Making hay while sun shines no more

THE days of rooftop solar diehards crowing about the money they actually make from sending power back to the grid are coming to an end, industry experts say.

These “feed in” tariff arrangements – which were as generous as 44 cents per kilowatt hour in Queensland at one stage – have decreased over time, and more changes are on the way.

Australia’s electricity system was designed for the one-way flow of power – from the source to the home – but our enthusiastic uptake of rooftop solar has at times led to grid instability issues when there was too much “two way” traffic. Last year the Australian Energy Market Commission finalised new rules which would oblige power companies to support the two-way flow of power, but also charge rooftop solar owners if they tried to export too much to the grid.

“(The changes have) finally woken a lot of people up that bigger is not better with solar,” Tindo Solar CEO Shayne Jaenisch said. “If you’re going to generate it, you’ve got to use it, you can’t afford to send it back to the grid.”

The impending AEMC changes do not seem to have slowed demand. Solahart general manager Stephen Cranch said inquiries were up 47 per cent in the second quarter of 2022, year on year.

“The idea that homeowners could be charged for exporting solar back to the grid has undoubtedly caused concern and confusion,” he said.

“However, when customers understand that the potential cost of feed-in tariff reforms is the equivalent of just two coffees per month (or less), most are keen to proceed with their solar journey,” Mr Cranch said.

Advocacy group Solar Citizens initially opposed the export charges, which they described as a “sun tax”.