By Evolution Solar Sunshine Coast
Well thanks to our Australia Day holiday on Monday, we all get a four day week this week. With the crazy weather – pouring rain, tornados and then sunny days – I think we all needed a shorter week. So here’s the run down from the solar power, renewable energy markets for the week ending the 1st February 2013.
Australia is slowly cottoning on to the fact that solar power is worth it. Figures produced for all the Australian states shows the cost of installing solar, the relevant feed-in tariffs, the cost of electricity and the cost of producing your own electricity. In four states, it was over double the price to buy electricity than to generate your own. The cost of electricity is continually rising and the cost of solar power has drastically reduced in the last few years. It has been described as a “no-brainer.” (Click here to read the full article.)
Our big companies around the world are not waiting for our political parties to start pushing renewable energy. They have jumped on the band wagon (bio-fuelled wagon of-course) and started setting renewable energy goals, building wind farms, installing solar and using LED lights. Last week we saw the fortune 100 and global 100 companies and now we have Ikea, the world’s biggest furniture giant. They have doubled their investment in renewable energy to $4billion and aim to be 100% powered by renewable sources by 2020. This includes their subcontractors. They currently have a quarter of a million solar panels, 126 wind farms and supply 34% of the power consumption. (Click here to read the full article.)
This week the Greens in WA brought the ‘Solar Powered Social Housing Initiative’ forward. They aim to install solar power system on about 30 000 public and community housing units. The project would cost $68million – $2000 per house for the solar panel installation and $276 per home for smart meters. The project would create employment, lower carbon emissions by 74 000tonnes each year, reduce the demand for another centralized power station and encourage renewable energies in the state. In addition, it would also provide $15million of direct grants for the Community Housing Sector as 7500 of the homes they manage will have solar power systems installed as part of the project. (Click here to read the full article.)
That is about it for the week. We hope and pray that everyone affected by the floods and tornados are unharmed and starting to return home. We will be helping out in our community with the clean-up and assisting our branch in Gympie that went under water once again. Stay dry and safe everyone.