For many of us, the new financial year brings our tax money and some well earned breathing room. However, this financial year also brings with it many price rises that will affect us all – electricity costs being the major one.

As of today, our electricity prices in Queensland are going up over 22% (or roughly $300 per year) with many other states also facing increases of smaller amounts. The carbon tax is also going up today from $23 per tonne to $24.15 per tonne – these increases are likely to be passed on to consumers in the form of increased prices of products and electricity. Council rates, tolls, government fees and charges and so on are also on rise.

As a result of all these increases, many are turning to solar power as a reprieve from higher electricity prices. Many are already struggling with high power bills and are anxious as to what their bills are going to look like with all these new price hikes. With the cost of living in general going up, we need to do what we can to save money.

The 1st of July also brought with it the permanent drop of the Queensland feed-in tariff from 44c to 8c. Many applied for the higher tariff and have installed, taking advantage of the great investment opportunity. However, many are saying that the 8c feed-in tariff is irrelevant and that solar power is still the most viable option. According to the Courier Mail, the number of households installing panels at the 8 cent rate has outstripped those installing at the higher rate for the last three months.

“On the one hand they (sales) are down quite a bit from where they were say six or 12 months ago but the encouraging thing is that there’s still about 20 megawatts or there abouts being installed each month in Queensland,” said the Clean Energy Council (CEC) Policy Manager Darren Gladman. “From what Energex tells me, about two-thirds of that is without the (44 cent) feed-in tariff so that suggests there’s a pretty good underlying demand.”

Around 300 000 homes across Queensland are now said to have installed solar power and are reaping to benefits of low or no power bills. Save money today and look into installing a solar energy system. No deposit, interest free loans are available and are still a financially viable option. In many cases, the repayments due are equal to the savings made on future electricity bills. Click for an instant quote now and start your journey to more savings today!