Canstar states the tax is designed to prevent gridlock on electricity networks, encouraging households to use their own solar energy first, rather than sending it back to the grid.
Ms Douglas said one of the biggest impact of the Sun tax was the message it sent to households thinking about installing solar.
She explained it would discourage them from doing so, saying: “It’s madness to charge people for sunlight.”
“What we really need to do in a cost of living crisis is accelerate the rate of rooftop solar installations by providing access to solar for those who have so far missed out – like renters, social housing, and apartments,” Ms Douglas said.
While the tariffs came into place in mid-2022, most households and businesses won’t see any major change until next year.
This is due to distributors needing to submit a price proposal to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) to demonstrate why they need it.

Some distributors in NSW and the ACT have already outlined the changes and how the costs would look for the average household or small business.
Ausgrid, the largest energy provider on Australia’s east coast, revealed they were imposing such a two-way tariff in July – charging customers 1.2c/kWh for the electricity they produce during the peak export period of 10am-3pm.

The company said customers would receive a payment of 2.3c/kWh for electricity exported to the grid during peak demand hours between 4pm-9pm each day.
In a statement, Ausgrid said they wanted to encourage customers to use their self-generated electricity while providing a “safe, reliable supply” to everyone.
Solar batteries are widely viewed as a way to store the unused energy generated from solar panels – so it can be used at another time.
But the measure is costly, setting households back anywhere from $8750 to more than $20,000 depending on the scale of the battery and the provider.
The NSW State Government has said it will introduce a rebate starting at $1600 for battery storage systems from November 1.
Queenslanders will not be slugged with a Sun tax until 2025 but the state government rolled out a rebate on home solar battery systems allowing people to offset the cost of purchase and installation.

However, it closed in May.
“The Queensland government must find ways of getting more households powered by solar and create the incentives to shift people into having solar and batteries,” Ms Douglas said.

“About 60 per cent of the community is currently locked out of the benefits of solar, including renters and people living in apartments or social housing, and they have among the most to gain from reduced energy bills.
It comes as data from the clean energy regulator reveals many of Sydney’s outer suburbs are embracing solar and battery storage.
In Marsden Park, in Sydney’s west, households are 87 per cent more likely to have these systems in place, followed by Tumbulgum and Tweed Heads at an uptake rate of 71 per cent.
But in more established suburbs across the state, those rates were far lower.
Only 2.9 per cent of dwellings in Elizabeth Bay, Potts Point, Rushcutters Bay and Woolloomooloo had solar energy and battery storage in place.
In Ultimo, only 4.8 per cent of households had embraced the new technology while Darlinghurst and Surry Hills had 5.3 per cent of dwellings taking up solar.

David Sedighi, chief operating officer of power solutions provider VoltX Energy, said these figures could be put down to government mandates for new home constructions.
“Energy savings aside, solar has made these new homes more energy efficient, enabling people to meet compliance for a Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) certificate,” he said.
“We know having solar makes a new home more attractive to prospective buyers in the future too, as the cost of energy increases.
“The so-called Sun-tax where energy providers charge customers a tariff for rooftop solar exported to its network will also drive demand for batteries.”