Aussie saves $600 a year after $54,000 grant handout with days left to apply: 'Act now'

More Aussie households are installing solar panels to help save on their electricity bills, but apartment residents have historically missed out on the benefits. But governments are now making it cheaper and easier for apartment buildings to install the renewable energy technology, with residents urged to “act now” before a looming deadline.

The NSW and Federal governments’ Solar for Apartment Residents (SoAR) program covers up to 50 per cent of installation costs for shared rooftop solar systems, up to $150,000 per project. The $25 million initiative opened for applications in February last year and will close at the end of this month.

Sydney apartment owner and investor Veronica Tseng-Donald recently used the grant to install solar at her 22-unit apartment block in Newtown, telling Yahoo Finance residents were now seeing savings on their electricity bills.

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“From the members of the strata committee who have shared their first bill since installing solar, the 3-bedroom townhouses are saving about $45 to $50 per month ($600 per annum), 1 bedroom about $30 per month ($360 per annum) and 2 bedroom about $35 to $40 per month ($480 per annum),” she said.

“The dollar savings depend on which electricity retailer the resident is with, the cost per kWh they are paying, as well as whether they are getting feed-in tariff credits from that retailer.”

Tseng-Donald had long pushed for solar at the apartment block, where she owns an apartment and is on the strata committee.

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While many residents were interested in the idea, the cost and strata complexities initially proved too much of a challenge.

“Not all owners are interested in going solar, especially landlords, since they don’t benefit directly from going solar since it’s the tenant who pays the electricity bills,” Tseng-Donald said.

“Owner-occupiers, meanwhile, balk at the high cost of such infrastructure projects since they can’t claim the expense as a tax deduction.

“So, the SoAR grant was very appealing to investors and owner occupiers alike since it would pay 50 per cent of the eligible items, which worked out to be around 42 per cent of the overall cost of the solar project.”

It cost $131,000, excluding GST, to install the solar system at the Newtown building, with owners saving $54,000 on the installation cost thanks to the taxpayer funded grant.

Tseng-Donald said the “icing on the cake” was that the strata were able to use a capital works fund to cover their portion, meaning no out-of-pocket special levies for residents.

The building had panels, inverters and SolShare technology installed, which allows energy to be distributed across the units.

The Newtown installation was completed by Solahart Industries late last year and was the first project to be completed under the scheme.

Applications for the scheme will close on March 30, after the government extended the deadline from its original end date of December 1, 2025.

Solahart general manager Stephen Cranch has encouraged strata committees and residents to “act now” before the program closes.

“Programs like these are exactly what we need to ensure all Australians can enjoy the benefits of solar, no matter what kind of roof they live under,” he said.

Currently, one in five NSW homes are apartments, but only about 3.5 per cent of those are connected to solar.

The government has estimated apartment residents could save up to $600 on their energy bills annually with solar.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the government wanted to make it cheaper and easier for every Aussie to install rooftop solar.

“Whether a home is a house or apartment, everyone should be able to take advantage of cleaner, cheaper solar to bust bills for good,” he said.

Tseng-Donald was so impressed with the Newtown installation that she worked with the owners’ corporation at the apartment building where she lives to install solar as well.

It cost $68,400 to install solar at the Camperdown building, with a $28,700 grant from the government, and she is saving $50 per month for her three-bedroom terrace or roughly $600 per year.

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