Newcastle's Solar Power Adoption: What's Happening? ⚡NSW

Posted 18 Sep

Newcastle's Solar Revolution: What's Driving it?

The motivations behind Newcastle and the Hunter Regions’ uptake in Residential solar systems.

Since 2021, marginal price increases in residential solar systems, largely due to the labour and manufacturing impacts of COVID-19, have made many homeowners begin to wonder whether residential solar power is worth the investment.

However, trends across the Newcastle and Hunter Region suggest that not only is it a thriving industry, but that the time to uptake solar is now.

There are three key benefits of residential solar power that continue to drive its popularity in the local area:

Renewable Energy and Environmental Care

Breaking news - storing energy from the sun poses less impact to the environment than burning combustible sediment. Wow.

We are all aware of the benefits that solar power provides to our environment. However, the true sustainability of our natural surroundings can only be fully realised when changes are made on a large scale.

This is why, as a society, we have set goals for ourselves in order to monitor and reduce our carbon footprint. The City of Newcastle has pledged in its Climate Action Plan to reach Net Zero for its operations by 2030 - effectively meaning that greenhouse gas emotions do not exceed the amount that is naturally being absorbed from the atmosphere by the natural environment.

These goals are centred around a decrease in electricity use, a continued movement toward LED lighting and a reduction of fuel-burning. Many critics claim that these are outlandish goals and unrealistic for the City of Newcastle.

One of the biggest impacts a household can have on helping to move our region into Net Zero is by installing Residential solar and thereby adopting clean energy.

Not only does this greatly benefit the environment and aid the goals of our region, but this initiative is supported by government funding…

Cost-Benefit through Government Subsidisation

As part of our government’s initiative towards lowering our country’s greenhouse gas emissions, they have committed to subsidising Residential solar systems to make their purchase more affordable for everyday customers.

The federal Small-scale Technology Certificate (STC) scheme has been providing enormous savings for solar consumers for years, and can currently provide Residential solar customers up to 25% off a standard solar system price.

Important to note, the federal STC rebate is set up to progressively decline towards 2030, slowly lowering its benefits for Residential solar value. Wise customers have cottoned-on to this trend, resulting in a spike in popularity for new solar systems, customers seeking to make the most of what is currently the most attractive price for the next seven years.

Though it is expected that new schemes of government support for renewable energy will be introduced, time is of the essence for solar customers under the present structure.

Newcastle's Energy Independence

One of the most attractive aspects of Residential solar is the reduced reliance on the grid. The combination of solar power and battery storage can offset large proportions of previously grid-supplied power, and in some cases, can make going off-grid a reality.

Whilst the buy-back schemes of energy providers, providing discounted energy rates for every kilowatt of solar energy produced, makes going off-grid non-essential, it is an attractive option for those who forecast higher and higher energy prices in the future.

Another attractive feature of Residential solar and battery installation is Emergency Power Supply - giving the ability for customers to power their homes through grid blackouts. Battery systems have become so advanced, and innovation is a never-ending process - that the transition from grid-power to battery-power is seamless.

Though battery systems can be costly, an investment in this technology provides Residential customers with complete energy flexibility and prepares them for a future of renewable change.

Conclusion

So why solar? Because, at Elite Power Group, we believe in investing in future generations and empowering communities with electrical and renewable energy solutions. With the combined quality of our installations and the unmistakable benefits of Environmental Care, Government Subsidisation and Energy Independence, the time to invest in an Elite Residential solar system is now.

Sources:

https://newcastle.nsw.gov.au/living/environment/climate-action

https://www.solarchoice.net.au/solar-panels/is-solar-worth-it/

https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/what-does-net-zero-emissions-mean/