Australian Capital Territory announces A$3.6 million rooftop solar initiative

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
The city of Canberra. Credit: vanblr via Flickr

The government of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has announced an initiative to fund the adoption of rooftop solar PV within its borders, which could have a significant impact on the energy mix of the nation’s capital, Canberra.

The initiative is a A$3.6 million (US$2.4 million) scheme that will provide tax rebates to individuals who purchase and install solar panels on their rooftops, and “concessional loans” for body corporates, such as housing associations or other groups of individuals who own or manage property.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

These loans draw on other parts of legislation aimed at improving ACT citizens’ access to sustainable energy – specifically the Solar Banks projects and the Sustainable Household Scheme – and body corporates will be able to access A$50,000 from each project.

The Solar Banks project is a A$100 million project implemented by the Labor Party that will build 85 solar banks across the country to better improve Australians’ access to solar power, while the Sustainable Household Scheme is a A$150 million investment into domestic energy infrastructure, with citizens in the ACT able to borrow up to A$15,000 to build power facilities such as batteries and solar panels.

The ACT government announced that it expects 2,100 households to benefit from the tax rebates and the loans that make up this initiative, with the predicted solar installations set to cut the electricity bills of those using the panels by 35%. The new project will see the federal government commit an additional A$80 million to the Sustainable Household Scheme, but it did not disclose exactly how much would be spent on the initiative overall.

The project is the federal territory’s latest push to encourage solar adoption across its area. In 2020, the ACT achieved a target of generating 100% of its electricity from renewable sources, and the Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator reports that, in January this year, there were close to 47,000 small-scale solar power systems installed in the ACT.

However, the government is eager to expand this figure further, as the average capacity of rooftop solar power installed per person in the ACT is around 668W, below the Australian average of 732W.

The news is the latest solar power development in Australia, following SmartestEnergy and Mytilineos’s signing of a power purchase agreement for a new 40MW solar park in the state of Queensland.

Read Next

October 7, 2025
Econergy will acquire 100% stake in the 155MW Ratesti solar project in Romania, further expanding its European renewable energy portfolio.
October 7, 2025
Juniper Green Energy through its subsidiary Juniper Green Sigma Eight has signed a 70MW power purchase agreement with renewable energy giant Tata Power. 
October 7, 2025
Solar PV will account for almost 80% of the 4.6TW of new renewable power expected to be added by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
October 7, 2025
OpenSolar has secured US$13.1 million in equity financing from technology investors, including Titanium Ventures, Google and others.
October 7, 2025
US independent power producer (IPP) Arevon has begun operations at two utility-scale solar projects in Indiana.
October 7, 2025
Rystad Energy has said that Queensland’s utility-solar assets were the best-performing solar PV power plants in September 2025.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland