![\"Western](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/debs.jpg\")
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Update July 30th 2022: <\/strong><\/em> The 3 cent DEBs feed-in tariff was reduced to 2.5 cents on July 1st 2022.\u00a0 The 10 cent rate from 3 pm to 9 pm remains the same.<\/em><\/p>\r\n From yesterday (31 August 2020), new residential solar power systems installed in Western Australia will no longer receive the REBS or ‘Renewable Energy Buyback Scheme’ solar feed-in tariff of 7.135 cents per kilowatt-hour.\u00a0 Instead, it will receive the DEBS or ‘Distributed Energy Buyback Scheme’ that will instead pay:<\/p>\r\n Because rooftop solar produces most of its energy in the middle of the day, that works out to an average of 3.8 cents for north-facing solar panels and approximately 4.4 cents for west-facing solar on a roof with a typical pitch of 22.5 degrees.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Systems currently on REBS<\/a> that are upgraded will be shifted to DEBS<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n While all new solar systems installed from yesterday will be required to receive the DEBS feed-in tariff, the new tariff won’t start until the 6th of November.\u00a0 Until then new solar installations will receive the old feed-in tariff of 7.135 cents per kilowatt-hour.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n The new feed-in tariffs will also be paid for energy from home batteries or electric cars exported to the grid.\u00a0 This explains why the 10 cent feed-in tariff period extends until 9:00pm when the latest the sun sets in Perth is 7.26pm.<\/p>\r\n At the moment no specific information is available on if or how DEBS will be implemented in remote and regional WA.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n While the cut to feed-in tariffs reduces the return from solar panels they remain a good investment for most households.\u00a0 While it modestly improves the return from batteries, it’s not enough to make them pay for themselves.\u00a0 As substantial payments may not be available from Virtual Power Plants any time soon in WA, the only way home batteries<\/a> are likely to pay for themselves in the short term is if the state government provides a subsidy.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n The feed-in tariff cut means solar households in Western Australia will be exploited even more than in the past.\u00a0 Given the high cost of providing electricity in WA, solar feed-in tariffs<\/a> should be above the national average rather than the lowest in the country.<\/p>\r\n Until now, north — or north-north-east<\/a> — was often the best direction<\/a> for WA homes to face solar panels, as it would maximize generation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve put graphs below showing the average daily output for a 6.6 kilowatt, north-facing, solar power system in Perth for three different months:<\/p>\r\n I’ve put a red line through the graphs at 3:00pm.\u00a0 As you can see, only around one-eighth of the system’s energy output occurs after that time:<\/p>\r\n The amount of energy generated after 3:00pm is higher for west-facing solar panels, but the difference is not large.\u00a0 The graphs below show average output for 6.6 kilowatts of west-facing solar on a roof with a 22.5 degree pitch:<\/p>\r\n Because so little solar energy is produced after 3:00pm, if all the energy is exported the DEBS solar feed-in tariff would average around 3.8 cents for north-facing solar and approximately 4.4 cents for west-facing solar.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n For people in Western Australia who are faced with a choice between facing solar panels north or west, my usual advice would be for them to consider their energy consumption and if it is not particularly high in either the morning or afternoon, face the panels north because they will generate more energy overall.\u00a0 In Perth, north-facing panels will generate around 14% more energy than west-facing ones.\u00a0 The average annual generation for the four cardinal compass directions for a new 6.6 kilowatt solar system in Perth are:1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\r\n The change in feed-in tariffs make west-facing panels more attractive than they were, but the difference between the average feed-in tariff received by north facing solar panels and west-facing ones only comes to around 0.6 cents per kilowatt-hour, which makes little difference.\u00a0 If a household with DEBS sent all the energy from a 6.6 kilowatt system into the grid, the total amount of feed-in tariff received over a year in Perth would be:<\/p>\r\n That’s only $8 more for west-facing panels.\u00a0 Because households self-consume some solar energy, the difference will be even less.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Most households use more energy in the afternoon than the morning, so my general advice on panel direction in WA would now be:<\/p>\r\n Because north-facing panels will generate the most energy, they will offset more fossil fuel generation than west or east-facing ones.\u00a0 In addition, because their output will peak around noon, they should make life harder for WA’s coal power stations, as they can’t easily shut down in the middle of the day when demand for their power is low on sunny days.