Solar helping to reduce cost of living pressures

Solar Victoria’s solar panel rebate for Community Housing Organisations can help eligible organisations reduce cost of living pressures on tenants.

Beyond Housing accessed the rebate to install solar (PV) panels on 15 community housing units in Benalla earlier this year.

The rebate allowed us to do it," said Leisa Makszin, Manager Housing Services at Beyond Housing.

"Without the rebate we might have said ‘let’s do five in Benalla’, but we wouldn’t have been able to do all of them. It was a massive help and a massive shot in the arm for us.

Beyond Housing is the largest Community Housing organisation within the Goulburn and Ovens Murray regions of Victoria, supporting those community members experiencing homelessness or housing stress to access affordable housing.

“Benalla has one of the highest rates of electricity disconnection in Victoria,” said Leisa.

“Installing solar PV ticked a lot of boxes for us in terms of our strategic plan to reduce our carbon footprint and to reduce costs for our tenants who are vulnerable to rising costs of living in general said Leisa.

“So, this is a great way to bring down their costs and reduce our carbon footprint.”

“We apply for lots of grants and we access government funding quite often, and we thought that accessing the rebate was an easy process. The Solar Victoria team were super helpful and it all went really smoothly. It’s good to be able to say stuff like that. It was one of the best projects we’ve done.”

Beyond Housing worked with a local Clean Energy Council (CEC) approved solar installer to undertake the installation.

“I was so impressed I got them installed on my own house as well. I found the process really easy and straight forward both professionally and personally. My installer knew all about the rebate and took care of everything for me. It was great,” said Leisa

For Benalla resident David, whose home had the solar panels installed, it was a relief not to worry so much about his energy bills, which have always stayed high even in winter due to having electric heating and cooling.

“To know I am going to have some relief from high energy bills and to also have a more energy efficient but still comfortable home is a really great feeling,” David said.

“Having more room in my budget to spend on basic things like healthcare and food is very welcome”

“Good communication with tenants was really vital,” says Leisa. “Our project manager phoned them and talked to them about the solar installation and they were all on board.”

“I think it’s the greatest thing ever for us. Everyone says they want to reduce costs for tenants and reduce their environmental impact and this is a great way to do it.”

Solar Victoria’s rebate for Community Housing Organisations allows eligible organisations to access a rebate up to $1,850 or a maximum of 50% of the cost of the solar pv system per tenancy.

Solar Victoria has supported 397 community housing solar installations between Oct 2018 – June 2020, saving tenants up to $890 per year on electricity bills.

To find out more about applying for solar panel rebates for community housing organisations, please see Solar for community housing.