Strawbale House

I have found some information about a weekend course where participants are tought “Living with Solar“. This course is provided by the Rainbow Power Company in Nimbin which isn’t too much of a drive from Brisbane where we currently live.

I am thinking that this course may be helpful to properly sized the solar system that we want to install in our house. Some friends of ours, Col and Lindel, are currently thinking about installing a solar system as well in the near future and may be interested in attending this course as well. That would certainly make for a fun weekend.

Unfortunately we have missed the sign-up dead line for the course this weekend but I’ll let you know when I have been to the course and how it was.

The new budget introduced a damper for the solar industry by now applying a means test to the eligibility of up to $8,000 government rebates for the installation of a residential solar power installation. The means test to be introduced shortly means that any household having a combined annual income of over $100,000 per year will not be eligible for the government rebate any longer.

The introdcution of this means test, at the level proposed, is disappointing and confusing as other measures proposed in the new budget, especially around family tax benefits, are means tested at $150,000 per household. Why introduce means testing at two different levels for different benefits?

As reported in The Age the solar industry is already suffering, with 50-70% of orders were being ditched as a result of the means test, leaving companies with millions of dollars of lost business. In fact some businesses already needed to cut jobs due to the surge in cancelled orders and more jobs are expected to go.

This probably makes the solar system my wife and I want to install on our new home less affordable as most likely we won’t pass the means test and won’t be able to claim a government rebate.

If the government rebate is not sustainable, maybe the government should instead ensure that the feed-in tariffs for grid connected solar installations is more attractive as highlighted by Hans Josef Fell, the German Greens’ energy spokesman in this article in The Age.

I have found an interesting website from a group of people interested in sustainable power generation which is local and community owned called Local Power. The most interesting part on that website I found was their first project of a Buying Group for PV (photo voltaic) panels to achieve some savings in the purchase and installation of solar panel installations.

If you are thinking about installing solar panels on your roof and want to get an idea of cost have a look that the Buying Group page. But always keep in mind that the prices quoted in the tables on that page are discounted prices due to the involvement of the Buying Group but indicative non-discounted prices are shown in a few paragraphs above the pricing tables.

A recent news item on the Alternative Technology Association website (www.ata.org.au) highlights some improvements that should be made to the feed-in tariff in power across Australia. A feed-in tariff is the mandated price a home owner is paid for any electricity fed back into the electricity grid from their solar panel installation or other sustainable energy production.

Judging form the article on the ATA website it seems like the government is again siding with the big corporations and only paying lip service to home owners with sustainable electricity production systems.

At this point, both my wife and I, are seriously wondering if we should even bother connecting our new house to the grid or just be completely self sufficient. We reckon the money saved by not connecting to the grid can be better spent on increasing the number of batteries or solar panels for the solar system we want to install anyway.

Any feedback is welcome in the comments section of this post.

I am keen to use alternative energy generation with our new house as much as possible. Currently we are planning the main energy source to be solar panels installed on the roof of the shed and house.

I have recently look at what is available and have found what looks like quite a good deal on Jaycar Electronics’ website where you can find a wind turbine and generator producing up to 200 Watts at a very reasonable price of currently $499.

Granted this is a kit that needs to be assembled but considering it produces up to 200 Watts at half the cost of a solar panel that produces about 100 Watts, it is something I believe is worthwhile trying.

I can’t wait until our house is advanced enough that we can look into setting up one of these wind turbines.