Electricity customers with solar panels can expect to receive a little more money for the energy they feed into the grid with the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) publishing its solar feed-in tariff guide for customers in 2023-24.
Chair of IPART, Carmel Donnelly said customers could expect to receive 7.7 to 9.4 cents per kilowatt hour (c/kWh) from their electricity retailer – up from around five cents at the same time last year.
Ms Donnelly said the value of solar was based on wholesale prices at the times solar was exported to the grid.
“Wholesale prices have increased significantly over the last year, mainly due to the war in Ukraine which has led to higher gas and coal prices, and disruptions in several large coal-fired power plants,” Ms Donnelly said.
She said most customers got the best value from their solar panels by using electricity when their solar panels were generating during the day, allowing customers to reduce how much electricity they needed to buy from retailers.
“Solar customers can power their heaters, air conditioners, electric vehicle and pool pumps with their solar panels if they time it right.”
Ms Donnelly said IPART had also published a fact sheet showing the solar feed-in tariffs currently being offered by retailers.
“We found that some retailers offer solar feed-in prices above IPART’s benchmark, but with conditions,” the IPART Chair said.
“Some retailers pay a lower feed-in tariff rate after export thresholds have been reached,” she said.
“Other deals are only available if the customer has bought their solar panels through that retailer.”
Ms Donnelly advised customers to consider all aspects of a retailer’s offer, including usage and fixed charges, warning that the offer with the highest feed-in tariff may not be the best deal overall.
IPART’s two-page fact sheet can be accessed at this PS News link.
