Victoria

A 1.6 MW community solar farm will support the Victorian town of Natimuk to reach its target of being 100% powered by renewable energy. The project is underpinned by state government funding.

The impacts of the cap that Victoria’s Solar Homes program is having on local installers are becoming more pronounced, as some express fears that the system is being exploited by unscrupulous industry players. Solar Cutters says some installers are receiving “pitiful” numbers of installs under the scheme, leaving them “dumbfounded”.

Victoria’s Monash University has unveiled the nation’s largest hybrid battery storage system as part of a microgrid that will cover 100% of power needs at its biggest campus with renewable energy.

As another rally brings the voice of solar installers before Victorian lawmakers, signs are beginning to show that the pressure may be having an impact on the Andrews’ state government. The government has indicated that it may look to make changes to the plan – but whether that’s a result of installer pressure or public frustration is yet to be seen.

In addition to joining the host of councils around Australia to declare a climate change emergency and set targets for a 100% renewable future, Victoria’s Indigo Shire Council voted early this week to achieve that goal by taking part in a collaborative Victorian Local Government PPA.  

The Smart Energy Council has announced plans for a second rally to warn against the current Solar Homes scheme’s damaging effect on Victoria’s solar industry. This time, the protest will target Premier Daniel Andrews’ office.

The quota for rebates in the August round of the Solar Homes program has been snapped up in only 90 minutes. Solar Victoria reports there are “plenty of rebates still available” for rental solar grants, solar hot water and batteries – the latter in qualifying areas only. Industry bodies say that solar sector in “crisis”.

Phillip Island Nature Parks, which manages the fairy penguin’s habitat on the island, has built a new visitor centre powered by solar energy. The 200 kW system installed by Gipplsand Solar is featuring Trina modules coupled with Fronius inverters.

The Victorian Labor Government announced in August last year a $1.3 billion “Solar Homes” package to assist homeowners in installing solar PV systems. The scheme will be offered to 770,000 Victorian households for the next 10 years and is in addition to the Federal STC ‘rebate’.

With an electricity sector policy vacuum on a federal level, and grid constraints facing large scale PV project developers, there are ample reasons to be pessimistic about Australia’s solar-fueled energy transition. Indigo Power Co-founder Cam Klose says that many promising developments are rather taking place on the ‘distributed’ level and beyond the big cities – with Yackandandah leading the way.