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Discussion about entry: Solar for Seniors
This is discussion about Solar for Seniors.
Comentários
Hi Brent,
Alternative sources of energy are the need of the need of the day. Here's my question though - when you say that these units will be provided for the elderly, would you be giving it out to old age homes or have you identified homes where the elderly are living on their own?
Is this system in use elsewhere in Australia too? I am not aware of any other country that has introduced FIT. Can this be duplicated in other regions as well?
Thanks!
Hi Rachna,
I envisage giving them directly to households as at present the Australian federal government provides generous up front rebates for 1.5kW systems to households, and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government also provides a gross feed-in tariff at the household level. As the ACT has by far the most generous feed-in tariff rates in Australia it will be households in the ACT that receive these systems. At present the actual households have not been chosen as I'm just finishing my Honours thesis on this idea this week, therefore the scheme has not advanced past the idea stage. However I have been involved in discussions with various people involved in the social services sector about the best way to move this forward. If the scheme is given funding then there will have to be a choice between social need versus high yielding, low cost sites (houses facing north, tin roofs provide the best, low cost options for installation in Australia), I think at the start we'll opt for the latter to ensure that the scheme is financially sound therefore we branch out. However there will still be some social need requirement that at a minimum will have to be meet.
Therefore to answer your first question it will be elderly pensioners living either as a couple or on their own that receive the systems.
As for your second question as far as I know this type of scheme is not conducted anywhere else ('Grid alternatives' in America provide low-income households with PV systems, but they don't recover their funds from a feed-in tariff).
And the final question, can this occur elsewhere? Yes, a lot of places have feed-in tariffs, Germany and Spain are some example and even some states in America have feed-in tariff schemes, amongst others. Therefore it can be duplicated in other regions where there are generous enough feed-in tariffs and weather conditions to make it viable.
Hope that covers everything, sorry about the late reply.
Hi Brent,
Thanks for the clarification. More regions should adopt strategies such as these to encourage people to save electricity. Most people don't realize simple remedies (such as the ones you mentioned in your comment)can go a long way in saving energy.
All the best for your thesis!
Dear Brent Savage
According to your experience what are the main barriers or challenges so that social business model can thrive?
We want to hear from you.
Many THanks;
Julia
Hi Julia
The main barriers I think like any business is the initial capital requirements. Aside from that a lot of funding bodies in Australia require that the organization be registered to obtain funds and they also don’t take unsolicited proposals from individuals. This limits ideas to already established organizations and hence new innovative ideas take a long time to work their way through the sector.If this were to change I believe that the sector will become more diverse, resulting in an environment were a lot of experimentalism takes place, allowing us to see which new social business models thrives and are effective.