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Solar panels started out at 1500 $ each and now 600 $ each.
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And power was 15c a kilowatt hour and is now 30!

The old rebated solar panel on the roof trick, third time I fell for it this week.

You do realise that only the rich can afford to put enough panels on their roof to have no electricity bills don't you? And you do realise the way the government has set up the rebate scheme; for every rich person that has a roof big enough and pointing in the right direction that puts panels on his roof is sending power prices UP and UP and UP, robbing the poor of the money they could be saving to get their own panels. Stupid poor people, why don't they just put panels on their roof like you?

Why is the left are so thick? So thick they're destroying their own kind with their ideological, blind, kindness!

You know? With people like you in this world, the have-nots are better off backing the haves, the crumbs they get are worth more to them than the pain inflicted by do-gooders like you!

RM, not sure who,you targeted your post at, but the rich go without plenty to subsidize the poor and, without this subsidy, the poor would starve.

Now if a person chooses to drink, smoke, gamble, or all of the above, then they can afford solar panels, they just choose to spend thier money elsewhere.

Remember, we are all presented with an equal opportunity to fail, so the poor should not blame others thier position.

The guarantee life of a solar panel is twenty five years, panels have been operating in excess of forty five years. If we took the attitude of never discontinuing a job, we would be stuck in the stone age. Coal and oil is doomed, for destruction. As for power costs, and paying thirty cents a kwh, i would be moving states. The baby boomers are the most likely to put on solar, sometimes you have to spend money to make money.
It's a matter of keeping in front. It is the over mortgaged that complain about costs. At $600 / panel is hardly rich persons buying power. It is business sense to delete your power costs.

579, while I agree with some of your points, you still haney to explains as to where the jobs are going to come from if we do away with coal and oil.

Do you care to offer a suggestion, or, are you like the many, who can offer a solution to one problem, but not factor in the collateral damage this solution can potentially create.

Furthermore, how would we all have fared in qld last summer if we were to rely on solar, remembering, that back up, fuel burning generators, are fa less efficient than power stations and creat far more polution had there been a hundred thousand odd in operation.

At the end of the day, you can't simply solve one problem by causing another.

579 just who is giving the guarantee on these solar panels? Do you really think the Chinese manufacturers are likely to be running around Oz replacing the things, or the installers will be overhauling failed installations in 5 years time? Come in spinner?

If you really like the things, just wait a while, & you'll be able to get them for the cost of getting them off someones roof, & fixing the holes the instillation made.

Once the subsidy goes, & it will, the piddling bit of power they put out won't pay for the necessary maintenance, & people will be trying to give them away, to stop the roof leaks.

My brother in law, an engineer, has recently moved into town, after 10 years living off the grid. He had 2 solar arrays, one for the house, & one for his phone/internet connection. Oh, plus the necessary diesel generator for when the solar was out.

When I asked him what was the best/worst thing about returning to civilisation his instant reply was it was a best thing. Escaping from the constant trouble with his solar arrays

He reckoned the best thing about modern life was reliable power, at the flick of a switch, & with solar, that's one thing you don't get.

All i can say about that is, you have no idea how solar is installed, operated or guaranteed. Make a phone call to an installer and find out.