Victoria Solar Rebate Update — Get Your Fresh Details Here!

Victoria’s Solar Rebate Update — Get Your Fresh Details Here While They’re Hot!

Victoria’s Solar Homes rebate program was announced on Sunday and this article I wrote on it was published yesterday.  Since then fresh information has come to light on the State Government’s Solar Victoria site.  This article covers what’s new including details on a $1,000 solar hot water rebate.

For those who didn’t read yesterday’s brilliant article — and have no real desire to — I’ll restate the basics:

• Victorians now get a rebate on a solar power system equal to 50% of the cost or $2,225.  Whichever comes first.
• Every eligible solar power system installed on or after the 19th of this month can receive it.
• To be eligible you must live in a home you own that is worth $3 million or less and your household’s income must be $180,000 or under.
• Zero interest solar loans will be available on the 1st of July 2019 — if Victoria Labor is re-elected to government in November.

I’ve put the new information below and after that added a few thoughts of my own.  I have tried ringing Solar Victoria in order to wring more information out of them, but so far I have been unable to get through.  I’m guessing they are bloody busy at the moment.

The Victorian Solar Rebate Is For A Maximum Of $2,225

It is now clear the maximum amount of rebate you can receive for a system from the state government is $2,225.  But for some reason the Victoria Solar site only says this in a round about way without simply coming out and saying it.  The government should make it clear because the way it’s currently presented some people will assume it covers a full 50% of a system’s price without a limit.  It’s a bad move from a public relations point of view because some people become crazy upset if they receive less free money than they were expecting.

The Rebate Is Funded Until June 30th 2019 — So They Say

Yesterday I didn’t know how long the Victoria solar rebate was funded for and so I suggested people get systems installed before the November state election.  But the Solar Victoria site says it is funded until June the 30th 2019 with enough dosh to cover the rebate for around 24,000 homes.  It’s good funding has been allocated for beyond the election and up to the end of the financial year, but I don’t see how it’s going to be enough.

Last year almost 170,000 home solar systems were installed in Australia, and over 20% of them in Victoria.  Very roughly, around 35,000 systems were installed there.  We can be confident everyone who can get the rebate will take it on account of how Victorians don’t have porridge for brains¹.  The Victorian Government says nearly 9 in 10 households are eligible, so I’ll assume the figure is 85%.  If Victorians install solar panels at the same rate as last year, then in the over 10 months remaining till the end of the financial year about 26,000 people will want the rebate.  This is around 2,000 more than has been budgeted for.

But demand isn’t going to remain the same as last year.  The installation rate is already higher than a year ago and with the Victorian solar rebate now available it will soar.  I don’t know how many installations Victoria’s solar industry can manage over the next several months, but if there is a 50% increase in system installations then I expect the rebate money will run out some time in February.

So you won’t have to get your solar power system installed before the November election, but it’s probably still a good idea to nail down an installation date as soon as possible.

Victoria’s rooftop solar penetration rate is currently half that of sunny Queensland and South Australia.  (Image: Australian PV Institute)

You Can’t Already Have Solar Panels On Your Roof

You won’t be eligible for the Victorian solar rebate if you already have solar panels on your roof.  So if you have a puny 1.5 kilowatt solar system and were hoping to upgrade with the help of the rebate, that won’t be possible.  If you remove the system and then had a new system installed it’s possible you would then qualify for the rebate.  Clearly I’ll have to ask Solar Victoria about this once they have time to answer their phone.

You Will Need A Council Rates Notice

To get the Victorian solar rebate you will need a recent council rates notice for your home.  This obviously is a problem for people who have recently moved or built a new home and don’t have one yet.  It’s also a problem if you own a home  but don’t pay rates.  For example, if your home is part of a retirement village.  In this case all I can recommend at the moment is try to contact Solar Victoria and find out what you can do to get around this problem.  But as soon as they call me back, as they’ll hopefully do, I’ll ask and tell you what they say.  If there is no way around this problem that would be really dumb.

