Most households and small businesses will soon no longer need local council planning approval to fit solar panels.

From 1st January 2009 South Australians installing an array of solar panels weighing less than 100 kilograms will no longer be required to apply to a local council for planning or building approval.

For safety reasons, arrays weighing more than 100 kilograms will initially still require building approval before installation.

State Government will soon begin consulting with relevant industry bodies on establishing a process to accredit tradespeople qualified to fit solar panels weighing more than 100 kilograms.

Once this accreditation process is set up, in most circumstances people engaging one of these qualified tradespeople will no longer be required to apply for building approval.

Exempting solar panels from the approvals process will remove a costly disincentive in both time and money to installing this energy saving technology.

South Australia already has about 40% of the nation's grid-connected solar panels, and five times the number of household installations of the next highest state.

By dramatically reducing the amount of red tape involved in fitting solar panels, the State Government hopes to further encourage this already nation leading rate of household installations.

Exemption of solar panels from the planning approval system also provides further encouragement to South Australians to embrace renewable energy, building on the State's trailblazing electricity feed-in scheme.

South Australia's feed-in scheme leads the nation on tackling climate change by paying people double the tariff for excess solar power they feed back into the electricity grid.

Householders and small energy consumers using solar panels are currently being rewarded with a guaranteed credit of 44 cents for every unit of electricity, or kilowatt hour, fed back into the grid.

The solar panel exemptions won't apply to historic conservation zones, where council approval will still be required to protect and preserve the character of these special areas.

Heidenerich Vineyards

Heidenreich Vineyards is a family owned business operated by Noel and Cheryl Heidenreich.The original vineyard was first planted in 1936 by Noels father, Rufus Heidenreich whose grandfather migrated from Germany in 1866. Our vineyards and winery are located on the floor of the Barossa Valley where the conditions are perfect for the production of premium Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon wines. We are a small family owned vineyard and winery. In 1998 we commenced producing wine under our own label and our production of wine has grown remarkably since then. Additional land has been added to the property and planted with vines, the most recent in 2000. We have adopted modern viticulture techniques, together with careful attention to vineyard irrigation to ensure that we grow premium fruit from which high quality wine is produced. In addition to the grape varieties which we use for our own wine production, Heidenreich Vineyards also grow Chardonnay and the fruit is sold under contract to other wineries in the Barossa Valley.Contact details are:-Postal Address: PO Box 99, Tanunda,South Australia, 5352. Telephone:61 8 85632644Mobile:0417855057Email: sales@heidenreichvineyards.com.auWebsite: www.heidenreichvineyards.com.au

Gemtree Vineyards

Gemtree Vineyards is owned and run by third generation grapegrowers, the Buttery Family. The family is dedicated to producing iconic wines of the highest quality from their McLaren Vale vineyards which since 2008 have been farmed 100% biodynamically. 5 Star WineryJames Halliday Wine Companion 2009, 2010ContactBusiness Address: 184 Main Road, McLaren Vale, 5171, South AustraliaPostal Address:PO Box 164, McLaren Vale, 5171, South AustraliaPhone Number:+61 (8) 8323 8199Fax Number:+61 (8) 8323 7889Email:info@gemtreevineyards.com.au