Households to be paid for solar power - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

State Climate Change Minister Carmel Tebbutt yesterday told ABC TV that the Government would pay a "feed-in tariff" for solar power not used by the household.

"What sort of return people get will depend on how sunny it is, will depend on how much electricity they can return to the grid," she said.

Ms Tebbutt said the surplus power sent back to the electricity grid could attract a tariff of up to 60 cents per kilowatt, four times the cost of producing conventional electricity.

NSW is the last state to introduce the policy. It will come into effect next year, with the amount paid to be determined by a special taskforce.

Ms Tebbutt says the tariff would eventually cover the costs of installing solar energy panels.

"There's already a rebate that's available from the Federal Government for solar panels and what a feed-in tariff does, it allows people to pay off the cost of installing solar panels much more quickly," she said.