Solar rebates and zero interest loans open up to new-build homes

Victoria’s Labor government has again broadened the eligibility of its Solar Homes scheme, opening up the solar PV rebate to new-build homes, in a bid to get panels onto rooftops as early and as cheaply as possible.

State energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio says Victorians building a house on their own land can now apply for a $1400 rebate to install solar, as well as zero interest loans of up to an additional $1400.

D’Ambrosio says the changes promise to save homeowners up to $800 on installation costs by fitting panels as new homes are being wired up for electricity supply, on top of the average of $1,073 each year that rooftop solar cuts from household energy costs.

The latest tweak to Victoria’s Solar Homes scheme follows the release in July of the Andrews government’s Gas Substitution Roadmap, starting with the removal of the obligation for new homes to connect to the gas network and paving the way for all electric homes.

D’Ambrosio said on Wednesday that the latest adjustment to eligibility for the rooftop solar rebate would help boost the state’s electrification of homes, by opening the program to the roughly 40,000 new homes built in Victoria each year.

“We know energy prices are putting pressure on households – expanding Solar Homes to new builds will help tens of thousands of Victorians save thousands on electricity costs and help us cut emissions by 50 per cent by 2030,” the minister said.

“We’re putting power back into the hands of Victorian households – driving down energy costs and boosting supply, creating thousands of jobs and cutting solar installation costs for new builds by hundreds.”

Stan Krpan, the CEO of Solar Victoria, which oversees the running of the Solar Homes scheme, says the changes will provide an easier, safer and more integrated path to solar for new homes including rental properties.

“As we move to more electric homes and the clean energy lifestyle Victorians are wanting, we appreciate the advice of our Industry and Consumer Reference Group, peak bodies and unions, and progressive builders and construction companies who have advocated for this change,” Krpan said on LinkedIn.

Since it kicked off in 2018, the $1.3 billion Solar Homes Program has helped more than 195,000 Victorian households install solar. This financial year there are another 64,000 rooftop PV rebates up for application.

The Andrews government says it expects distributed solar on residential rooftops to generate 12.5 per cent of Victoria’s 40 per cent renewable energy target by 2025.