About 120 people filled the cinema to capacity with folks coming from Blyth and surrounding districts including Riverton, Hallett, Hilltown, Burra and Mallala.

Blyth Development Board Chairman, Ian Roberts, welcomed the gathering and introduced Troy Harris and Colin Lord of Energymatters, a national company that deals with the installation of solar panels systems.

Both Troy and Colin are based in Adelaide but Troy has dealt in the Blyth and Clare areas for many years. Colin gave a brief overview of the advantages of installing solar panels in a household, where the panels and accessories are made, and how the systems are installed.

Colin took a barrage of questions throughout the two-hour session and answered them all very clearly as he has been in the industry for many years and has seen the good and the not so good attributes of the different makes of solar panels and installers.

Costings for household solar power fed into the electricity grid were explained including the different contacts available from various suppliers.

The $8000 SCHP rebate which is currently available, and is Means Tested, will cease on June 30 but a new rebate legislation is currently before the Senate and will not be Means Tested and may be available after July 1, 2009. Due to the current demand of the solar power systems it can take up to five months before the system is installed and Colin urged households to sign up as quickly as possible to take advantage of the rebate and energy saving systems.

Congratulations was extended to Colin and Troy on providing a thorough and informative evening, especially answering the many questions thrown at them.

At the conclusion of the meeting a Solar Panel Working Party was established consisting of Brian Eime, Daryl Andriske, Kevin McLeod, Des Menz, Ian Roberts and Gavin McEvoy to investigate the best deals available for the Mid North group.

There were 80 households that showed an interest in a mixture of solar systems.

PHOTO: QUESTION AND ANSWER...Troy Harris, centre, answers further questions from David Pratt, of Blyth, and Trevor Fischer, of Hilltown, at the information evening about the installation of solar panels held in Blyth last week.