No Installer WorkSafe Infringement Notices For 3 Years

To get the rebate your installer cannot have received a WorkSafe infringement notice within the last 3 years.  These are received for doing things like not using safety equipment where it is required or using a solar panel as a shield and whacking people with a roofing rail.  Victoria Solar says the installer must be able to provide a statement attesting to being infringement-free for three years.

This doesn’t mean an installer who has been in business for less than three years can’t install rebate worthy systems.  It just means they can’t have received a WorkSafe infringement in the time they’ve been operating.  As my boss, Finn, has pointed out, if newly trained installers were ruled out it wouldn’t make sense for the Victorian Government to contribute to training more to help meet the increased demand.

The no infringement requirement obviously is the Victorian Government attempting to protect themselves from being blamed if someone installing solar panels falls off a roof and lands on their head or on someone else’s head.  They don’t want the opposition to say they were reckless for promoting solar power instead of doing something safe like tearing coal out of the ground and burning it in a 40 year old contraption full of high pressure steam.

There Is A $1,000 Solar Hot Water Rebate

The Victorian government will give a $1,000 rebate to 6,000 homes that install solar hot water systems before June 30th.  Households will only be able to get one solar rebate so this won’t be available to those who get the up to $2,225 rebate for a solar PV system.

The eligibility criteria are similar to the solar PV rebate, but it doesn’t specifically say you can’t already have a solar hot water system.  Also, the household is required to replace an existing hot water system.  I hope they are flexible on this because it is possible for an existing system to become part of a solar hot water system.  It’s also a really stupid requirement for a new home.

In Victoria a solar hot water system will normally cost at least $4,000 before the rebate and you can easily pay twice that for a large high quality system.  A reason why they are not cheap is Victorian winters are cold so you will generally want a system that performs better in cold weather but is more expensive.

STCs — Part Of The National “Solar Rebate” — May Fall In Price

Australia’s Small-scale Renewable Scheme, or SRES, reduces the cost of rooftop solar for all Australians.  But the huge increase in demand for solar power now occurring in Victoria may affect the price of STCs, or Small-scale Technology Certificates, that lower the cost of solar energy for everyone in the country.  This could increase the cost of solar for everyone.  If this should happen, you can thank Victoria’s Government.

But we’ll just have to wait and see what happens to STCs.  At the moment they are under threat of the Coalition eliminating them, but that’s looking less likely day by day as it’s clear the current cabinet couldn’t organize roots in a root cellar with a fistful of pamphlets on root arrangement.

You must have your Vic rebate approved before you sign a contract for solar.

You must have your rebate approved by Solar Victoria before you even sign a contract to get solar installed. If you sign a contract to get solar installed before you have the rebate approved you will not be able to get the rebate.

Nail Down Those Installation Dates

Victorian solar installers are going to be swamped with work so, assuming you have been approved for the rebate, I suggest making sure both you and your installer are clear on when your system will be installed by.  You don’t want to arrange an installation and then wait for months to have it done.

Beware Of Cheap And Nasty Solar

There are fewer shonky businesses in the solar industry than several years ago. But, if I know my shonks, and I should with my degree in Shonkology², they will come crawling out of the woodwork to take advantage of the Victorian Solar Rebate.

Beware of incredibly cheap solar.  Victoria may see small systems advertised for only $1,000, or you may see massive systems advertised for $2,225 – including the maxed out Victorian Rebate. But with the rebate, solar power will be so cheap anyway it will make no sense not to pay a little bit extra to get a system that has decent quality hardware and is professionally installed. So please, Victorians, take a deep breath – do your research – and then confidently engage an installer with a good reputation, take advantage of your government’s generosity, and get a quality solar power system on your roof for $2225 cheaper than you could last week.

UPDATE September 17: Applications are now being accepted for the rebate – here’s what you need to know.