Solar for apartments: Second round of rebates expands offer to townhouses and units

Applications have opened for the second round of a joint state and federal government program offering thousands of dollars off the cost of installing rooftop solar on apartment buildings in Victoria.

The Solar for Apartments program was launched in February of this year, with a $16 million first round offering 5,000 rebates of up to $2,800 per apartment, or up to $140,000 per building for up to 50 apartments.

Around 12 per cent of Victoria’s 2.5 million households live in apartments, but very few of these households have had access to rooftop PV, largely due to the dual barriers of cost and complexity.

Solar for Apartments – which promises to save an average apartment household up to $500 a year on their electricity bill – seeks to lower the cost barrier.

So far, it has had reasonable success, with more than four hundred applications from Owners Corporations for 12,000 kilowatts of solar capacity, covering more than 5,000 apartments, almost 50 per cent of which are occupied by renters.

Round two will see the Albanese and Allan Labor governments invest an additional $16 million for another 5,000 rebates, this time extending eligibility to residents living in townhouses and units with body corporates.

State energy minister Lili D’Ambrosio says the inclusion of strata townhouses and units with a common property rooftop, as well as multi-storey buildings containing two or more units, is expected to benefit households in regional areas, which these building types are more common.

“We’re making it easier for renters to access the cheaper energy bills that solar provides,” the minister said on Friday.

D’Ambrosio says uptake of the program has so far been spread across metropolitan Melbourne, with the highest number of applications (61) coming from the City of Port Phillip, 44 from City of Yarra, 43 from City of Stonnington, and 40 applications from City of Darebin.