Solar Support

As a Victorian homeowner, you are eligible for this rebate if: 

• you are the owner-occupier of an existing property or the owner of a home under construction where the system is to be installed
• combined household taxable income of all owners is less than $210,000 per year ***Important: From 1 July 2026, this changes to $150,000 per year
• value of the property is under $3 million (for an existing home or when construction is complete)
• property address has not previously received a solar panel (PV) or solar battery rebate under this program
• the property address has not had a solar panel (PV) system installed in the last 10 years
• you received a Solar Homes rebate and/or loan but have moved house. You can apply for another incentive at your new address as an owner-occupier if the property has not received these rebates before.

Rebates are available for apartment buildings, strata townhouses and units under the control of an Owners Corporation and sharing a common property rooftop. These rebates are applied by your chosen retailer as a discount on your invoice to reduce your upfront costs.

To be eligible, your building must:

• be no more than 8 storeys tall from ground level*
• be a completed development at the time of application
• be classed under the National Construction Code as a Class 2 domestic building (e.g. an apartment complex) or a group of horizontally attached Class 1a buildings (e.g. townhouses or row units) – go to the Victorian Building Authority website for more information about building classes
• have a median capital improved residential lot value that does not exceed $950,000
• have not had a solar panel (PV) system installed in the last ten years (the OC may apply for funding to install solar PV for residential lots not already connected to an existing system)
• not be a retirement village, commercial building or owned by a local council, property developer or community housing organisation
• not be connected to an embedded network* for its electricity supply.

Exemptions to these rules may apply. You can visit the Solar Victoria page for further information, including eligibility of Owners Corporations. 

* Embedded networks are private electricity networks that supply electricity to apartments in a building. The embedded network operators, in this case, known as exempt entities, purchase energy from the grid in partnership with an electricity retailer and proceeds to on-sell the energy to its building's tenants. You can check whether or not your building is under an embedded network via the Essential Services Commission.

Property owner eligibility

• your renters have a combined household taxable income of less than $210,000 per year ***Important: From 1 July 2026, this changes to $150,000 per year
• you have not received more than two rebates for a rental property during the current financial year
• value of the property is under $3 million
• property address has not previously received a solar panel (PV) rebate or a solar battery rebate under the Solar Homes Program
• a Solar Homes Program Agreement has been signed by you and your renter(s)
• you received a hot water rebate as an owner-occupier and have rented the same property to a tenant, you can apply for the solar PV rental rebate as a rental provider (2 per financial year still applies)
• you received a solar battery loan as an owner-occupier and have become a rental provider of the same property. You can get a solar PV rental rebate as a rental provider if your solar PV system is older than 10 years.

Seeking agreement if you are a renter

Talk with your property manager or rental provider about applying for a solar panel (PV) rebate to reduce your energy bills.

You can use Solar Victoria's email draft to introduce the idea and the rebate to your rental provider, how they can save on the upfront cost of installation, and the benefits installing solar can have on their rental property.

You can find the email template via the Solar Victoria website.