Solar Victoria Residential Electrification grants

Experienced and committed organisations across diverse sectors and the solar industry are invited to apply to participate in Solar Victoria’s Residential Electrification Grants through an Expression of Interest (EOI) process.

The EOI is open from 25 September to 24 November 2023.

More information about this initiative, including detailed eligibility criteria and required documentation is available in the EOI document below.

Interested organisations should read the EOI document and submit an application via the Solar Victoria website.

Solar Victoria’s Residential Electrification Grants are a unique opportunity for organisations to expand their customer base and leverage funding as an offering to Victorian households.

This initiative will benefit homeowners, businesses and the environment by:

• Enhancing and supporting the transition of new and existing Victorian homes developments and precincts towards electrification, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy bills.
• Supporting initiatives that take an innovative approach to increasing the uptake of solar PV and/or hot water.
• Supporting a new generation of organisations embedding renewable energy and energy efficient products in homes across Victoria.
• Acting as co-investment to attract or combine with additional funding sources such as that provided by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency or the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
• Encouraging program participants to publish the outcomes or research resulting from their innovation projects to increase industry knowledge.
• Establishing a new streamlined process for the distribution of funding to Victorian households at scale.
• Continuing to support low- and middle-income earners by reducing the cost of their energy bills.
• Providing economic opportunities to Australian and New Zealand businesses by maintaining a preference for those providers that support local content.
• Ensuring safe, reliable and effective solar technologies are installed on Victorian homes.
• Ensuring safe and fair employment practices are adopted by Victorian businesses.

Participating organisation must meet the eligibility criteria below.

All applicants (including their consortium members and subcontractors) must:

• Operate in Victoria;
• Have an Australian Business Number (ABN);
• Demonstrate safe and fair employment practices;
• Have appropriate third-party insurance, including public liability and professional indemnity;
• Accept Solar Homes specific consumer protections (which may be updated from time to time);
• Hold the requisite licences and authorisations to be able to legally operate their business;
• Be willing to sign and comply with a funding agreement in the form required by Solar Victoria (pending agreement with the terms and conditions of that contract);
• Have, or form a consortium with a business that has, a direct relationship with the eligible property owner;
• Disclose all matters (such as any past conduct that has been the subject of any regulatory investigations) in relation to the applicant, its owners or its management that could have an adverse effect (reputational, pecuniary or otherwise) on Solar Victoria, the State of Victoria or this or any other similar Solar Victoria program; and
• State whether there are any actual or perceived conflict of interest issues in relation to Solar Victoria’s Residential Electrification Grants.

The EOI document specifies the eligibility criteria in more detail.

We are seeking to partner with organisations with proactive, unique and viable approaches to deploying solar products in Victorian households at scale, and we are keen to hear ideas on how that could be achieved.

Innovative approaches, to making or enabling bulk installations of solar PV and/or hot water in both new and/or existing residential premises, which help accelerate the transition to fully electric homes will be considered.

These approaches could include the development of all electric and/or energy efficient homes and precincts, or projects that enhance resilience during weather events and alleviate pressure on the electricity grid. Other examples include consumer energy resource orchestration, flexible export projects that allow the adjustment of solar PV exports in real time and renewable energy projects being undertaken through funding provided from other government sources.

Find out more about the program, including Frequently Asked Questions, visit the program page on the Solar Victoria website.