If you want to sell residential solar in Victoria or batteries in SA, CEC Approved Solar Retailer membership is de-facto mandatory.

The Australian Competition And Consumer Commission — ACCC for short — is seeking submissions on whether or not the Clean Energy Council’s Approved Solar Retailer scheme should be renewed. [Read more…]

If you own a solar business, the government has announced a surprisingly generous support package for small/medium businesses. Here’s what you need to know.

On March 12th, in response to the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus and bushfires, the Australian Government announced a $17.6 billion economic stimulus.  Then, at some point in the last week, they must have spoken to someone in the Treasury who actually knows what’s going on, because they then increased it by an order of magnitude to $189 billion. [Read more…]

The UK is moving much faster than Australia towards net zero emissions. What can we learn from the Poms?

I’m often wary when I hear someone say “regulation is getting in the way of innovation”, because it’s so often led to disastrous deregulation of things that matter – public safety, building regulation, product safety and the like. [Read more…]

There’s a new solar code of conduct on the horizon, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) credit providers are not happy with it.

The ‘CEC Approved Solar Retailer’ (ASR) scheme, a code of conduct for solar companies, may soon be obsolete. I think that’s a good thing. [Read more…]

If you’re willing to overlook a couple of major climate disasters, Australia has been doing great this year.  We’re on fire! [Read more…]

With that smile, how could you not vote for Jack?

The Clean Energy Council (CEC) is a rich and powerful non-profit organisation that claims to represent Australia’s solar industry and solar installers. [Read more…]

Worried that Australia’s grid will collapse with too many renewables? Ireland has shown – as long as we have a carefully ‘staged transition’ – the risks are manageable.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) is trying to understand what might be what it calls the “upper limits” of wind and solar energy deployment into the Australian grid. In a report published this week, it has presented the first stage of its Renewable Integration Study. [Read more…]

Siemens may have “ingenuity for life” but calling their hydrogen electrolysis machine a Windgas HaBfurt doesn’t strike me as the most ingenious of names.

The South Australian Government has given development approval to Australian Gas Networks (AGN) for an $11.4 million dollar electrolyser project. It will produce hydrogen in Adelaide’s not at all scenic suburb of Tonsley. [Read more…]

An exclusive shot of Solar Victoria’s efficient new process for handling solar installation businesses.

Well, that’s it.  They have made their decision.  The Andrews Government in Victoria had a clear moral choice.  They could either… [Read more…]

Ergon Energy say GST is included in their FiT. The Queensland Competition Authority say GST is not included in the FiT. Who is correct? And why won’t Ergon respond to our questions?

This post arises because of a query from a Queensland Ergon customer, who has discovered the solar feed-in tariff set by the state’s competition regulator doesn’t make provision for GST. [Read more…]