Rooftop solar energy to turn out to be an election winner for Gillard?

it could also have a big impact on established energy utilities, both generators and retailers, and has the potential of changing the political rhetoric as the next federal poll is fought on cost-of-living issues, mostly retail electricity prices.

A new surge in the deployment of rooftop solar in Australia could have an impact on generators, who are already worried about the impact it is having on their profits…. AGL highlighted the potential for this to happen in Australia, which is why it is lobbying to slow down the growth in the solar industry in Queensland, the last state to have a significant feed in tariff.

The Clean Energy Future can indeed be clean, exciting (new technology), and cost a lot less than sticking with polluting fossil fuels.

Zero-cost solar: Will this be Gillard’s election secret weapon?, REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson 2 April 2012 Australian solar installers are racing to become the first companies to offer long-term leasing arrangements that will allow householders to install large rooftop solar installations at zero up-front cost and hedge against rising electricity prices.

The move is being hailed as a potential game changer in the industry,
whose growth has been arrested by sudden changes to feed-in-tariffs,
but it could also have a big impact on established energy utilities, both generators and retailers, and has the potential of changing the political rhetoric as the next federal poll is fought on cost-of-living issues, mostly retail electricity prices.

Solar industry insiders say that the plunging cost of solar, which has
fallen as much as 70 per cent by some estimates, is now presenting the
opportunity for 20-25 year leasing deals for rooftop solar systems
that require no money down and can act as a hedge against electricity
costs, which are rising sharply, mostly because of grid infrastructure
investment……
Other products that will allow landholders and tenants to share the
savings of rooftop solar are also believed to be coming to the market
anytime soon, further expanding the percentage of the population that
can benefit from rooftop PV.

But this has wider implications. A new surge in the deployment of rooftop solar in Australia could have an impact on generators, who are already worried about the impact it is having on their profits. As we highlighted in this story here, the impact on generator earnings in country with a large penetration of solar, such as Germany and Italy,
is already dramatic, and AGL highlighted the potential for this to happen in Australia, which is why it is lobbying to slow down the growth in the solar industry in Queensland, the last state to have a significant feed in tariff.

And it will have implications for the energy retailers, because it
marks the first concrete signs that the delivery of electricity to
households is moving to a service-based industry, rather than
commodity-based simply around the sale of electrons.

This trend is expected to accelerate in coming years with the rollout
of electric vehicles and smart appliances, which mean that
householders will be able to evolve from mere consumers to
“prosumers,” who can generate their own electricity, store it, and
control the quantity and time of their use.

Such a move poses huge challenges on the electricity retailers’
current business model and, as pointed out by numerous global surveys,
it is not entirely clear that they are ready to adapt…..
The Clean Energy Future can indeed be clean, exciting (new technology), and cost a lot less than sticking with polluting fossil fuels.

The ALP can even claim that it is Labor policies that have helped
bring this to reality: the renewable energy target, the solar
multiplier, and the state-based feed-in tariffs (all introduced by
Labor governments) have been the architects of the solar boom ….
And they can argue that it is the conservative governments who have
been winding back the tariffs at the behest of the vested interests in
the energy industry, as revealed last week by AGL Energy, who boasted
that it was mostly responsible for the decapitation of the state-based
tariffs for fear its earnings would be adversely affected.

The arrival of zero-cost solar and a natural hedge against rising
electricity prices fits in with the narrative of the International
Energy Agency and most independent global assessment that clean energy
will ultimate deliver cheaper energy. It’s just that no one expected
it to come quite so quickly, and many still do not appreciate just how
quickly costs are falling.

As David Crane, the head of the leading US utility NRG explained last
week, the cost fall in solar PV is taking the global energy industry
by surprise, and is the biggest game changer he has seen in his three
decades in the industry. “One of the things I tell business is that if
you evaluated rooftop solar a year ago, you are way out of date. If
you did it three months ago, you are way out of date. Unless you can
tell me you did it yesterday you should be re-running your numbers.
The price has come down that far.”

The Australian government could facilitate the rollout by introducing
a national feed-in tariff. As Rich points out, the fact that retailers
in some states have no obligation now to pay for electricity exported
from rooftop systems to the grid reduces the potential savings in a
lease. A national FiT does not need to be very high or costly, it just
needs to be consistent.

Sadly, the Australian government seems to working through a fog of
misinformation, and Gillard’s office might send a few advisors over to
Energy Minister Martin Ferguson’s office, to find out why they are so
out of touch with the market….
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/zero-cost-solar-will-this-be-gillards-election-secret-weapon-81782