Solar panel fraud so obvious even Canberra Times can not keep ignoring
November 21st, 2010 by Warwick HughesSo often the Fairfax Press “Canberra Times” reads like a greenleft newsletter – so it is refreshing that they have published this article critical of the ACT Govts (GreenLabor) heavily subsidised rooftop solar panel feedin scheme.
I commented last year.
Solar sell falls flat
BY LOUIS ANDREWS AND GRAHAM DOWNIE
21 Nov, 2010 10:12 AM
THE ACT Government’s solar feed-in scheme cost taxpayers more than a million dollars last financial year, but generated only a fraction of a per cent of the territory’s electricity needs during the winter months. ActewAGL figures provided to The Sunday Canberra Times show the payments to customers connected to the feed-in program were about $1.2 million in 2009-10.
And in the three months to September, solar panel energy met just 0.1 per cent of the territory’s electricity requirements. Nevertheless Environment Minister Simon Corbell is confident emerging technologies and the expansion of the scheme will still see a quarter of the ACT’s electricity needs met by solar power.
A spokesman for Mr Corbell said the figure was unsurprising because of the winter chill and cloud cover. “This is therefore comparing a supply-low period with a demand-high period,” he said. About one million kilowatt hours of energy were produced by solar panels in those three months. But estimated electricity use was more than 850 million kWh.
The spokesman said having 25 per cent of the territory’s electricity demand met by solar panels was still a realistic goal. “Photovoltaic solar generation technology is advancing rapidly, and it is also highly likely that technologies other than [solar panels] would be deployed in the ACT over the coming 10 years,” he said.
“There will be greater efficiencies from [solar power] as well as other likely large-scale technologies such as solar thermal which have yet to be installed [commercially] in the ACT.
For more, pick up a copy of today’s Sunday Canberra Times
Posted in Resources | 5 Comments »
November 21st, 2010 at 3:29 am
Warwick happy Climategate Day
I know you are not politicised but it’s a resurrectional day for me
and a day in which I’ve been retracing my journey – me questioning science; me who has no scientific training; and during my journey I’ve met lots of other people who also have open minds and are prepared to question and during that journey have met scientists like (in my case) you; Dr Tim Ball; Dr Carter; Dr Marohassy and many others who are prepared to explain things to me a layperson
I put my story on www.climateconversation.wordshine.co.nz/2010/11/climategate-a-year-old-and-still-going-strong/ as a comment
But it’s not my story which is important; it’s yours and others who have questioned
Congratulations to you Warwick; to the late John Daly and to all the others who have been prepared to question the process behind the politically accepted science
November 21st, 2010 at 5:22 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Solar, Brian Sun. Brian Sun said: Brian: Errors in IPCC climate science » Blog Archive » Solar panel fraud …: Errors in IPCC climate science » B… bit.ly/b7Kqdc [...]
November 21st, 2010 at 6:07 pm
A spokesman for Mr Corbell said the figure was unsurprising because of the winter chill and cloud cover. “This is therefore comparing a supply-low period with a demand-high period,” he said.
Yeah right & I suppose nobody in Canberra has AirCon to gobble up the eco-power in summer when the sun is shining.
December 2nd, 2010 at 11:38 am
Warwick, nobody seems to have commented on the effect of the current weather on the production of electricity by household Solar Photovoltaic Panels.
BOM publish daily the amount of solar radiation reaching Australia. There has been a dramatic reduction in irradiance which will have impacted the returns householders are getting from their panels. Average irradiance levels by month for Capital cities can be found here www.gaisma.com/en/location/canberra.html. Unit conversion required: 1kwh=3.6megajoules
Of course, the State Governments are the main benficiaries of this as they do not have to payout for expensive PVA electricity!
December 13th, 2010 at 9:06 am
From The West Australian – what have we been saying here for years ?
[Page 5: State-owned electricity retailer Synergy has warned customers to lower their expectations about the financial benefits of solar panel installations amid a wave of complaints about the systems under-delivering.]