Solar for Apartments

Introduction

The Solar for Apartments Program is jointly funded by the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments to support apartment households to benefit from lower energy bills through installing solar.

This landmark partnership is administered by Solar Victoria and will help existing Victorian apartment buildings move towards electrification providing more opportunities for low-and middle-income apartment households to access the benefits of green energy technology.

This program will reduce the cost of installing solar PV on apartment buildings, by providing successful applicants grants of up to $2,800 per apartment. The maximum grant amount is $140,000 for buildings of up to 50 apartments.

By adopting solar, an average apartment household can save up to $500 a year on their electricity bills.

Round 1 applications closed on 31 May 2024. More grants will be available when Round 2 opens in August 2024.

If you are planning to apply for a grant in Round 2. now is a great time to start your research and talk to your OC about installing solar on your apartment building. Our Solar Hub has some great resources to help you get started.

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Who can apply?

Grants will be provided to Victorian Owners Corporations (OCs) with up to 50 occupiable lots, or apartments. OC’s will be required to sign a funding agreement. However, applications can be started by apartment residents, strata managers or OCs.

To be eligible, your building must:

be no more than 8 storeys tall
be a completed development at the time of application
be a Class 2 domestic building under the National Construction Code¹
have a median capital improved apartment value that does not exceed $950,000
have not had a solar (PV) system installed in the last ten years²
be located in the State of Victoria.
not be a retirement village, commercial building or owned by a local council, property developer or community housing organisation
not be connected to an embedded network for its electricity supply.

¹See the Victorian Building Authority’s website for more information.

²The OC may apply for funding to install solar PV for residential lots not already connected to an existing system.

If your building meets the eligibility criteria, you can begin your application.

Round 1 applications

The detailed eligibility criteria and documentation needed to apply for Round 1 is in the Solar for Apartments Eligibility Requirements document below. Please note that Round 2 applications will follow a different application process.

You should read this before you begin your application to make sure you are eligible and have prepared your application correctly.

Solar for Apartments Program: Round 1 Eligibility requirements and how to apply

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Solar for Apartments Program: Round 1 Eligibility requirements and how to apply

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Solar for Apartments round 1 applications closed on 31 May 2024.

Round 1 dates:

Round 1 applications open	13 February 2024
Round 1 applications close	31 May 2024
Pre-approval based on eligibility criteria	14 June 2024
Final approval and funding agreement signed	September

Eligible systems

Solar systems will be eligible for funding if they:

supply power to a minimum of 5 residential lots, and no more than 50 lots
demonstrate a payback period for the system and installation cost within 10 years
equitably share the cost saving benefits of the system among participating residents
limit the energy supplied to the building’s common area to the equal proportion available to each residential lot
directly supply power to residential lots behind the meter
are installed on parts of the roof that are common property
use products from Solar Victoria’s product list and be installed by authorised Solar Victoria retailers*
have approval from the building’s Distribution Network Service Provider (DNSP) if they want to connect and export self-generated solar to the grid

* unless otherwise expressly agreed to by Solar Victoria in writing

OCs can propose solar systems that are most suited to the needs of their residents. This may include systems made up of individual solar PV systems directly connected to apartments or a single large solar PV system coupled with solar sharing technology.

📖 See Section 3.3 of the Solar for Apartments Eligibility Requirements document for detailed information on eligible systems.

What to know about solar sharing technology

Solar sharing technology allows electricity generated through solar to be equitably and safely distributed to participating apartments.

Information for Owners Corporations and strata managers

Before Round 2 opens, we strongly urge OCs and strata management companies to engage all residents, including owner-occupiers and renters to encourage participation in the program.

OCs should also engage owner-investors on the benefits of the program and encourage their participation, and ensure the solar PV system benefits both owner occupiers and renters in the building.

OCs with Round 1 applications are required to provide further information to be considered for final approval and be invited to sign a funding agreement.

