Approximately 1.3 million roofs in Australia now have Solar Photovoltaic or PV panels installed. This is the vast majority which is installed in the last three years. This has been primarily due to the introduction of the Federal Government’s Solar Credits Scheme providing a subsidy for installing the solar power system.

On top of this, there are Feed-in tariffs in each state that pay you for the excess power your solar power Tasmania produces.

Solar Credit Scheme (Federally funded)

If you have a solar power system, you can receive a certain number of Small Technology Certificates (STC’s). It depends on the size of the system you install and where you live in Australia.

Ranges in value from $1200 for a 1.5kW system up to $10,000 for a 30kW system.

The Small Technology Certificates were initially known as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)

The installer will claim the price on your behalf, and the value will be offered as a discount on the price of installation.

Feed-in Tariff (Funded by State Governments and Electricity Suppliers)

The payment for each Kilowatt Hour or the unit of Commercial Solar Power Tasmania produces and is not used by the household is sent back to the grid.

The Feed-in Tariffs vary from state to state.

The state imposes a limit on the maximum size of system you can install to qualify. If you go over the designated size, and you will not get paid for anything you export. Generally, it is 5kW which is around 20 panels.

The system size limit in only on the inverter capacity so that you can install a different panel capacity compared to the inverter. For instance, 7kW worth of panels on a 5kW inverter.

The owner will receive a bi-directional meter that records what you are importing as well as exporting. You will be charged for this separately. Thus, you need to ask the installer what the cost is and whether they will be able to organise it.

Understanding these points is important as it will guide you to choose the ideal system size and how to get the maximum benefit from it. You will also know whether it is worth investing in the biggest system possible only to make an income from it.