Governments around the world have been subsidising home-based solar power for years. (except for New Zealand - of course!)
Recently however these subsidies have been cut back severely.
Why?
Two reasons.
1: The recession has forced governments to curb their discretionary spending (and the first thing to suffer is progress...) and
2: The price of PV Solar Panels has dropped so much (thanks to the Chinese Government's sponsoring their top PV manufacturers as a response to the recession) that home based micro generation now stands on it's own as a financially viable and reliable investment.
This has all happened so fast that many people can't get their heads around the fact that the magic term "grid parity" has actually hit us. (Well, it has for S4SOLAR customers at least - see our Importing PartnershipTM offer).
It is our goal to educate as many people as possible about this: You can now be free from rising power prices AND get a better ROI than your bank can offer - both in the same investment.
Essentially the Grid-Tie system comprises of a PV array and an Inverter. The inverter simply connects to the electrical 'grid' in your house and supplements the power used by your appliances. When there is less power being used in the house than the solar panels can produce then the grid-tie inverter pushes power back into the main grid. This power "selling" is picked up by your smart meter and depending on your electricity retailer you are credited for this power. Click here for a diagram on how it works.
