Consumer sentiment regarding the costs of solar energy is being misguided, energy company CBD Energy says its feedback shows.

The company issued a statement this week saying concerns about whether government will continue to subsidise solar energy are causing consumers to be wary about installing solar systems, despite the fact solar power equipment prices have fallen faster than Government rebate drops.

They say scare campaigns by energy companies have also put consumers off-side.

CBD Energy says some consumers are concerned solar energy might be another pink batts issue, with dodgy installers causing potential roof fires.

The company’s managing director, Mr Gerry McGowan, said the fears are baseless and people are missing out on the compelling economics of solar energy.

“There’s two certainties about the direction of energy prices - electricity from coal fired sources can only go up in price while solar prices are coming down,” McGowan said.

“Not only is there a huge cost saving in electricity prices when you use solar but technology is helping make solar equipment cheaper. The main ingredient in solar panels — silicon - has fallen in price from around $450/kg in 2008 to just above $25/kg today and panels are getting more powerful every day.

“Ongoing changes to government policy have blinded people to realising how cheap solar energy is and so they’re missing out on protecting themselves from inevitable electricity price rises.

“There’s also so many safeguards and audits around solar installations that so long as people make sure they’ve got a qualified installer, there’s no impediment to them using free sunshine to get cheap electricity for the long term,” McGowan added.

To be qualified, solar installers need not only to be a licensed electrician but they also need special training and accreditation to install solar panels.

In addition, solar power systems in NSW are subject to three separate audit regimes - by the electricity authority regarding connections to the grid, by the Department of Fair Trading if there’s a feed-in tariff application and by the federal government regarding qualifications for solar credits.

Costs of installing a solar system range from $2,000 to $12,000, depending on size of system, giving payback periods of between four and eight years at projected electricity prices.