What’s Happening With Solar Energy In Australia?

Australia, with its sunny skies and hot air, is perfectly positioned to make use of solar energy. Luckily the nation has been making the most of it, as this year it reached the milestone of over one million rooftop solar power systems.

Last week in Brisbane the Clean Energy Council (CEC) hosted a Clean Energy Week in Brisbane to the theme of ‘rethinking energy’ with the aim of bringing together industry experts and other interested parties to discuss and debate how clean energy can transform Australia’s future into a sustainable one – economically, socially and environmentally.

So what exactly is solar power?

Solar power is the act of converting sunlight into electricity. Various technologies such as solar panels, or large-scale power plants using lenses and mirrors, can do this.
One of the benefits of this technology is that sunlight is readily available. They don’t even need glaringly sunny days to power and provide electricity – even a grey day is enough to power most households.

As well as this, when solar-powered devices create electricity, they do so without creating any harmful carbon or greenhouse gas emissions. This means that renewable electricity such as solar power is an important part of the toolkit for society to use against climate change.

Can I get solar power?

Like many other eco friendly products, rooftop solar panel systems are coming down in price. While the initial investment can be pricey, the system usually pays itself off within a few years as owners save on electricity bills. Some states also have feed-in tariffs to help people into solar power, however these are becoming more rare.

Whether you choose to go solar or not, it’s good to be aware that solar energy is making up an increasingly large share of society’s energy mix – and that can only be a good thing.