Australian State’s Solar For Apartments Program Takes Off

• Victoria says its Solar for Apartments rebate scheme has garnered significant interest 
• It is targeted to help bring down power bills for apartment residents by up to AUD 500/year 
• The AUD 16 million program aims to enable up to 5,000 solar PV system rebates for residents 

Australia's Victoria is seeing a 'massive demand' for its AUD 16 million ($10.5 million) Solar for Apartments program with 143 new apartment buildings having applied for it since February 13, 2024, in a bid to bring down their power bills. These buildings house a total of 2,477 apartments. 

Announced in February 2024, the Solar for Apartments program is a joint initiative of the federal and Victorian governments. It targets to support the uptake of rooftop solar PV by providing rebates of up to AUD 2,800 ($1,844)/apartment or up to AUD 140,000 ($92,198)/building for up to 50 apartments to install these systems.

Owners have the choice to install multiple individual solar PV systems, or a single large system coupled with solar-sharing technology, or a combination of both. 

Eligible housing societies will be low to mid-size buildings up to 8 stories with 5 to 50 apartments. 

Through the scheme, the government targets to deliver up to 5,000 solar PV system rebates for people living in such buildings. It expects this shared solar system enabling savings up to AUD 500 ($329)/year for apartment residents on their power bill. 

According to the state government, its Solar for Apartments scheme will help reduce upfront costs of solar and streamline the installation process. 

Seeing the growing interest in round 1 of the program, the state government has now extended the application period until May 31, 2024, from April 15, 2024. Details of the program are available on the government's Solar Victoria website. 

The Member for Southern Metropolitan Region in Victoria, Ryan Batchelor says, "It's been difficult for apartment residents to reap the benefits solar – this program is helping remove those barriers and power more Victorian homes with cheap and clean renewables." 

Final approval and funding agreements will be signed in September 2024. The government plans to launch more rounds of the scheme this year.  

Victoria already has a strong presence of rooftop solar as it accounts for 99.9% of the state's small-scale renewable energy generation. Citing the increased solar generation reducing demand and increased supply during daylight hours, the administration has reduced the minimum feed-in-tariff (FIT) tariffs for rooftop solar prosumers for the year 2024-25 by 33% (see Victoria Slashes Feed-In-Tariff Rates For FY 2024-25).