Western Australia Leads On Solar Power Policy
Homebush Bay, Australia August 25, 2008

BP Solar, one of Australia’s most experienced operators in the domestic market for solar power, today congratulated Premier Alan Carpenter and his Government for announcing its intention to introduce Australia’s first state-based ‘gross’ solar feed-in tariff.

Brooke Miller, Regional Director for BP Solar Australasia, said, “This is exactly the type of policy that will provide the incentive needed for West Australians to lead the country in the take up of solar power. “This policy provides households who invest in solar power with a fair price for the clean energy they produce, and we expect the number of installations each year to grow from the hundreds to the thousands,” she said.

“By introducing a gross solar feed-in tariff, Western Australia will have a long term policy in place for the solar industry that we believe should ultimately become a national policy. A national gross solar feed-in tariff will reduce Australia’s need to invest in peak power by installing new peak energy capacity, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and creating a new green collar workforce,” said Brooke Miller.

BP Solar Australia BP Solar has over 25 years’ experience in the Australian solar industry. The company provides quality solar power solutions for residential, commercial and industrial applications, marketing its products and services throughout Australia, Asia and the Pacific via local sales and engineering teams. BP Solar’s expertise is in the design, supply, installation and commissioning of all kinds of solar systems and applications. BP Solar, part of BP Alternative Energy, is a global company with over 2300 employees. BP Solar designs, manufactures and markets products which use the sun's energy to generate electricity for a wide range of applications in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. With over 30 years of experience and installations in more than 160 countries, BP Solar is one of the world's leading solar companies having 228MW annual manufacturing capacity in 2007, plus another 700MW capacity under construction. BP Solar has solar cell and module manufacturing plants in Sydney, Australia; Bangalore, India; Madrid, Spain; and Frederick, MD, USA; and module manufacturing in Xi’an, China. In Frederick it also has casting and wafering facilities. BP Solar invests more than $10m annually in photovoltaic research and development.

Source: BP Australia