As of (31st August 2020), residential solar power systems installed in Western Australia no longer receive the REBS or ‘Renewable Buyback Scheme’ solar feed-in tariff of 7.135 cents per kilowatt-hour. Instead, they now receive the DEBS or ‘Distributed Energy Buyback Scheme’ that will rather pay:
- For most of the day, 3 Cents for each kilowatt-hour of solar electricity fed into the grid, and…
- Ten cents for each kilowatt-hour exported from 3 pm until 9 pm.
Because rooftop solar produces most of its energy in the middle of the day, that works out to be an average of 3.8c for north-facing solar panels and roughly 4.4c for west-facing solar on a roof with an average pitch of 22.5 degrees.
Systems currently on the ‘Renewable Buyback Scheme’ REBS that are upgraded will be shifted to the ‘Distributed Energy Buyback Scheme’ DEBS.
All new solar systems installed from 31st August must receive the DEBS feed-in tariff. The new tariff started on 6th November; until then, all new solar installations still received the old feed-in tax of 7.135c per kilowatt-hour.
The new feed-in tariffs will also be paid for energy from home batteries or electric cars exported to the grid. This explains why the 10c feed-in-tariff period extends until 9 pm when the latest set is 7.25 pm in Perth.
Currently, no specific information is available on how DEBS will be implemented in remote and regional WA.
Although the cut to feed-in-tariffs reduces the return on solar panels, they remain a good investment for most households.
The feed-in-tariff cut means solar households within Western Australia will be exploited even more than in the past. Given the high cost of providing electricity in WA, solar feed-in tariffs should be above the national average rather than the lowest in Australia.
Rooftop Solar Is Still A Good Investment
The feed-in-tariff reduction makes solar power less attractive. However, solar is still a significant investment. Perth is the sunniest capital in Australia and has the nation’s lowest rooftop solar prices making it a fantastic investment.
For example, a $5,000 north-facing 6.6-kilowatt solar system in Perth receiving the REBS 7.135c feed-in-tariff will still have a payback time of roughly three years and nine months.
However, if the same system received the new DEBS feed-in-tariff, the panels also faced north, west, or split between those two directions. Its payback time would roughly be four years and seven months.