\u00a0 This may make north-facing panels greener than west-facing ones.<\/p>\r\n On the other hand, facing panels west or east will help integrate more renewable energy into the grid, make life easier for grid operators, and may limit future unfair moves against distributed solar power.\u00a0 This may lead to faster growth of renewable energy.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n While I’d be tempted to stick it to coal immediately and face panels north on account of how my country recently caught on fire, that may not be the best long term decision so I’ll leave the choice in your capable hands.\u00a0 Or better yet, capable brain lobes.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n The feed-in tariff reduction makes solar power a less attractive investment than it was, but it’s still a damn good deal for homes with unshaded roofs.\u00a0 While the average feed-in tariff for new north-facing solar will be nearly cut in half, in absolute terms it’s only a reduction of around 3.3 cents.\u00a0 As Perth<\/a> is the sunniest capital and has the nation’s lowest rooftop solar prices, it’s not enough to stop solar power being a good deal. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n A $5,000, north facing, 6.6 kilowatt solar system in Perth receiving the REBS 7.135 cent feed-in tariff will — according to the SolarQuotes Solar & Battery Calculator<\/a> — have a simple payback time2<\/a><\/sup> of around 3 years and 9 months. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n If the same system was receiving the new DEBS feed-in tariff and its panels were facing north or west or split between those two directions, it would have a simple payback time of 4 years and 7 months.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n If a simple payback period of around 4 years and 7 months doesn’t seem like a good deal to you, I’d say you must have some pretty good alternate uses for your money.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n The lower feed-in tariffs get, the more important solar energy self-consumption becomes.\u00a0 This is because using 1 kilowatt-hour of solar electricity in place of grid electricity will reduce electricity bills by 28.8 cents, while exporting 1 kilowatt-hour of solar electricity will only reduce electricity bills by 3 cents for most of the day.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n A Perth household with a 6.6 kilowatt solar power system will generally consume around 23% of its output themselves.\u00a0 However, a household where people often aren’t at home in the middle of the day may only consume 10%, while a household with above-average electricity consumption where people are usually at home during the day may use 50%.\u00a0 This has a large effect on simple payback times as the following graph shows:\u00a0<\/p>\r\n With DEBS a household will benefit considerably from shifting electricity consumption to the middle of the day when solar energy generation is high and the feed-in tariff is low.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n If I was making a living selling gas or gas appliances in WA I’d be terribly upset by the cut to solar feed-in tariffs.\u00a0 This is because it now makes even more sense for solar households to get off gas completely.3<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 I know some people prefer cooking with gas and while I can understand that, it’s not that big a deal.\u00a0 If you want to cook fast buy an air fryer and if you want to maximise your solar self-consumption buy a slow cooker and use it through the day.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n An electric hot water system can act as a battery by switching on when the feed-in tariff is low, while having the advantage of being a hell of a lot cheaper than a battery.\u00a0 This can be done simply by using a hot water system with a small element and putting it on a timer, or if you don’t mind spending more you can get a solar hot water diverter<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n It’s only possible to get a solar feed-in tariff in WA if your solar inverter is 5 kilowatts or less and DEBS doesn’t change this.\u00a0 You know, I’m starting to think the only good thing about DEBS is the fact it’s named after my favourite spy movie:<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Solar Output Is Low After 3PM<\/h2>\r\n
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![\"Average](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/northsolarperth.jpg\")
<\/p>\r\n![\"Average](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/westpanelsperth.jpg\")
<\/p>\r\nIt Makes Little Difference To Solar Panel Orientation<\/h2>\r\n
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North May Be Greener<\/h2>\r\n
Rooftop Solar — Still A Good Investment<\/h2>\r\n
![\"Solar](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rebsvsdebs.jpg\")
<\/p>\r\nSelf Consumption Is More Important Than Ever<\/h2>\r\n
![\"Simple](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/selcomsump.jpg\")
<\/p>\r\nGet Rid Of Gas<\/h2>\r\n
Consider Big Solar For High Electricity Consumption<\/h2>\r\n