Australian solar rebates and subsidies in 2019

Energy affordability and blackouts are issues affecting millions of Australian households. States, territories and the Federal Government have established and announced various financial incentives to make the adoption of solar technology a reality for homeowners. Here’s all the solar rebates, subsidies and Federal incentives explained.

Victoria

The recently re-elected Andrews’ Government have created a solar rebate program to provide homeowners with up to 50 per cent off the price for installing solar. The Solar Homes Package includes the following solar rebates:

  • Solar panel
  • Solar battery
  • Solar hot water
  • Solar panels for rental properties

Solar panel rebate

 … already 1,600 Victorians have received their rebate from Solar Victoria.

Eligible Victorian homeowners can claim up to $2,225 off the price for installing an eligible solar panel system for their property. Homeowners must meet certain eligibility criteria relating to income and system requirements.

Applications to take advantage of this rebate are now open and already 1,600 Victorians have received their rebate from Solar Victoria.

Solar Panels for Rental Properties

Short or long-term tenants have limited influence to install solar. The re-elected Andrews’ Government have committed themselves to provide a solar panel rebate for eligible rental properties, for the value of up to 50 per cent off the installation cost for an eligible solar panel system.

Solar Hot Water Rebate

Until June 30, 2019, eligible homeowners can claim up to $1,000 when installing an eligible solar hot water system. This is a fantastic way for homeowners to take advantage of the Solar Homes Package who may already have a solar system and cannot expand the system.

Solar Battery Rebate

Victorian households can claim a rebate of up to $4,838 …

An election promise, up to 10,000 eligible Victorian households can claim a rebate of up to $4,838 in the first year, off the price for installing a battery. This could see households save up to $650 per year* on their energy costs on the top of their savings seen with existing solar panels.

South Australia Home Battery Scheme

To ease pressure on the grid and aid in times of high grid usage, the Marshall State Government have created a Home Battery Scheme for eligible households to install solar battery storage. Under the scheme, 40,000 subsidies will be available to the value of up to $6,000 for homeowners to purchase an eligible solar battery.

Australian Capital Territory

Solar panels subsidy

As part of ACT’s commitment to 100 per cent renewable by 2020, eligible low-income earners can apply for a subsidy of up to 60 per cent when installing an eligible solar panel system on their property. To make the adoption of solar more attainable, eligible homeowners have access to a three-year interest-free loan to pay off the remainder of the installation.

Solar Battery Rebate

ACT’s Next Generation Energy Storage program is supporting up to 5,000 ACT homes and businesses to install solar battery storage on their properties. The value of each rebate is up to the value of $825/kWh. There are certain criteria that must be met to claim the rebate.

New South Wales

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced a ground-breaking $3.2 billion Empowering Homes Program

Ahead of the March 2019 State Election, both the NSW Government and Opposition have made election promises for NSW homeowners to install solar through financial incentive programs.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced a ground-breaking $3.2 billion Empowering Homes Program giving 300,000 eligible homeowners the opportunity to install solar panels and battery storage through no-interest loan schemes.

NSW Opposition Leader Michael Daley recently announced a $1.1 billion solar rebate program giving 500,000 eligible homeowners the opportunity to claim up to $2,200 for the installation of eligible solar panel systems.

Low-income household solar rebate

A recent initiative by the New South Wales State Government for low-income earners is the offer to install a few solar panel systems and forego their Income Household Rebate. There are up to 3,400 eligible systems for 2.5kW solar panel installation.

Tasmania

The Tasmanian Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme (TEELS) gives eligible homeowners and small businesses the opportunity to apply for a 0% p.a purchase interest Westpac Credit Card for 36 month duration for the purchase of eligible energy efficient products to the value of $10,000. Homeowners currently on a concession card, can apply for a no-interest loan scheme.

Australian Batteries

Federal Government Election Promises

… Federal Opposition have promised to fund a $100 million Federal solar panel program …

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has recently announced his energy pre-election promise to fund a $200 million Federal solar battery rebate program to help up to 2,000 Australian households store solar they’ve generated in a battery.

To supplement this initiative, for households without an existing solar panel system, the Federal Opposition have promised to fund a $100 million Federal solar panel program to help more households adopt solar panels.

Federal STC Point of Sale financial incentive

Small-scale Technology Certificate program is a Federal point-of-sale financial incentive for installing solar panels. The value of the certificates is determined by the size system, location of installation and date of purchase.

There are some criteria that the system must meet to be eligible to receive the subsidy, and this is in relation to the system being less than 100kW in size, installed by a Clean Energy Council accredited installer and install panels listed on the approved product list.

This point-of-sale financial incentive is applied when you are purchasing your system and is not means tested.

Call Sunbank Solar to better understand your relevant rebate and how you can take advantage of it.

 

*Victorian Premier Media Release, Cheaper Electricity with Solar Batteries for 10,000 Homes, 11 September 2018