Solar for Apartments funding agreement sample

PDF 449.96 KB

📖 See Section 6.2 of the Solar for Apartments Eligibility Requirements document for information you will need to provide for final approval.

Information for apartment residents

If you are interested in solar for your building, you can start a conversation with your fellow residents, OC committee or Strata Manager about getting solar. You can read the following article for advice on how to get started installing solar on your apartment.

If you're renting your apartment and would like to explore options for installing solar, contact your property manager or rental provider to let them know about the Solar for Apartments Program and the potential to save thousands of dollars on the cost of installing a solar system.

Information for apartment rental providers

Rental providers may be contacted by your renter or by a member of the OC or Strata Manager about supporting a funding application.

Installing solar may increase the appeal of your property and will make a difference to your renters through lower energy bills.

If you rent out the apartment you own, you can also submit an application on behalf of the OC.

Contact Us

Please contact apartments@team.solar.vic.gov.au

FAQs (Funding)

Social housing residents may be able to apply for a Solar for Apartments grant if their building has an OC, however whole apartment buildings that are owned by the State are excluded. This may require the OC reach out to Homes Victoria to support the application. For more information on the process please contact apartments@team.solar.vic.gov.au.
If your building does not have an OC, you may be able to apply for a Solar for Community Housing rebate if you meet the eligibility criteria. For more information please visit: solar.vic.gov.au/solar-community-housings .

FAQs (Application)

The Program is designed to help apartment residents maximise the energy bill savings from their solar PV and to ensure these benefits are equitably shared among households. Solar Victoria is reviewing embedded networks to understand if or how they restrict residents’ ability to access feed-in tariffs and receive the full benefit of solar sharing systems. Buildings with embedded networks are excluded from Round 1 of the program, however they may be considered for future rounds.
If you do not have the endorsement of your OC, you will not be able to apply for funding through the Solar for Apartments program. Depending on the layout of your building you may be able to apply for a solar panel (PV) rebate. Solar panel (PV) rebates for addresses with multiple dwellings require each dwelling to have its own system installed and each household must apply for the rebate individually.
Solar Victoria will assess the median capital improved value for your building during the application process using data from the Victorian Valuer General.
The median capital improved apartment value is the middle range of the market value of all apartments in your building. This means that your building may still be eligible for funding under the Program even if some apartments in the building have a market value above $950,000.

FAQs (Products)

Our Solar Hub has some useful information on how solar systems work, questions to ask solar retailers and what to look for in a quote including information on solar systems for apartments. The Yarra Energy Foundation also provides information on solar for apartment buildings yef.org.au/advice-for-your-home/solar-for-apartments/
You can also ask an authorised Solar Victoria retailer for advice. We recommend seeking at least three quotes from authorised solar retailers for a similar size system and reading product reviews online before deciding on a retailer. You'll then be able to compare price, quality, warranties and customer reviews in multiple quotes.
Your authorised Solar Victoria retailer can explain how different solar technologies can be used to share the system’s cost saving benefits with participating residents.
OCs are required to ensure all participating residents have fair access to the solar energy generated by the system so they can equitably share the cost saving benefits.
This will be determined by the energy needs of your building and the solar technology you install. The Yarra Energy Foundation provides information on solar for apartment buildings yef.org.au/advice-for-your-home/solar-for-apartments/
To maximise the energy savings for apartment households, Solar PV systems installed through this program need to be installed on the apartment building behind-the-meter. Behind the meter refers to activities that happen on the energy user’s side of the meter such as energy generation, consumption, storage and management. Solar technology used behind the meter reduces how much power needs to be taken from the grid.
As Solar Victoria Authorised Solar Retailers are signatories to the NETCC, they are required to ensure claims relating to performance and energy cost savings are based on reasonable assumptions which includes the installation and supply cost and projected saving used in the payback period calculations. The calculation should include total supply and installation cost after any STCs have been applied and exclude funding from the Program. The calculation should not include non-related supply and installation costs such as switchboard upgrade costs, finance, and project management costs.