WA will be the first state in Australia to introduce a scheme which pays people who install rooftop solar panels.
Premier Alan Carpenter announced this morning that if a Labor government won the election, it would pay 60c per kilowatt hour for the electricity generated by solar panels, to anyone who installed them on their roof.
He claimed the solar energy industry had been campaigning for the scheme which was considered international best practice.
The solar industry suffered a blow earlier this year when the Federal Government introduced restrictions to its rebate scheme, ruling out households which earned more than $100,000 a year.
An $8000 rebate on the panels, which cost around $10,000 to install, is now only available to households which earn under the $100,000 income threshold.
The per kilowatt hour payment will be paid by the government until the cost of installation is paid off.
Mr Carpenter said this morning that households could pay off the $2000 difference between the installation and rebate in around two years.
It would take 10 years for any household which did not get the rebate, to pay off the panels under such a scheme.
Once the panels were paid off, Mr Carpenter said households could save about 40 per cent of their household electricity bills with solar panels.
PERTH
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