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The New Solar Rebate Scheme
 The Solar Credits scheme is available for all grid connected buildings, whether principal place of residence, rental, holiday home, commerical premises or rural construction. The scheme has no means test; the rebate threshold of a household taxable income of $100,000 has been removed.
In replacing the $8,000 rebate, the Solar Credits scheme operates by attributing a value 5 times the market value of Renewable Energy Certificates (REC,S).
There are 21 RECs attached to a 1kW solar energy installation. The value of a REC is subject to market variation, though the price has been static for some time. Green Bank has been buying RECs for many months at $46 each. This equates to $966 value in RECs for a 1kW installation. Under Solar Credits, this figure is multiplied by five, to give a total discount of $4,830.
Solar Credits will apply to the first 1.5 kW of capacity installed, meaning a maximum value of approximately $7k (subject to market fluctuation). For systems above 1.5 kW, customers will be eligible for the standard 1:1 rate of RECs. Customers can elect to either assign them to the installer to keep the upfront cost of the solar installation down, or hold on to them just as you would a share portfolio.
Renewable Energy Certificates
The Federal Government began an initiative in December 2001 to place a value on displacement of greenhouse gases.
It created a scheme whereby Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) could be cashed in so as to provide financial incentive for installing renewable energy systems such as solar.
One REC is equivalent to one Mega Watt Hour of electricity generated from a renewable energy source, or roughly one tonne of abated greenhouse gas.
RECs are payable regardless of whether you install a grid connect or stand alone solar energy system. The more powerful your installation is, up to a maximum capacity of 100KW, the more you are entitled to.
Feed-In Tariffs
With a grid-connected solar power system, any surplus electricity you generate is fed back into the power grid. Your electricity retailer will usually be required to buy this electricity from you, and the price they pay is called the feed-in tariff.
To encourage investment in renewable energy, many governments require power companies to purchase the electricity from home solar power systems at a premium price. This means that you may be paid more for the electricity you generate than you pay for the electricity you use.
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