ACT continues to promote solar energy

The ACT Minister for Energy, Simon Corbell, emphasised the need to ‘stand up for solar’ while delivering the keynote address to the national Solar 2010 Conference in Canberra recently.

“The ACT Government is working hard to make Canberra Australia’s solar capital, and I am pleased to be able to outline the ACT’s ambitious plans to an audience of solar experts,” Corbell said. “It is unfortunate that there are so many myths going around about solar energy. Solar is the clean alternative to energise our city, and it is time that Canberrans and those in other jurisdictions start to ‘stand up for solar’.

“The significant uptake in solar in recent times has had more than an environmental benefit for the ACT. In the ACT, we are moving towards a low-carbon economy, and with the significant uptake in solar comes new industries and new jobs.

“Recent figures indicate the direct employment of almost 150 full-time staff and upwards of 120 subcontractors in the ACT PV industry.

“Unlike other jurisdictions, having no significant industrial or rural base gives the ACT a markedly different emissions profile.”

The most recently completed ACT Greenhouse Gas Inventory, for the year 2007-08, shows that electricity continues to be the biggest source of emissions, representing 62% of the total. The ACT Government has announced cuts to greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2020 based on 1990 levels, and a target of being carbon neutral by 2060.

“Through our successful electricity feed-in tariff scheme, we know how to generate solar energy on a domestic scale,” Corbell added. “We know that solar energy will play a major part in realising our greenhouse gas reduction targets.

“The government's proposed expansion to the feed-in tariff scheme to include medium- and large-scale generation will result in 240 MW of solar-generated capacity which would supply about 25% of the ACT's electricity demand.”

The scheme has been a success with just over 3250 solar PVs installed in households as of late November 2010.