IF THE rIGHT ACTUALLY WANTED TO HELP THE POOR:

The study, published in Energy Policy journal by the University of Adelaide's Tracey Dodd and Tim Nelson, a senior economist currently leading the energy markets team at Iberdrola Australia, compares the net benefits of rooftop PV on low-income homes compared to those for standard customers.

Based on energy consumption data from AGL Energy - where Nelson was previously chief economist - the study compares the profiles of 1000 Victoria-based customers participating in the retailer's hardship program to those of 1000 generic Victoria-based customers.

The results reveal that putting more solar on "hardship homes" - defined for this study as low-income rental properties - promises to slash annual grid-based electricity consumption by 40%, lower greenhouse gas emissions by 1.6 tCO2e per household annually, and cut energy bills by $2908 per low-income household over 15 years.

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