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Home Forum Renewable Energy Solar Panels or Green Power?

Solar Panels or Green Power?
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5:36 am
June 26, 2009


marea

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Is it more "green" to install solar panels than to buy greenpower?

11:26 pm
March 16, 2010


John Symond

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marea said:

Is it more “green” to install solar panels than to buy greenpower?

I am in a complex of apartments so putting panels on the roof presents extra difficulties.

Even if that had not been the case, I would probably still have chosen Greenpower. I am now on 100% Greenpower. I held back for a long time because I doubted the suppliers were on the level. These doubts were dispelled when I attended a presentation by ACTEWAGL at the 'Switch to Green' conference. They gave details about where and how they purchased greenpower, and of the government auditing process in place. At that time 70% of Canberra's alternative energy was coming from windpower. The rest may have been hydro, and there may have been a thin slice of a third source. 

I buy greenpower because there is no capital outlay for me, and no hassles, and it is generated in industrial scale facilities. I want to encourage the building of more large scale facilities. Only large scale facilities will solve non-domestic power needs. 

I have doubts about panels on the roof. Firstly, it is still the most expensive way of producing alternative electricity. The cheapest at present is wind power. However, I salute those who choose to install panels. By supporting the PV industry they are increasing that industry's economies of scale, thus keeping the manufacturers in business, and PV technology is improving rapidly. I have seen a media report suggesting that before very long it may be cheap enough to compete with coal fired electricity. 

it's all good. 

2:58 am
November 11, 2010


John Symond

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Post edited 9:00 am – November 11, 2010 by John Symond

The Canberra Times today published an article on page 5 about rooftop solar panels. quoting a research paper by Andrew Macintosh and Deb Wilkinson of the ANU Centre for Climate Law and Policy

“The Australian Government’s solar PV rebate program

An evaluation of its cost-effectiveness and fairness”

The report can be downloaded from 'Publications/Research' tab of the website of The Australia Institute (https://www.tai.org.au)

Here is the authors' summary:

The Australian Government ran a renewable energy program in the 2000s that provided rebates to householders who acquired solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems. Originally called the Photovoltaic Rebate Program (PVRP), it was rebranded the Solar Homes and Communities Program (SHCP) in November 2007. 

This paper evaluates both the PVRP and SHCP using measures of effectiveness and fairness. It finds that the program was a major driver of a more than six-fold increase in PV generation capacity in the 2000s; however, the increase was off a low base and, in 2010, solar PV’s share of the Australian electricity market was still only around 0.1 per cent. 

The data suggest there were equity issues associated with the program, with 66 per cent of all successful applicants residing in postal areas that were rated as medium-high and high on a socio-economic status (SES) scale. 

The program was also environmentally ineffective and costly. It will reduce emissions by 0.09 MtCO2-e/yr over the life of the rebated PV systems (0.015 per cent of Australia’s 2008 emissions) at an average social abatement cost of between $257/tCO2-e and $301/tCO2-e. 

Finally, the program appears to have had a relatively minor impact as an industry assistance measure, with much of the associated benefit flowing to foreign manufacturers and most of the domestic benefit being focused outside of the high value-added manufacturing areas.”

Sorry if this seems negative. Cry

We have to strive for the best solutions.Laugh

The report can be downloaded from 'Publications/Research' tab of the website of The Australia Institute 
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