Getting the facts right on Solar

What is really driving higher electricity network costs…

… and how can they be fairly shared between consumers?

Getting the facts right on Solar, prepared for CPD by the Australian PV Institute (APVI), is the first to examine the interaction of new technologies with network tariffs, rather than wholesale electricity prices.

Key findings include:

• Rooftop solar has been reducing higher network costs driven by air-conditioning.
• The current direction of electricity reform unintentionally increases cost impacts of air-conditioning for households, while limiting solar’s ability to offset it.
• Time-of-use pricing could make the so called ‘death spiral’ for networks worse by reducing their revenue, or increasing household bills.
• A network tariff based on customers annual peak demand is a better solution than the ‘blunt instrument’ of higher fixed charges or disconnection fees.