Caroline Pidcock, Royal Institute of Architects, Australia knows about solar panels.

 

She has been following the progress of the solar industry for years and now is disheartened to see the solar panel rebate means test hurting the industry.

 

And like many others, Caroline says it's disgraceful that in Australia we have the best access to solar energy and we're not the world leaders in this industry.

"Australia is incredibly blessed as we have more sun hitting us than any other country."

Sunrise asked Caroline some quesitons to get straight answers on what it really means to go solar. 

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How do solar panels work?

"Basically the sun strikes a material and releases some electrons which is then captured for electricity and powered in something or stored on a grid or go to a battery. "

Do you get as much power as a normal electricity supply? 
"It depends on how much power you are getting out of the sun. Australia is incredibly blessed. In fact we have more sun hitting us than any other country in the world."

"We are perfectly poised to do it and we have the best researchers who are making the materials and making the panels more efficient. We are exporting most of those expertise out of Australia at the moment. "

 

“No-one asks what is the pay back period on your car or TV set or any of those other acquisitions.”

 

How much does solar panels cost?

For an average house, how long do they last and what is the pay back period in terms of savings on your power 
"It's a kilowatt system."

"It costs twelve thousand to fourteen thousand dollars for one kilowatt of power."

"The average house uses about 5 to 6 kilowatt hours per day."

"You can change it by how energy efficient your house is, what sort of appliances, what sort of hot water system, whether you've got loads of TVs running. You can use less energy which is the first place to start and put in a power system to power some or all of your power needs depending on how much you can afford."

 

How long do they last?

"They have had some in space for 30 years."

"As for a pay-back period, I think really this is an interesting question. No-one asks what is the pay back period on your car or TV set or any of those other acquisitions. As soon as it gets sustainable people asks about the pay back period."

" The other question you can ask is how Australia is going to address a low carbon future, and the questions you addressed to Kevin Rudd, we got a great place to converting sunshine into something useful."

I see the Government's ‘subsidy', which is an interesting word, as a good way of the Government investing in a diversified, low-carbon future."

What do most people buy?

The panels come in different sizes, generally 100 and 125 watts and people buy between 10 and 15 panels.

 

More info

The Royal Australian Institute of Architects

Energy Matters

 

 

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