Aussies too rich for solar panels

Can you ever be too thin or too rich? Apparently you can, if you were hoping to get your hands on a cut-price solar panel after the Aussie government decided to means test a rebate for those buying panels for their homes. No word on if the slender will be similarly penalised.

The measure was introduced in last week’s budget and will see only households earning $100,000 able to get their hands on the cashback. The rebate, worth up to $8,000, will be given away to around 6,000 households in the coming year.

The introduction of means testing has gone down like a concrete kestrel in the solar world, and according to those in the industry people are cancelling their orders like it was going out of fashion.

According to the Sydeny Morning Herald, around three quarters of those who ordered panels earning too much to qualify for the rebate now.

Rodger Meads, the managing director of solar firm Conergy, told the paper “This has translated to immediate job losses across the industry at a time when we believed it had a bright future. It will send the solar power industry back to the early ’90s.”

80 percent of Conergy’s panel orders have been cancelled since the announcement.