Queensland Greens are keen to see a Solar Bonus Scheme that delivers to its publicity and provides recognition for the comparatively massive savings in greenhouse gas production by using solar power.

An industry group, the Qld Fit (Feed-in Tariff) Lobby Group, has provided the Qld Government with a comprehensive analysis of the tariff implications in the Queensland Feed-In Tarrif Lobby Group pdf.

If you are concerned that the best decisions need to be made today to address global warming with renewable energy solutions, now is the time to contact your representative.

From a Solar Power User, Mike Stasse, to his Representatives

Dear Representatives,

I have just read the Government's promotional fact sheet on the recently released Feed in Tariff for small solar generators http://www.energy.qld.gov.au/zone_files/Sustainable/solar_bonus_scheme_fact_sheet.pdf   At the top, it reads: Solar Bonus Scheme What is the Solar Bonus Scheme?

The Queensland Government Solar Bonus Scheme is a feed-in tariff to pay domestic and small energy customers
for the surplus electricity generated from roof-top solar systems that is fed back into the Queensland grid.

Does anybody in the government understand any of this stuff?

We own and operate a 1.28kW solar power system on our roof in Cooran. Since installation, this system has generated over 4 MWhrs of power, saving the community over 4 tonnes of greenhouse emissions. I would think anyone in today's climate would agree this is a good thing. Valuable even!

For the uninitiated, ALL our power goes into the grid. Every last electron. They are measured in a second meter.

If something is running (like my computer as I write this), SOME of these electrons make a U Turn through our first meter and into the house's wiring. At night, all our power comes from the grid.

Therefore, the above statement is more than ambiguous or misleading, it is WRONG. Excess energy is NEVER fed into the grid. There is in fact no such thing. There is energy we generate, and energy we consume.

During the day we generate far more than we consume, at night of course we generate none at all and so all the energy we use is from the grid.

Therefore a genuine Feed in Tariff is one where we would be paid 44c for every single kWhr we generate.

Our far superior quality and cleaner energy is well worth it! You might be interested to know that every day, at some time, the quality of the network is so poor, my system disconnects from the grid to protect itself from harm!

Proposing to pay 44c for 'excess' (meaning, I suppose, what we generate minus what we consume) is merely greenwash. There would be very few households in Queensland which generate so called 'excess'. We generate just over 4 kWhrs/day, and the average QLD household uses 21. I put it to you that this whole exercise is designed to fool the rest of Queenslanders into thinking their Government is being green, when in fact it continues to subsidise
the coal industry, which I am told makes less money than the cheese industry.

So, what I now want from you who are in charge is either an admission that the wording of this scheme is incorrect, or an admission that you actually plan to pay virtually nothing to SOME system owners, those who run their
households so efficiently they occasionally make a surplus when the sun shines extra hard. Like us.

Your answer(s) by the way will be circulated far and wide all over the internet, so I suggest you really sharpen your pencils and not write me condescending replies. I take this matter very, very seriously.

 
Mike Stasse