The Australian Solar Council has provided an update on the Federal Budget and how it will affect the solar industry.

Federal budget

The Million Solar Roofs program has been scrapped. It died before it had even begun.

This is a broken election promise.

While the Australian Solar Council was always sceptical that this program would eventuate, there is policy merit in helping low income earners reduce their power bills by accessing solar hot water and solar panels.

This means the Renewable Energy Target is all we have left to support our industry.

The Budget also scrapped the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). ARENA’s key role is to pull through the renewable energy technology of the future, (and was mainly focused on solar projects) and remove roadblocks.

This is a broken election promise.

But, before the government can scrap it, legislation has to pass through Parliament.

We can save ARENA by getting 3 of the 8 cross bench Senators to vote against the scrapping of ARENA.

We would urge all Senators to vote against the proposed abolition of ARENA. If you care about solar research and development and early stage commercialisation, it is really important that you contact your Federal Member of Parliament or Senator.

The $1.3 billion cut to ARENA’s budget does not affect projects that already have funding agreements with ARENA and ARENA will continue to accept and assess applications. The Australian Solar Council will be working hard to ensure ARENA continues to operate for a long time to come.