Queensland Interest-Free Solar/Battery Loans And Grants Update

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Some Queenslanders waiting on the State Government’s interest-free loans initiative before going solar or installing/adding a battery system may need to reconsider their position.

In October last year it was announced the Palaszczuk Government would be offering no-interest loans for solar power systems and battery storage. For the latter, grants will also be available. The scheme was originally intended to kick off in March, but has been subject to delays.

A recent update indicates a number of changes to the program, which will be rolled out in two stages.

Interest-Free Solar-Only Loans

Interest free loans for solar power systems will be available next month. But in order to be eligible, a homeowner will need to be a recipient of Family Tax Benefit Part B and have electricity bills of more than $1,000 over the past six months.

Full eligibility criteria will be published when the scheme commences in June.

Battery Grants And Loans

As for the interest-free loans and grants for systems with battery storage, there’s still little information available. This will apply to the retrofitting of an eligible battery system to an existing solar power installation, or installing a new combined solar + storage system. At this point, this aspect won’t be rolled out until “late 2018”.

A new element that appears to have been added is small businesses will also be apply for one of these grants, but will not be eligible for an interest-free loan.

As to how much the solar battery storage related grants will be hasn’t been published at this stage.

Other Devils In The Detail

The scheme in its entirety will also be quite limited in numbers – approximately 5,000 households will benefit in total; with around 3,500 solar assistance packages and 1,500 battery assistance packages to be made available.

Back in March, it was also revealed only Clean Energy Council Approved Solar Retailers¹ based in Queensland or with an office in the state will be able to install solar power systems under the program, resulting in many good installers missing out.

With regard to the storage aspect, eligible battery vendors will be selected to supply and install battery systems to the program.

For consumers, this means choice of providers, and potentially products, in both instances may also be quite limited.

While the program will assist thousands of Queenslanders, thousands more who have been putting off installing solar in the hope of participating may find themselves ineligible – and they’ve been locking themselves into higher electricity bills while waiting for the program to commence.

With both aspects of the program, there’s still a great deal of detail yet to be revealed that may further restrict choice and participation opportunity. While the idea of an interest-free loan or grant may be quite enticing, there are other ways to finance a solar power system installation. If approached correctly, monthly savings can be more than the costs.