Businesses that consume 100kW or less electricity is considered a small business when it comes to solar power incentives and rebates. There are many opportunities and federal government solar rebate also state government solar rebate for small business owners in terms of cost-cutting measurements because the Australian government made it a point for such businesses to flourish for a stronger economy ahead.
Within these cost-cutting approaches, the government encourages businesses to go solar to tackle the ongoing energy crisis. Also, businesses going solar has a huge impact on the country’s carbon footprint reduction, which eventually is beneficial for the entire country.
As a business owner, it’s definitely beneficial for you to opt for solar panels due to their high return on investment; also, the government solar rebates.
Small scale Technology Certificates (STCs)
Under the renewable energy target (RET), there are two separate schemes that provide incentives for residential solar and large business owners. Under the residential solar rebates, the eligibility criteria is that the house consumes 100kW or less energy. Under this Small-scale solar incentive approach, small businesses can also gain a lot, assuming you as a small business consume less than 100kW of energy. Then you can also gain the benefits of STCs.
In order to initiate this, you are going to have to appoint a solar retailer who is approved by the CEC. An approved solar retailer is the only way to be eligible for the scheme; also, all the components used on the property for solar installation, including solar panels, solar inverters, battery storage etc., have to be present on the list of approved product list.
The amount of energy you save from your rooftop solar in comparison to the grid connection will be calculated into numbers of certificates which has monetary values. You are not going to have direct cash savings from these certificates, but your solar retailer will sell these certificates to the larger energy retailer, after which you will see a significant deduction of cost in your final bill copy for the system installed.
As of 1st April 2022, there have been several changes in the RET scheme under which STC falls to protect the integrity of the federal rebate program. The changes are as follows-
- The affiliated reseller, designer, and installer must all provide written testimonies as part of an STC claim.
- A witness signature should be included in the paperwork, according to the Clean Energy Regulator (CER). Although it is not required, it aids in giving the regulator further confirmation of the accuracy of the STC claim.
- As a result of these modifications, the regulator may need to see a copy of the invoice demonstrating that the solar system complies with the terms of the contract.
- An authorized installer is qualified for STCs if they validate two finished installations in a single day.
- A record of the installers’ presence on the job site is required.
Find more here.
Incentives for Victorian Small Businesses
The Solar for Business Program was a dedicated effort aimed at providing support to Victorian businesses in their endeavor to curtail energy expenses through the adoption of renewable energy sources.
This initiative substantially alleviated the upfront financial burden for eligible businesses, enabling them to install an approved small-scale solar PV system with an inverter capacity of up to 30kW. This not only translated to reduced energy bills but also contributed to a greener and more sustainable energy footprint.
It’s important to be aware that as of June 30, the Solar for Business program has reached its conclusion. Consequently, the benefits of rebates and interest-free loans under this program are no longer available.
We urge you to take advantage of our obligation-free quote for better measures and further discuss how else you can benefit from a quality solar system while reducing your company expenses in terms of electricity prices in other ways.
