Save money with solar power

To help you understand the various rebates on offer, we've broken them down into two categories. The first are the upfront rebates you'll get at the time of purchase known as Small-Scale Technology Certificates or STCs (when you assign the STCs to TRUenergy). The second is the ongoing returns you may potentially receive under the relevant State Government Feed-in Tariff Scheme.

Upfront rebates

Small-Scale Technology Certificates
STCs are electronic certificates, created when an eligible solar power system is installed. The larger the solar system, the more STCs it receives. The STCs you earn from installing a solar system can be assigned to the supplier of your system, effectively giving you a discount off your purchase price.

Customers wishing to install solar panels are able to benefit from the Federal Government's Small Renewable Energy Scheme which provides an upfront discount on the cost of the system (solar credits). The solar credits discount is determined on the projected number of small scale technology certificates (STCs) your system will generate. The total number of solar credits for each system is derived through the use of a multiplier (i.e they multiply the number of STCs your system can create).

On 5 May 2011, the Federal Government announced that the multiplier would be reduced more quickly than was originally planned. While systems installed between 9 June 2009 and 30 June 2011 will give a multiplier of five, the multiplier reduces to three on 1 July 2011 and then by one each financial year until 1 July 2013 when no multiplier will apply.

Schedule of Solar Credits multipliers

The table below sets out the schedule of multipliers which determines the additional certificates an eligible solar panel system could create.  For systems connected to a main electricity grid, solar credits apply to the first 1.5 kilowatts of installed capacity.

(Source: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/government/initiatives/renewable-target/fs-solar-credits-small-scale.aspx)

For more detailed information on Solar Credits ask our Solar Solutions consultants or visit the government website

Payback

Solar energy ‘payback' is the period of time it takes for a solar system to pay for itself. This is calculated by adding together the savings on your electricity costs that your solar system generates each year.  Actual savings will vary depending on your energy usage. 

Further information is available on the Clean Energy Council website in the consumer guide to Solar PV.