credibility at risk as solar booms, page-10

Billblogs - that you think Barnett said that the 40c is to stay but the domestic FIT is to be expanded is good to hear.

It is interesting though that the ABC news article I referred to seems to have been edited overnight Wed/Thurs to make it more explicit that the FIT tariff rate (not the overall subsidy and hence number of systems if held steady at 40c) would increase. Presumeably the ABC journalist was there at the same time you were or was accurately reporting someone who was (hopefully backed by a clarification from Barnett's office).

Go to the Western Power website - they are stress testing the Perth suburban grid by modelling 30% of premises installing PV systems. Also check whirlpool forum were Western Power seems to have reduced/tightened the per-phase amount that can be backfed from a PV systems into a transformer.

I would hazard that by June 2011 PV installations in Perth will be approaching 150-200MW (100,000-130,000 houses averaging 1.5kW) and the quantum of government subsidy for the FIT (up to $40M from $25M now) will co-mingle with the backfeed grid issue (problems emerge at around the 200MW level) and hit the 20% renewable federal energy requirement (as energy suppliers face significant fines for non-compliance) whipped along by a carbon price of $40/tonne (for SRET and emerging global consensus) to cause a substantial re-statement of state energy policy.