Applications have opened for the first round of a $16 million joint state and federal government program offering thousands of dollars off the cost of installing rooftop solar on apartment buildings in Victoria. Solar for Apartments, launched by the federal and Victorian Labor governments on Tuesday, aims to help around 5,000 apartment owners and renters to install rooftop solar by addressing two key barriers to uptake: cost and complexity. On the cost front, successful applicants will receive rebates of up to $2,800 per apartment, or up to $140,000 per building for up to 50 apartments to install solar systems. Victorian energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio says the Solar for Apartments program will also help to reduce the complexity of installing solar on apartment buildings – including navigating bodies corporate and different tenant requirements – by streamlining the installation process. Rebates will be available to apartment buildings up to eight storeys with between 5 to 50 apartments and owners corporations will have the choice to install either multiple individual solar PV systems, a single large solar PV system coupled with solar sharing technology, or a combination of both. The program, which will be delivered by Solar Victoria, is said to have already attracted 500 registrations of interest from owners corporations, apartment residents including owner-occupiers and renters, and rental providers, demonstrating “huge demand” for equitable access to rooftop solar. The launch of the Victorian rebate, following the announcement of similar schemes in the ACT and New South Wales, will be welcome news for local outfit Alllume Energy, which installed the first of its ground-breaking SolShare systems on a mixed residential and retail building in a Melbourne suburb in 2018. Allume’s “world first” hardware and software solution works within an apartment block or shared commercial building’s existing metering infrastructure, or “behind the meter,” to allow solar to be distributed and billed to individual customers under the one roof. It is being used to smash the solar ceiling around Australia and around the world. The Solar for Apartments grants will be funded through an equal contribution of $8.05 million from the Victorian government and $8.05 million from the Albanese government’s Community Solar Banks program. Round 1 applications are open until April 15. For more information visit solar.vic.gov.au. (ICE SYDNEY)

Fonte notizia: RenewEconomy