Friday, August 1, 2008

Solar rebate applications on the rise, Govt says

ABC News Online, Posted 45 minutes ago

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/08/02/2322243.htm

Government figures show there has been a surge in applications for the solar panel rebate.

Earlier this year, the Federal Government bought in a means tested rebate making it available to families earning less than $100,000 a year.

The solar industry claims the means test has crippled business.

But Environment Minister Peter Garrett says applications for the rebate have increased by 150 per week since the test was bought in.

"We are seeing on average over 500 applications lodged each week since the Budget, with 700 in one week alone," he said.

"To put this into perspective the current weekly average is higher than any week prior to the Budget, throughout the whole program's history.

"What it is telling us is there is a significant level of demand for solar rebates.

"At the end of the day, we want to make sure we get as many solar panels on the roofs of families who can't afford them, that was the whole purpose of the means test, it was clearly the right policy decision."

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