Even as environmentalists are wary about carbon emissions and the deteriorating state of environment, house holders are equally perturbed with fat electricity bills. I am sure the readers of this article must have the same feeling once or twice while looking at electricity bills. In this situation, use of rich sources of
renewable energy at the optimum level is essential for individuals and for environment safety.
Solar Energy and Mounting Electricity Bills
The most popular and under exploited source of renewable energy is "Sun". The installation of solar power panels is increasing exponentially in Australia. However the reason solar power installers are becoming popular in Australia has "more" to do with rising electricity bills than environmental concerns. According to figures of a survey conducted by a prominent solar power installation company, more than half of respondents cited mounting electricity bills as their main reason for switching over to solar energy options. Now, before exploring the factors that may decide the use of the
solar power for home, it would be interesting to have a cursory look at reasons for mounting electricity bills.
Traditional Energy Resources Pricing
One of the core reasons are rising prices of natural energy resources like coal and gas. Australia's 80% electricity is generated through these resources. Even though it is being generated from country's extraordinarily large local reserve of fossil fuels, the unbridled prices of coal at the global level has its effect on the prices in the country. The increased global prices also affect local suppliers and this is being passed on to end users in the form of increasing electricity bills. Given the infrastructure facilities of Australia, it is almost impossible now to restrain these rising electricity bills.
Population Growth
Another reason for rising electricity bills is raising population. The country's population is growing leaps and bounds. Going by the rule of demand and supply, more the demand of electricity, the pricier it would be. Population growth rate of Australia is 2.1% which is double than average growth rate all over the world which is at 1.1% including China and India.
Renewable Energy Price Inflation
Another reason is inflated tariff-in rates for renewable energy. Renewable energy consists of solar power, wind power, bio-energy, geothermal and other sustainable energy sources. As the purchase of renewable energy is at inflated prices, the gap between electricity produced by renewable energy sources and electricity produced by traditional energy resources becomes narrow. Hence mounting prices for traditional energy resources are again thrown back to end users.
The Australian Way
In back drop of all these reasons for rising electricity bills, Australians have chosen to go solar and have solar installers on their homes. However, there are certain factors which decide their preference for solar installers' type for their homes. The major factor is budget. Very often initial investment to get solar power panels installed on homes is higher. Therefore, it is up to the budget of the home owners what kind of solar installers they would like to have on the roof of their homes. Budget often has a direct connection to quality. Solar installations are comprised of the inverter, the mounting system, the cabling, accessories and solar panels. All of these items have certain degree of quality and it depends upon your need and budget as what type of quality to go for!
