Victorian Solar Homes Program Expansion Announced

More solar panel and battery rebates will be available in Victoria over the next few years – and small businesses will soon also be able to take advantage of the state’s PV subsidy.

Launched in August 2018, the Solar Homes Program provides rebates and interest-free loans with the goal of assisting 778,500 Victorian households over a ten-year period to install solar panels, solar hot water or battery systems.

The Andrews government announced yesterday it will invest $191 million to make more PV rebates accessible. Available in addition to the national solar subsidy, Victoria’s solar rebate currently provides up to $1,850 to support the installation of a solar panel system, along with optional interest-free loans up to the same amount.

An extra 42,000 PV rebates are to be made available over the next 2 years under the program, meaning a total of 140,000 households will be able to install solar panels over that timeframe.

The solar panel rebates are released in batches every 2 weeks. None are available currently, but a new batch will be released at midday today.

Another upcoming change for the program is small businesses will be able to apply, with 15,000 solar rebates earmarked for this purpose. When that will kick in isn’t clear, but Solar Victoria says is it working with Business Victoria and industry bodies in designing the program roll-out and suggests a similar rebate and loan scheme will be offered.

Solar Battery Rebate Expanded

The Victorian Government’s solar battery rebate currently provides a point of sale discount up to a maximum of $4,174 on home battery systems, but solar power system owners who installed their panels using Solar Homes funding aren’t eligible. 

Eligibility has also been restricted to certain postcodes – but that’s about to change. Otherwise eligible households across the state will be able to apply for the subsidy, with the Andrews Government  providing 17,500 battery rebates over the next three years. Originally, there was to be support for 10,000 solar batteries over the life of the Solar Homes program.

As is the case with the solar panel rebate, there aren’t any battery subsidies available at the time of writing, but a fresh batch will be released today. In total, 5,000 battery rebates will be available in 2020-21.

To get an idea if energy storage makes financial sense in your situation, try SQ’s solar and battery calculator – just adjust pricing for the battery to take into account the rebate.

$797 Million Household Energy Efficiency Package

The expansion of the Solar Homes Program is part of a $797 million household energy efficiency package the Andrews Government says is the largest in any state’s history; one that will create thousands of jobs and reduce emissions while slashing Victorians’ energy bills. As well as the above, other aspects of the package include:

• $335 million to replace old wood, electric or gas fired heaters with new energy-efficient systems
• $112 million for sealing windows and doors, and upgrade heating, cooling and hot water in 35,000 social housing properties
• $14 million expansion of Victorian Energy Upgrades program
• One-off $250 payment for eligible concession card holders

Further details will be revealed in Victorian Budget 2020/21, which will be delivered next Tuesday.

“This pandemic has been hard enough without worrying about whether you can pay the power bill,” said Victoria’s Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio. “Not only will we help cover that cost – we’ll help Victorians make their home more efficient and fight climate change.”

The announcement was welcomed by the Climate Council.

“It is great to see Victoria, along with other states and territories, continuing to step-up on climate and investing in smart, sensible policies which will protect Australians, protect jobs and protect our economy from future shocks,” said Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie.

Solar Citizens also applauded the news.

“Rooftop solar helps slash power bills, so it’s a no-brainer to help more households and small businesses access solar when so many are doing it tough right now,” said National Director Ellen Roberts.

Ms. Roberts pointed out that when solar power system owners export surplus electricity to the grid, this also helps drive down the cost of electricity for everyone else.