Another $6 million has been promised to Queenslanders purchasing solar power battery systems after the program proved popular among residents.
The Battery Booster program, announced earlier this year, is means-tested and offers rebates of $3,000 to $4,000 to eligible households.
More than 1,400 residents have been granted approval for a rebate through the scheme, with the extra funding allowing another 1,000 to take advantage.
“The biggest barrier to consumers accessing energy efficient appliances is how much they cost,” Queensland Council of Social Service CEO Aimee McVeigh said.
“These latest rebates will help to not only to reduce energy bills, but also to reduce the state’s CO2 emissions.”
Eligibility for the rebate requires a household to have a new or existing solar system with at least five kilowatts of capacity and be purchasing an approved solar battery system of six kilowatt-hours or more.
Households earning less than $66,667 annually will be eligible for the full benefit amount of $4,000, while those with an annual household income of up to $180,000 could receive $3,000 cash back.
The additional $6 million of funding announced on Sunday will see the program’s total budget to $16 million.
This expansion follows the success of the Sunshine State’s $44 million Climate Smart Energy Savers rebate program.
Other solar rebates available to Australian homeowners
Queensland residents aren't the only Australians eligible for government rebates on the purchase of solar systems and batteries.
The Australia-wide Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme supports those installing renewable systems, including solar panels.
Victorian residents could also benefit from a rebate on the purchase of a solar system, with the state offering up to $1,400 towards the purchase of solar panel systems.
In the ACT, rebates of up to $5,000 are available for the installation of energy-efficient products, including rooftop solar.
Finally, residents of the Northern Territory could receive rebates for new battery systems through the territory’s Home and Business Battery Scheme.
Appliance rebate proved popular
A rebate program offering households between $300 and $1,000 cash back on the purchase of energy efficient appliances has ended after causing a bang.
More than 22,000 fridges, 9,000 air conditioners, 24,000 washing machines, and 1,600 solar and heat pump hot water systems were purchased by participating Queenslanders over the program’s four-month run.
Around 72,700 households made use of the scheme.
To qualify, households had to purchase an appliance with an energy rating of four stars or higher to replace a less efficient one.
The swap is said to save those who turned to the rebate around $103 a year on their power bills and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 0.27 tonnes of CO2-equivalent a year.
More than half of the households participating in the rebate scheme were low-income.
Solar panels to start and end life on Australian soil
The Federal Government announced a $1 billion program aiming to create a solar panel manufacturing supply chain, to begin in NSW’s Hunter Region, late last month.
More recently, the Queensland Government revealed that those with ageing solar power systems could soon give their energy systems an environmentally friendly send off.
The Queensland Government has announced a nation first $5.5 million solar panel recycling pilot.
It aims to ensure solar panel components are repurposed at the end of their lifecycle and to identify gaps in the state’s solar panel recycling processes.
“Queensland is the only state in Australia to have a plan for the recycling and stewardship of residential, commercial, and large-scale solar panels,” Smart Energy Council CEO John Grimes said.
“The large-scale solar industry knows it must have a strong product stewardship scheme if it is to maintain a strong social licence to operate.”
Image by Vivint Solar on Unsplash
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