Canberra, ACT is a good place to go solar in Australia, thanks primarily to the ever-improving economics of solar panel installations. This article takes a take a look at the a number of the key issues for going solar in Canberra, together with system pricing, energy yields and incentives out there to system house owners. It additionally touches on battery storage.
How do you profit from solar power in Canberra?
Getting an optimum solar power system wherever in Australia – together with Canberra – means first understanding how a system advantages a home or enterprise. Solar panels solely produce electrical energy throughout daylight hours, and the way a lot electrical energy is generated is determined by the depth and period of the sunshine.
ACT residents can profit from solar in two methods:
1) ‘solar self-consumption‘, the place you employ the solar energy straight (and keep away from having to pay your retailer for electrical energy), and
2) solar feed-in credit, the place you obtain a credit score in your invoice for ‘excess’ solar energy that you just ship into the grid. The mixture of those two advantages helps to make solar an ideal funding for the ACT.
Note that the feed-in tariff fee that you just obtain is determined by who sells you electrical energy (your retailer) and the plan that you just’re on with that retailer. You can examine feed-in tariffs and change electrical energy plans utilizing the federal government’s EnergyMadeEasy.gov.au comparator web site, or our personal electrical energy plan comparability software.
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How a lot energy will a solar system produce in Canberra?
The common Canberran rooftop receives an annual common of about 4.8 hours of solar per day primarily based on knowledge from the Bureau of Meteorology. This quantity fluctuates seasonally (greater in summer season and decrease in winter). Estimated day by day technology figures for various measurement techniques primarily based on 4.8 solar hours are detailed under (minus a 25% effectivity loss). Note that ‘kilowatt-hours’ (kWh) is similar unit that you just’ll see in your electrical energy invoice; the common Australian home makes use of between 15-25kWh of energy per day.
Assumptions:
- Solar panels are freed from shading and a oriented to the North at 30 levels
- The solar power system’s effectivity is 75% (conservative estimate)
How a lot do solar panels value in Canberra?
Solar Choice often publishes articles with indicative pricing for PV techniques in Australia’s capital cities (together with Canberra) in our Solar Choice Price Index.
Based on the worth index knowledge from March 2022, we will see that in Canberra a typical 6kw solar system would value $5,620 on common after deducting the STC rebate and together with GST.
The desk under exhibits how solar system worth tendencies for Australia over the past decade. The costs are in greenback per watt ($/W) format and segmented by capital metropolis (together with Canberra).
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Choosing the precise solar system measurement
Because solar is inexpensive nowadays, sizing up a system in your home shouldn’t be an actual science. The hottest residential system measurement in Australia has risen to six.6kW system; the bigger the system, the much less you’ll pay per watt of capability ($/W) for comparable gear. This measurement system might work with a family consuming the everyday 15-25kWh/day – growing the system measurement up and down will barely regulate the return on funding which we talk about under.
To simplify the procuring course of, our on-line comparability portal gives a great way to get began. You can simply flick thru distinction system sizes and the prices, together with completely different qualities and forms of solar gear – click on examine now on the precise to get began. You may try our Simple Solar System Sizing Estimator to discover completely different situations.
Federal and state authorities incentives for solar in Canberra
Federal rebate for solar (STCs)
Significant up-front incentives can be found from the federal authorities. Technically talking, this low cost comes within the type of ‘small-scale technology certificates’ (STCs), which utility firms and different liable entities are obligated to buy underneath Australia’s nationwide Renewable Energy Target. This low cost is utilized on to the acquisition worth of your system – there isn’t any want to say it, as it’s handed by means of to you by the corporate that sells you the system; all you need to do is examine costs.
As an instance, the STC profit related to the scheme for a 5kW solar system in Canberra is roughly $2,287 primarily based on pricing from Green-bank.
ACT Battery Rebate Program
The ACT’s battery rebate scheme (known as Next Gen) was initially launched in 2016 and has subsidised the set up of over 600 batteries throughout the state. The scheme gives a rebate of $825 per kW of battery sustained peak output (SPO) as much as a most of $24,750 for households and $41,250 for companies.
