Solar power popular for financial reasons

Although solar panel installations require an initial upfront investment, this cost has been declining dramatically in recent years and is expected to continue its descent in the years to come.

Sun Connect Survey – Economics Drives Solar Panel Installations – Planetsave.com, 2 March 11, The results of a recent survey by Sun Connect, an Australian solar power installation company, show that rising electricity bills have a major influence on homeowner’s decisions to go solar. Respondents pointed to high electricity bills, anticipated electricity price rises, and pain caused by high power costs, as significant areas of concern. In fact, when solar panel owners were asked why they originally converted to solar, the results show that people were 2.6 times more likely to identify “electricity bills too high” than to claim “environmental responsibility” as the primary reason behind their shift to renewable energy…….

More than half of the Sun Connect survey respondents (55%) stated that their reason for switching to solar was excessively high electricity bills. Whereas only 21% stated that they made the switch to benefit the environment. These results show that household economics is playing a much bigger role than environmental altruism in Australia’s shift to renewable energy…………

The Renewable Energy Target has been orchestrated to help the country meet its goal of having 20% of Australia’s power generated by renewable energy sources by the year 2020. Under the terms of the plan, “renewable energy” includes solar power, wind power, bio-energy, geothermal and other sustainable energy sources.

Some of the mechanisms in the RET scheme encourage businesses and households across Australia to switch to renewable energy, in part by offering rebates and other economic incentives. Australia also has state-based solar power rebates, which means that the level of incentive is dependent upon location. A similar system has worked well for Germany, which has become a world leader in solar power generation, in spite of its colder climate.

Interestingly, the introduction of feed in tariffs has provided dual incentive to make the shift to renewable energy. Firstly, as a result of the direct economic incentive provided to households that install solar panels, but also as a result of the impact of the feed in tariffs on the prices of electricity. The costs of buying electricity at inflated feed in tariff rates are being passed onto electricity consumers in the form of higher electricity bills. This in turn is lessening the gap between the price of power produced from fossil fuels, and power produced from renewable sources. Whether by design or externality, the increased power prices are providing added incentive, as shown in the Sun Connect data………….
Although solar panel installations require an initial upfront investment, this cost has been declining dramatically in recent years and is expected to continue its descent in the years to come. It should also be remembered that although the Sun Connect survey revealed that economic fundamentals play a major role in household decision making, the reality is that solar power is also helping to create a more sustainable future. Australia is the lucky recipient of huge quantities of the sun’s energy; it receives the highest average solar radiation of any of the Earth’s seven continents. The future’s looking bright for a more environmentally sustainable Australia, and a much healthier planet…

Sun Connect Survey – Economics Drives Solar Panel Installations – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news