Solar Power = Green Energy for Queensland Australia has established a focus on expanding the number of individuals and

companies using solar power in their homes and offices to be a cleaner, greener country with efforts nationwide to assure this. In Queensland, households, schools, businesses and entire cities have joined together for the doubling of solar electricity in just two years, three years ahead of schedule. In July 2011, approximately 230,000 homes had solar heated water, and 141,000 small scale solar power systems of 1.5 kilowatts were in operation. This figure has likely grown in number since those statistics were published, as homes, businesses and government offices are installing solar power electricity on a regular basis. Solar Power is part of the green energy movement that is, using renewable sources such as wind, geothermal and solar power to produce energy instead of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas that can harm the atmosphere. The burning of these fuels produces greenhouse gas emissions that trap heat in the atmosphere and are blamed with causing global warming. In addition, the emissions create air and water pollution. Agents of Change for a Green Australia Efforts are underway for a cleaner, stronger and more sustainable Queensland throughout cities and towns across the state. A virtual solar power station is the goal, with 650 megawatts already achieved by February 2011. Approximately 665 households with 1.5 kilowatt systems will contribute 1 megawatt to the virtual station. In addition, around 883 homes with averaged-sized solar heating systems will add another 1 megawatt to the system. With more people of Queensland participating, this number could certainly show growth in the number of households producing their own clean, renewable energy. The federal government has established mandatory renewable energy targets (MRET) to ensure that Australia has a 20% renewable energy electricity supply by the year 2020. The MRET requires that wholesale electricity purchasers buy Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) created by the generation of electricity through renewable sources. This would include solar power energy in addition to wind, geothermal and hydro energy. A department of the Queensland Government Environment and Resource Management is the Queensland Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund. It was established in 1999 to fund energy and water savings projects to businesses in the state. Each year, applicants can receive up to $200,000 in funding to provide technologies that are more energy efficient, replace fossil fuels with renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas resulting from use of fossil fuels. An application process exists to have projects funded, and can be requested from all sorts of groups, including corporations, universities and research organisations. How You can Help Increase Solar Power Energy Initiatives such as ClimateSmart exist through the Queensland government for individuals to take action to reduce their carbon footprint for a greener Australia. This program provides all sorts of information and helpful tips to installing solar energy from the sun. Clean energy from the sun will also reduce the electricity bill for a household and reduce that footprint by two tonnes a year. A savings of $250 on electricity a year can be realised by installing a solar water heater, and another $450 can be saved by taking advantage of using a 1.5 kilowatt solar power system.

Rebates and incentives from the government are available to both individuals and corporations. The considerations that those who choose to go green are certainly cleaner air and water for their families and that of generations to come. Australia is suited well to using solar power energy because of its hot and sunny climate. A persons step towards using more solar power electricity may be as simple as meeting with a solar power expert to give them an estimate to install solar power panels in their home or business, and getting a review of rebates available. An electrician in another resource that clients can use to assure that the process is completed correctly. Those who choose to become involved and to use more green energy can accomplish this in several different ways. A simple installation of solar power panels will heat water for home use in cooking, washing and cleaning, or even the water of a pool. Other options include use of the solar panels on the roof a home to power just one room or an adjacent room to the home such as a studio or garage or the entire house. The solar energy is used with electric appliances and pulls from the sun when it is shining. Any additional energy generated that is not used will be credited to the users account through the Solar Bonus Scheme. Businesses can take an even bigger step in harnessing solar electricity with even larger solar power panels on the roof. Any unused solar electricity can be fed into the Queensland electricity grid. How Does the Solar Bonus Scheme Work? When the solar PV system feeds more power that is not being used at that moment by a home or business into the grid, it is noted on the individuals account. At the end of the billing period each quarter, the amount of energy exported to the grid from the home or business is calculated and deducted from the total of electricity used. Since the energy used will be less since the solar electricity has been installed, a savings will be immediately noticed. To be eligible to receive the quarterly rewards on the Solar Bonus Scheme, there are several factors that must be in place. The location must install or use a previously installed Solar Power PV System with a combined inverter capacity of up to 5 kilowatts. It cannot use more than 100 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity per year. This is quite doable with the average home using 7.9 MWhs per year. Location must have appropriate metering installed to measure MWhs and an account and an agreement with the electricity provider. The home or business must generate surplus solar electricity each year. Only one scheme application may be submitted for each address. The efforts for a cleaner, greener Queensland will only continue to grow as more businesses and individuals work to reduce their carbon footprint by using solar power.