Solar Citizens federal budget submission directly addresses this issue with a well researched proposal to finally solve access to rooftop solar for renters.
While a record 4.2 million households and businesses enjoy the bill-busting benefit of rooftop solar [1] , and more than 200,000 have added a home battery [2], a third of Australians who rent are largely locked out of home solar.
Solar Citizens CEO Heidi Lee Douglas said:
“Solving solar for renters means tackling the ‘split incentive’ that the landlord as the property owner bears the expense of installing solar, batteries and energy efficiency measures (like insulation and heat pumps) while the tenant would receive the benefit of lower energy bills.
Solving Solar and Energy Efficiency for Renters
“Solar Citizens proposes a combination of moving forward with state based Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in rental homes and a federal tax incentive for landlords of accelerated depreciation on energy efficiency and clean energy upgrades.
“Based on similar tax concessions, we estimate the cost to the Federal Budget would be only around $5 million per year to cover program set up and administration, and be revenue neutral over the long term.
“To ensure public benefit and renter protection, access to the incentive should be conditional on:
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tenants receiving the energy bill savings from installed solar
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limits on passing upgrade costs through rent increases
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compliance with existing tenancy protections and minimum energy efficiency standards
“This measure would unlock a substantial amount of private CER investment in rental housing, delivering tangible economic benefits to landlords and cost-of-living relief for renters, all without increasing pressure on the Federal Budget.
Unlock Solar on Big Roofs
“Another key role the Federal Government could play to unlock access to solar power for households that don’t own their own roof – like renters and people in apartments – is funding Urban Renewable Energy Zone (UREZ) pilots through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). “
“A well designed UREZ would upscale solar panels on existing large roofs in cities and suburbs — such as shopping centres, warehouses, schools and other commercial and public buildings — to generate cheap, clean electricity that is then shared with nearby apartments and high rises through the local electricity network.”
“By unlocking this urban energy generation, and backing it with on site battery storage, UREZs support a more consumer-centred, community-benefit model of the energy transition with minimal environmental footprint, and the wide social licence support of rooftop solar and batteries.”
“Our cities could become largely energy self-sufficient if we could unlock the 28 Gigawatt potential of installing solar and storage on commercial and industrial roofs in our towns and cities.” [3]
“Solar Citizens calls for the Federal Government to invest $100 million over four years to work with state, territory and local governments to develop a consumer-centred UREZ model that would enable apartment dwellers and renters to access rooftop solar power from nearby industrial and commercial roofs – lower their energy bills by reducing their reliance on the expensive energy made from polluting coal and gas.”
“This funding would support: program design and modelling; business case development; regulatory enablement, stakeholder engagement; on-the-ground delivery; limited, place-based deployment of shared renewable energy, storage and enabling infrastructure; and monitoring and evaluation.”
Incentives for Batteries on Wheels
“The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) estimates that vehicle to grid charging could account for over a third of total energy storage by 2030, deferring the need for $94 billion in large-scale battery storage investment [4]. In 2025 ARENA announced funding to install 50 V2G-capable chargers in a residential setting.”
“Solar Citizens calls for a national incentive program, to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities and meet the forecasted capacity in the next four years.”
“We recommend that the Federal Government invest $300 million over four years to provide a discount on the purchase of bidirectional chargers through an expanded Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES).
“Through these smart investments the Federal Government could ensure Australians currently missing out on the benefits of clean energy can reduce their bills and fortify the grid through accelerating battery capacity – a win for households, the Budget, the energy grid and the environment.”
NOTE:
Federal Pre-Budget Submissions close on Friday 30 January.
FOOTNOTES
1] Household solar electricity generation in the Australian national accounts (2025) ABS
2] 200,000 bill-busting batteries installed in just 6 months, Media Release, Chris Bowen 17/1/26
3) Untapped potential of commercial and industrial buildings in the NEM, Nexa Advisory, September 2025
4] V2X.au Summary Report, ARENA (2023) page 3
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