The solar industry very much welcomes the addition of guidance on solar PV to the National Policy Statement for renewable energy infrastructure. However, there are several provisions which could be strengthened, which we have outlined below.
Solarno longer needs subsidy and is now the cheapest form of power. For many households, accessing the capital required for installation remains a problem. Therefore, the Government should consider consulting on how it can facilitate affordable loans for households. Further, EAC recognises the benefit of installing a battery alongside solar PV.
Meanwhile, with the increased efficiency of the solar energy conversion and reduced cost of PV panel through technology advancement and competition, subsidy programs easily heat up disorderly development and oversupply problem that results in price deterioration and ensuing losses (Zipp 2012 ).
Under this balanced subsidy policy, adopting a medium combination of operational strategies is the best strategy option for PV supply chains. Currently, traditional demand-side oriented subsidy policies have resulted in inefficient operations and welfare loss in the photovoltaic (PV) industry.
2.10.14 Solar farms can be built quickly and, coupled with consistent reductions in the cost of materials and improvements in the efficiency of panels [footnote 82], large-scale solar is now viable in some cases to deploy subsidy-free.
To rescue enterprises, but not the market, a different subsidy program is required to support PV industry. The supply-side oriented subsidy policy provides the answer through directly and moderately subsidizing PV enterprises and their supply chains.