the surplus electricity it does not use
which is sold back into the power grid.
Under the net payment scheme, households with solar electric panels were expected to
make around $900 a year.
But NSW Climate Change and Environment Minister John Robertson on Tuesday said the
gross payment scheme would mean an average household was paid around $1,500 a year.
"That's a 62 per cent increase on the previous scheme and means households can pay
off their investment in solar panels in around eight years," Mr Robertson told
reporters.
The government has announced that the scheme will only run for seven years.
Mr Robertson said households will still be able to use the solar panels after the
scheme has expired.
BP Solar said it still expected thousands of households and businesses to install
solar systems to produce energy in the middle of the afternoon when demand is at its
highest.
The Australian Conservation Foundation and the Total Environment Centre (TEC)
praised the government's decision to move from net to gross payments.
"The NSW model should set the standard for a national feed-in tariff," foundation
spokeswoman Monica Ritcher said in a statement.
TEC senior campaigner Jane Castle said the decision was an "early Christmas green
gift" to the state and showed what could be done when "politicians get serious about
climate change".
Opposition climate change spokeswoman Catherine Cusack said 5,000 households had
already installed meters that could only measure the net amount of solar-generated
electricity.
"These have been rendered useless by today's backflip because they cannot measure
the gross output of a solar system," Ms Cusack said.
They would now have to be replaced for new "gross meters", which would cost homes
about $300 each, she said.