The Victorian government is offering AUD 2,800/apartment rebate under round 2 of its Solar for Apartments program
Eligible strata townhouses and units and multi-story buildings can apply for funding
An average household in a multi-unit development can save up to AUD 500/year on energy bills, it stated
The State Government of Victoria in Australia is now accepting applications for round 2 of its Solar for Apartments program. It is offering up to AUD 2,800 ($1,905)/apartment or $140,000 ($95,243)/property, thanks to a new AUD 16 million ($11 million) partnership between the state and the Australian governments.
Under round 2, an additional 5,000 apartments will be eligible for this rebate, or up to 50 apartments/building. The local retailer will apply the rebate as a discount on the invoice to reduce the upfront costs. By adopting solar, the administration said an average household in a multi-unit development can save up to AUD 500 ($340)/year on their energy bills.
It is open to eligible strata townhouses and units with a common property rooftop and multistory buildings containing 2 or more units. An eligible building must not be more than 8 stories tall from the ground level, and shouldn’t have had a solar panel installed in the last 10 years.
At the same time, solar PV systems eligible for funding under this program must demonstrate a payback period for the system and installation cost within 10 years. These should directly supply power to residential lots behind the meter.
Funding will be made available to owners corporations which the government believes will boost the number of renters and lower-income Victorians to access the benefits of cheap solar energy.
The call was announced on August 30, 2024, for applications to be submitted by December 6, 2024, or until all rebates are exhausted, whichever comes first. The application process is available on the Solar Victoria website.
Round 1 of the program was announced in February 2024 and its deadline was extended in April. The application round finally closed on May 31, 2024. Final funding agreements for the winners of round 1 will be signed in October 2024 (see Australian State’s Solar For Apartments Program Takes Off).
The Solar for Apartments program is different from the Solar for Homes program of Victoria as the latter is open to homeowners with a home worth AUD 3 million.
Recently, the state government unveiled its energy transition plan for 2035 by when it targets to unlock 25 GW of new renewable energy and energy storage capacity, including 7.6 GW of additional rooftop solar capacity (see Australia’s Victoria Targets 25 GW Clean Energy Capacity By 2035).
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