Residents in Australia that generate excess electricity from solar panels are now eligible to get paid in beer.
Breweries in Australia are now offering residents cans of beer in exchange for energy, the first program of its kind to be launched globally.
Asahi Group's Carlton and United Breweries announced that it will be offering 24 cans of beer for every 30 Australian dollars ($22.63) worth of excess solar power. Two dozen Victoria Bitter beers typically cost around AU$50 ($37.72) in the open market.
"The only thing better than drinking the Big Cold Beer in the Aussie sun is earning beer while you do it," Victoria Bitter marketing manager, Brian Phan, said in a statement.
Carlton and United Breweries said that the program is part of its much wider goal of using 100% renewable power by 2025. The company said that it has already installed several solar panel arrays at its plant in Melbourne. It also plans to shift portions of its power needs to renewable energy by purchasing electricity from nearby solar farms.
Australia is one of a few countries that have openly adopted the use of household solar power. An estimated 20% of houses have rooftop solar photovoltaics installed. The trend has been seen as key to the eventual decarbonization of the country's electricity sector and reduction in big coal-fired power plants.
However, the trend has put a lot of pressure on the country's power grid, which is struggling to cope with the excess power being put out. Last week, the Australian government announced that it could soon be charging households for exporting electricity to the power grid.
The Australian Energy Market Commission submitted a draft policy aimed at preventing further "traffic jams" of electricity during sunny days. The commission said that too much power pushes the voltage too high.
"When you feed more power into the grid than is used, this can raise voltages in the network. Many networks in the country have reached a point where during the middle of the day the voltage gets too high, and inverters start tripping to prevent damage," the commission said.
