Solar Credits Changed on 5/5/2011

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Changes to the Qld Feed-in-Tariff

On 5/5/2011, the Federal Government announced the Solar Credit multiplier was to be reduced to 3x on the 1st July 2011 instead of 4x as stated.

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From Office of Renewable Energy Regulator

Solar credits reduced

The Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet, announced today that the Solar Credits multiplier will be reduced from 5 to 3 from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012.  The reduction is a result of the impact of the higher than expected growth in solar panel installations and the flow-on cost to electricity prices.

The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency are expected to put forward Regulations in mid June to legislate the multiplier reduction.
The Regulations will also define transitional arrangements for eligible systems with a contract for installation from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012.

Visit – Press Release 5 May 2011

Once the Regulations are in force the Solar Credits multiplier will apply to the following installation periods.

Proposed transitional arrangements

The Government intends to put in place transitional arrangements in Regulations to recognise written contracts entered into prior to 5 May 2011, for system installation from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012, where the contract was made on the basis of the previous multiplier of four (4), but only where a number of conditions have been met.

It is the Government’s intention that Regulations to give effect to the reduction in Solar Credits multiplier, including the transitional arrangements, will be made prior to the end of June.  Details of the contents of the updated Regulations will be made available to stakeholders through the ORER website as they become available.

It is anticipated that the transitional arrangements would specify that, as a minimum, for a person to be entitled to create small-scale technology certificates (STCs) for the small generation unit (SGU) such as rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems under the proposed transitional arrangements, he or she must:

• ensure the system complies with all existing Solar Credits eligibility criteria;
• possess a copy of the written contract executed before 5 May 2011 made on the basis of the previous multiplier of four for the installation of the system, which would include as a minimum the:
  • name and address of the supplier;
  • address at which the system was installed
  • name of system owner; and
  • brand, model number and total capacity of the solar photovoltaic panels and the inverter to be installed;
• possess documentary evidence that a monetary deposit had been paid by the owner of the system prior to 5 May 2011; and
• provide a signed Statutory Declaration to the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator, stating that he or she has the required evidentiary documentation in their possession and will maintain these records in accordance with relevant provisions in the RET legislation.

Where a person is seeking to make an application to create STCs for a number of different installations under these transitional arrangements at one time, only one Statutory Declaration will be required, but the Declaration must clearly identify all installations relevant to the application.

The Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator undertakes investigative audits based on a risk management approach to verify applicants have met specified requirements for creation of STCs.

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If you have any more questions regarding these changes, email us