Victorian Solar Rebates Snapped Up Again

The second allocation of Victorian solar rebates for September flew out the door yesterday – indicating supply still isn’t touching the sides of demand.

Solar Victoria triggered a release at midday Tuesday for access to 3,356 solar power system subsidies of up to $2,225 each – and it was all over within 19 minutes.

The allocation worked out at just over 176 rebates a minute or just under 3 a second. The pace of the grab was even faster than that on September 5, when approximately 6,000 rebates were gone in around 38 minutes – approximately 157 a minute. This was after a false start on September 2 when only around 500 rebates were allocated.

For those who missed out this round – and it again appears there were a large number in this boat – the next release is on Tuesday 1st October (time not yet provided), when another 3,250 will be available.

3,250 were originally to be allocated yesterday; but an extra 106 appeared. After the first allocation in September, Solar Victoria reported one of the biggest issues it still has is incomplete applications and urged solar companies to contact their customers to ensure they have fully completed their applications. This is where some the extras may have come from – those who haven’t completed applications.

As at Thursday 5 September, there were still around 1,800 approved customer applications from July and August awaiting installation. During August, close to 3,900 subsidy-supported installations occurred according to Solar Victoria.

Solar Power System Subsidy Schedule

For October and November, there will be two releases each month of 3,250 rebates. For the remainder of the financial year, it will then drop down to two releases each month of 2,500.

From January next year, the rebate’s maximum value will be reduced from $2,225 to $1,888.

You can learn more about the Victorian solar rebate here.

Progress On Other Rebates

While the solar power subsidy is the star of the show, there are others on offer from the Victorian Government.

166 solar rebates for rental properties are being released each month. As at early this morning, 119 were still available from this month’s allocation. There’s also support for putting PV on community housing.

Rebates for solar hot water continue to be on offer – and there doesn’t appear to be a rush on those.

Solar battery rebates kicked off in July with an initial release of 200 that was to last until the end of October. Two and a half months have passed and there are still 111 of these available. Slow uptake is due to the rebates only being available in two dozen postcodes at this point.