Page 1615 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 1 April 2009
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If an electric storage system is replaced with an electric boosted solar system, the amount of energy used to heat water is reduced by about 75 per cent. In the case of a gas boosted solar system, the reduction is about 95 per cent. This energy saving technology has existed for a long time. I am personally on my third solar hot-water system, having started many years ago. We should not delay any longer in having this as widespread technology. It is time to take real action and replace the old, inefficient technologies.
The other reason that we are doing this today is that, as well as the clear environmental benefits, the bill also will lead to positive financial impacts for ACT citizens. Many ACT residents are simply not aware of the financially positive position they would be in at present if they decide to purchase an efficient solar hot-water system. With the current commonwealth government rebates, replacing a broken hot-water system with an energy efficient hot-water system is the most sensible economic decision.
Under the federal government’s mandatory renewable energy target scheme, people buying water heaters that use renewable energy are given renewable energy certificates, which they can then sell. The price of these certificates fluctuates, but they would currently reduce the price of a typical size system by about $800 to $1,200. In addition, until June 2012, a $1,600 federal rebate is available to householders replacing their electric hot-water system with either a solar or a heat pump hot-water system.
To get some idea of the discounts which are currently available and their financial impact, my staff have spoken to ActewAGL about the hot-water systems that they sell in the ACT. Their full-price solar hot-water system costs about $5½ thousand, but with the rebates, you can buy the system for less than half price—only $2,700. That means it only costs about $700 more than ActewAGL’s standard off-peak electric system, which costs about $2,000. In addition to this, though, I could buy the system with a 24-month interest-free loan, which means that you only have to pay $1,300 up-front. Also, the commonwealth government currently offers low interest green loans, so that could handle the initial financing.
According to the federal government, my new solar hot-water system should save between $300 and $700 each year on my electricity bills. So with those savings I should be able to pay off the money on my solar system. In two or three years I should be ahead financially and after that I will be saving money. With the current commonwealth government subsidies, after a few years it works out to be cheaper to buy a solar hot-water system.
There are some other factors to keep in mind. If I am a landlord who upgrades to an energy efficient hot-water system, I will of course get the usual tax benefit for improving my property. An ACT resident who is upgrading their system after having a home energy audit through the ACT government’s HEAT program can also get an additional $500 from the ACT government. I would suggest that the ACT government in this instance could make an easy improvement. They could allow people to access the HEAT program rebate for solar hot-water systems without going through a home
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