Solar Victoria has offered a helping hand to Solar Homes program rebate applicants, customers and installation businesses doing it tough as a result of bushfires.
Those experiencing disruption or financial hardship in connection to the fires can contact the agency to discuss their circumstances and determine what assistance is available.
For example, Victorians with a Solar Homes loan living in a bushfire impacted area may be able to have their repayments paused. Solar installers unable to carry out installations under the program for related reasons such as the loss of premises or not being able to travel to locations may also be eligible for assistance.
“We recognise that the first priority for those Victorians affected by bushfires will be to support themselves and their loved ones. Solar Victoria stands ready to assist you in any way that we can,” said part of an email announcement sent last Friday.
VIC Solar Rebate Status
The Solar Homes program is currently offering a subsidy to a maximum value of $1,888 on solar power systems along with an option for an interest-free loan up to the same value. You can learn more about the Victorian solar panel rebate here.
In addition to that subsidy, the national “solar rebate” is also available to Victorians; i.e. they can claim both.
The VIC solar panel rebate is being released in batches twice a month. The latest release kicked off on January 15 and at the time of publishing, 2,042 out of the 3,231 rebates from this round were still available. The pace of uptake has certainly slowed since last year when supply wasn’t anywhere close to keeping up with demand; e.g. the second allocation in September 2019 of 3,356 was snapped up in just 19 minutes after release..
The fires may be playing a role in slower uptake along with pent-up demand after the program’s pause last year finally being met and a reduction in the subsidy from the beginning of this year.
The base number for release this round was 2,000 – the extra 1,231 rebates available have likely come from expired applications. In the first round for January, there was no expired application top-up; so perhaps those were carried over.
While there are still plenty of slots left for this release, if you should you miss out the next allocation will be available in early February.
Other subsidies also on offer are incentives for solar battery systems (selected postcodes – up to $4,838), a solar hot water rebate and up to $1,888 for landlords to install panels on rental properties.
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