Australian Businesses Switching to Solar Power Because…

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Can you guess why more and more Australian businesses are installing commercial solar arrays?

Yep, it’s all about the Benjamins… or some other famous dead guy who Australian rappers boast about the Nellies. Of course, there are also other reasons for switching over (ahem, stopping mass societal suicide from excessive greenhouse gas emissions), but I think it’s pretty obvious what causes a mass shift in the business world — money.

“The cost of producing solar panels is constantly dropping – largely due to the arrival of major players out of China, so the barrier to entry is being lowered all the time,” a post about the Australian commercial solar shift on sister site The Inspired Economist notes. “In fact, we’ve seen costs of solar systems drop by around 50% from 2011 – 2012, meaning the once high capital costs associated with installing a system are diminishing – fast. By moving your business to a solar energy source, you’re in effect hedging your bets against rising electricity prices.”

Yep, we just wrote about the quick, nonstop drop in solar panel prices (for the 100th time) the other day.


 
Here’s more from The Inspired Economist:

Here in Australia, we’re all feeling the pinch of rising electricity costs and small business owners are no exception. In the State of New South Wales (NSW), which has the country’s largest population, energy costs will jump by 38% in two years largely due to underinvestment in infrastructure (electricity poles and wires etc) and the flow on effects of the Carbon Tax.

The introduction of the Australian Federal Government’s Carbon Tax on July 1 this year has seen electricity companies increase their prices to compensate for any losses associated with the tax. The government is providing relief in terms of personal income tax but there is little in the way of help for small business.

One area which has some of the biggest potential to ease the cost of electricity price rises is solar energy. The uptake in Australia has exploded in recent years with generous government rebates on solar systems and feed in tariffs (where you send unused electricity back to the grid in exchange for credits on your electricity bill) providing a real incentive to make the switch to solar power.

Given the fact that installing a solar power system, whether for residential or commercial purposes is so much cheaper now than even 12 months ago, and it’s not uncommon for the average business to save upwards of 40% on their energy overheads, it makes perfect sense to begin the move to solar energy today and reap the rewards for years to come.

Image via Solar Market


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Zachary Shahan

Zach is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao. Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA], NIO [NIO], Xpeng [XPEV], Ford [F], ChargePoint [CHPT], Amazon [AMZN], Piedmont Lithium [PLL], Lithium Americas [LAC], Albemarle Corporation [ALB], Nouveau Monde Graphite [NMGRF], Talon Metals [TLOFF], Arclight Clean Transition Corp [ACTC], and Starbucks [SBUX]. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort.

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