The passing of landmark legislation has seen South Australia becomes the first state in Australia to introduce electricity feed-in tariffs.

The new solar panel feed-in laws are designed to reward those residents who install solar panels in their homes.
The feed-in tariff offers 44 cents for every kilowatt hour of electricity (twice the retail electricity rate), which is fed back into the grid from solar PV systems.

Greens member of the Legislative Council in South Australia Mark Parnell’s proposed amendments to extend the rebate from 5 to 20 years and include small business and others (churches, schools, etc) up to 160MWh/annum – were accepted.

The Alternative Technology Association (ATA) says that while only a relatively modest measure due to the fact that it is based on net metering – whereby system owners are only credited for any excess fed into the grid rather than the entire production of their system – the extension from 5 to 20 years is a big achievement.

The ATA says it provides a positive point around which to nationally lobby for “some real, decent and progressive feed-in tariffs in this country”.