Many low-income Australian households are unable to afford solar panels on their homes and so are facing a higher cost of living, as told by the South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) in a forum that was organized by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or ACCC.
Ross Womersley, SACOSS chief executive said the problem was caused by tariffs paid to households generating excess electricity from solar panels which were fed back into the power grid. The result is the price hikes in South Australia.
¼ of South Australian homes have no solar panels. Households fitted a decade ago can get up to $0.44/kilowatt-hour for excess power, thus saving thousands of dollars annually on electricity.