Every hour of every day the amazingly the sun warms the earth with enough energy to meet world demand for a whole year. And this constant power source available to us – the sun. Solar energy now is getting more popular with governments due to scarcity and price of electricity generation in different countries.
Ancient Greeks and Romans long time ago tried to benefit from the sun by covering south facing building openings with glass or mica to hold in the heat of the winter sun.
Photo credit : wikipedia
Around 500 companies—the largest polluters in our economy—will be required to purchase a permit for every tonne of pollution they produce.
Through Clean Energy Future, the Australian Government encourages businesses to reduce their carbon footprint through a carbon tax.
Legal obligations for businesses
A small number of companies will have direct legal obligations, but for most businesses the most significant change will be the introduction of a carbon price through Clean Energy Future
The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) System developed by the government will measure and monitor corporate greenhouse gas emissions, energy production and energy consumption.
Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy
Australian Solar Government Schemes
SOLAR CREDITS SCHEME
Solar Credits is a mechanism within the RET scheme that provides additional support to households, businesses and community groups that install small-scale solar PV, wind and hydro electricity systems by multiplying the number of RECs able to be created for eligible installations.
Solar Credits apply to the first 1.5 kilowatts (kW) of capacity installed; generation from capacity above 1.5 kW will still be eligible for the standard 1:1 rate of RECs creation.
For more information view the Solar Credits for small generation units fact sheet.
NEW SOUTH WALES
SOLAR BONUS SCHEME
NSW has effectively scrapped the Solar Bonus Scheme, as of 27th October 2010.
For more information, visit:
http://www.dtiris.nsw.gov.au/energy/
QUEENSLAND
SOLAR BONUS SCHEME
Customers participating in the Scheme will be paid 44 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for surplus electricity fed into the grid—more than double the current general domestic use tariff of 18.84c/kWh (inc GST as at 1 July 2009).
For more information, visit:
http://www.cleanenergy.qld.gov.au/solar_scheme.cfm
SOUTH AUSTRALIA Govt solar schemes
SOLAR FEED IN SCHEME
The Electricity (Feed-In Scheme-Solar Systems) Amendment Act 2008 was the first solar feed-in law in Australia and pays a premium guaranteed tariff of 44 cents per unit of electricity (kilowatt-hour, kWh), to households and small customers who feed solar electricity into the grid. For updated info on this scheme visit :
http://www.renewablessa.sa.gov.au/solar
VICTORIA Solar schemes
FEED IN TARIFFS
Victoria has two programs that allow consumers to be credited for renewable electricity they feed into the state’s grid – a premium feed-in tariff for solar and standard feed-in tariff for other small-scale renewable energy systems.
For more information, visit:
http://new.dpi.vic.gov.au/energy/energy-policy/greenhouse-challenge/feed-in-tariffs
WESTERN AUSTRALIA Goverment Solar schemes Grants
FEED IN TARIFFS
A residential net feed-in tariff scheme will commence in Western Australia from 1 August 2010. The tariff will be paid per unit of net electricity exported to the electricity grid from eligible systems.
For more information, visit:
http://www.energy.wa.gov.au/1/3652/64/feedin.pm
Solar Conference – Australia
One of the key events this year is the East Solar Expo & Conference to be presented by AuSES and international partner AUPVSEE at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre from the 21-22nd of August. www.eastsolar2012.com
In the United States, Swedish-born John Ericsson led efforts to harness solar power. He designed the “parabolic trough collector,” a technology which functions more than a hundred years later on the same basic design.In 1953, Bell Laboratories (now AT&T labs) scientists Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller developed the first silicon solar cell capable of generating a measurable electric current.
The U.S.-China photovoltaic trade war is on despite china getting booming trade from US for its cheap solar technologies and exports.
Research papers in solar
SAFETY ISSUES, ARCING AND FUSING IN PV ARRAYS – Edward D Spooner, Nigel Wilmot (Senior Lecturer, The University of New South Wales, Australia)
COMPARISON OF SOLAR, NUCLEAR AND WIND OPTIONS FOR LARGE SCALE IMPLEMENTATION – David Mills (Solar Heat and Power Pty Ltd)
Climate Change Action Fund
The 
Assistance for eligible renewable energy power stations