Potential ACT Rebate for Popular Solar Batteries |
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Battery | Usable Capacity | Sustained Peak Output (SPO) | Rebate |
Tesla Powerwall 2 | 13.5 kWh | 5 kW | $4,125 |
LG RESU10 | 8.8 kWh | 5 kW | $4,125 |
Alpha-ESS SMILE T-10 | Expandable | 10 kW | $8,250 |
BYD B-Box LVS | Expandable | 3.33 kW | $2,747 |
This positively helps the case for batteries and has been growing in recognition in Canberra. The ensuing monetary return for a solar battery set up is explored additional down this web page.
Is solar power value it in Canberra?
Residents of the ACT are lucky sufficient to profit from a number of the lowest grid electrical energy costs in the entire of Australia, with essentially the most aggressive charges coming in at round 19c/kWh based on authorities web site Energy Made Easy. While which means a typical (pre-solar) family electrical energy payments within the ACT are typically lower than these in QLD or NSW, it additionally implies that the return on funding for a solar system is barely decrease than different states.
The desk under examines 3 well-liked system sizes (5kW, 6.6kW and 10kW) with various energy utilization profiles to estimate the return on funding for frequent situations. A giant enter to the calculation is the “self-consumption rate” which estimates how a lot of your generate solar power will probably be used within the family somewhat than being offered again to the grid. As the feed in tariff charges are low and decreasing, it at all times presents a greater payback interval if you should use as a lot of the solar power as potential.
Note that we’ve used common solar system costs, however there are a full vary of choices out there on Solar Choice’s comparability portal in case you are able to get quotes for solar.
Indicative Returns for solar techniques in Canberra– Last up to date March 2022- |
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Solar Panel Size | Average Cost | Average Daily Energy Usage | Self Consumption Rate | Annual Savings | Payback Period |
5kW | $4,910 | 15 kWh | 40% | $751 | 6.4 Years |
6.6kW | $5,620 | 20 kWh | 40% | $995 | 5.5 Years |
10kW | $8,730 | 40 kWh | 40% | $1,705 | 5.0 Years |
Assumptions/Limitations of this evaluation
- Assumes energy worth of 19c / kWh which is in direction of the cheaper finish of what’s potential in numerous areas of Canberra
- Assumes a solar feed in tariff of 7c / kWh
- Average prices come from the Solar Choice Price Index for March 2022
- Your self-consumption fee will fluctuate relying on how you employ power in your home. At greater fee, means much less power is exported to the grid and improves your monetary return
You can play with the numbers for your self utilizing our Solar Payback Calculator.
What about solar battery storage in Canberra?
The ACT is among the few native governments in Australia to supply an incentive for home battery storage underneath its NextGen program. NextGen helps to cut back the price of putting in batteries, supplied you go along with one of many program’s handful of pre-selected suppliers. This is a unbelievable program that makes battery storage value trying into for Canberrans and which we hope will probably be emulated by different state & territory governments going ahead.
Solar Choice has been often assessing the monetary return of batteries for a few years in our ‘Are solar batteries worth it?‘ article. We looked at three different use cases and matching solar panel and battery solutions to arrive at the results below. You will notice that the return for batteries isn’t fairly on the identical stage of solar panels (regardless of the rebate).
User Case | Solar and Battery Solution | Total Year 1 Savings | Payback Period Solar & Battery | Payback Period Battery Only |
Young Adults / Older Family | 5kW of Solar Panels and a 3.5 kWh battery | $946 | 7.9 years | > 20 years |
Retirees / Young households | 6.6kW of Solar Panels and a 6.5 kWh battery | $1,408 | 7.1 years | 18.9 years |
Big Energy User | 13 kW of Solar Panels and a 13.5 kWh battery | $2,450 | 8.1 years | > 20 years |
For a full rationalization of our methodology and assumptions – see the total article.
Many clients in Canberra and the remainder of Australia are putting in solar panels first to decrease power payments and retaining their choices open so as to add a battery as soon as costs come down (we count on they may over the subsequent few years).
Increasingly Australians are making the choice so as to add a battery to their solar panel resolution because of the non-financial advantages like having power throughout a blackout and operating the home virtually completely off renewable energy.
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