Renewable energy group welcomes red-tape reduction

The newly formed Tasmanian Renewable Energy Alliance (TREA) today welcomed the proposed changes to the building regulations covering installation of solar panels by the Minister for Workplace Relations, David O’Byrne MP.

Following the changes to the feed-in tariff in September this year there is a backlog of over 6000 solar PV systems to be installed in Tasmania over the next few months.

The guidelines recently released by Workplace Standards Tasmania (WST) would have added millions of dollars to the cost of installing these systems without any compelling information that there is a problem that needs addressing.

“There are over 16,000 solar PV installations in Tasmania and we are not aware of any structural failures caused by these installations, even in recent high wind events.” said Jack Gilding, Executive Officer of the Tasmanian Renewable Energy Alliance.

The revised guidelines proposed by Minister O’Byrne will allow most household and small commercial solar panel installations to proceed without the expense and delay of requiring certification from a building surveyor, who might in turn require a report from a structural engineer.

“We welcome the Minister’s sensible approach to avoiding red-tape. This will avoid millions of dollars of unnecessary cost being added to the vast majority of straight forward solar panel installations. The solar industry will continue to work positively with Workplace Standards and the Minister to identify situations where additional measures may be necessary to address structural issues.” said Mr Gilding.

The solar PV industry works to high professional standards and is already heavily regulated to ensure that solar installation are safe.

For more information

Website: www.tasrenew.org.au
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TasRenew @TasRenew
Email: info@tasrenew.org.au
Jack Gilding, Executive Officer Tasmanian Renewable Energy Alliance Inc.w: www.tasrenew.org.au www.twitter.com/TasRenew