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Feed-In Law (Feed-In Tarriff)
The new ACT and NSW Feed-In Law's mean that all the electricity produced by solar systems in NSW and the ACT is fed back into the grid at a premium price. The Feed-In Law's use gross metering, which means that the premium rate is paid on all of the electricity produced by the solar power system – as opposed to the excess not consumed.
These Feed-In Law's turn your solar power system into a source of revenue and dramatically reduce the payback period. After the system has paid itself off, it becomes a source of profit. The ACT Feed-In Law offers customers 50c for every kWh of electricity they generate for the first 20 years of the system’s life. This program is under review and will be changing 30 June 2010. The following are great resources for the ACT Feed-In Law: ACTEW & ACT Government. The NSW Feed-In Law offers customers 60c for every kWh of electricity they generate. This program began on 1 January 2010 and will operate for 7 years. The NSW Government has more information for review.
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and the Solar Credits Scheme
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) represent “the technology and environmental attributes of electricity generated from renewable sources”. They are essentially a form of renewable energy currency that can be traded for cash. RECs are usually sold in 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) units and, like all currency its value can fluctuate.
As of 9 June 2009, the Federal Government Solar Credits Scheme offers solar power investors 5 for 1 RECs on the first 1.5 kW of their system. Each kW above 1.5 will then earn approximately 20 RECs/kW. This rebate is only valid if the customer chooses to see the RECS generated by their installed system. It is important to remember once the RECs from a system are sold, the buyer can use the RECS to help accredit their electricity green power. This is how your electricity retailer is able to sell to you ‘Green Power’, even if the retailer doesn’t actually generate green power itself.
