New City of Adelaide (Council) Shared Solar And EV Charger Incentives

Image: City of Adelaide

The City of Adelaide has announced the addition of new rebates to its already significant list of support for solar power, energy storage, electric car charging and energy efficiency that will be available during the 2019/20 financial year.

Formally announced yesterday, the first new incentive is designed to assist with the installation of solar power systems on apartment and commercial buildings in the City of Adelaide area. Up to $20,000 per site will be available – to a maximum of $500 per premise, and not exceeding 20% of installation costs. Solar power systems will need to be greater than 20kW capacity.

“As shared solar can bring benefits and bill savings for owners, tenants and residents of multi-storey developments, it is an area of technology and energy market innovation that we would like accelerated progress,” said Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor.

As in all Australian capital city CBDs, Adelaide has no shortage of rooftop space that could be hosting solar power systems. Analysis by the Australian PV Institute (APVI) released last year indicated Adelaide’s CBD could support 129MW of solar panels on the rooftops of its buildings.

Support For EV Charging Stations

The other new incentive offered by City of Adelaide relates to electric vehicles – up to $5,000 is available to support the installation of two-way charging stations within its boundaries.

“Adelaide is preparing for a future where workers could be ‘paid to park’ or visitors might ‘plug and play’ while they are at a City festival, because they can sell energy in their vehicle battery back to the national electricity market,” said the mayor.

Mayor Verschoor stated the City was readying for a time when batteries in electric vehicles “can act like a big battery for Adelaide and all South Australians”.

Other charging station incentives to be available include up to $250 for an electric bicycle charger, up to $1,000 for an electric vehicle one-way charging station (7 kW to ≤ 50 kW) and up to $5,000 for a charging station greater than 50kW.

Other Rebates

City of Adelaide has a bunch of other solar/storage/energy efficiency related rebates on offer within its area, including:

• Up to $5,000 for commercial, non-profit, community enterprises and sporting clubs, residential landlord and concession card holders for solar power systems (level of rebate based on capacity).
• Businesses, multi-storey commercial, non-profit community and sporting organisations can get up to $5,000 to go towards the purchase of energy storage. This used to also be available for residential solar battery systems, but was ended due to the launch of the South Australian State Government’s Home Battery Scheme.
• Up to $1,000 for upgrading or installing a solar hot water system (residential and commercial applicants).
• There are also rebates for smart control systems, energy efficiency measures in common property areas at apartment developments, carbon neutral certification efforts and more.

A full list of City of Adelaide’s Sustainable City Incentives Scheme rebates can be found here. Further details on eligibility criteria and how to apply will be made available in the first quarter of the new financial year.