The sun sets on solar hot water rebates

Image source: yourhome.gov.au

The Government has ended its solar hot water rebate initiative, the Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme (REBS). An announcement was made yesterday that henceforth REBS rebates will only be eligible to those people who have had systems installed, ordered or purchased before 28 February 2012, and lodged a claim before 30 June 2012. Although the scheme was always meant to end on 30 June 2012, this is the first time a purchase cut-off date has been publicised. Besides providing prospective applicants with no prior warning, the closure raises the question of why has the rebate been phased out so suddenly?

Electric hot water systems being phased out

From this year, the Commonwealth Government has begun a two-stage phase-out of electric hot water systems. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures from March 2008 show that 'electricity was the primary source throughout Australia for household cooking and for hot water systems'. In fact, the http://www.yourhome.gov.au/ website advises that 'water heating accounts for 25 per cent of the energy used in an average home and is responsible for 23 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions from home energy use'.