With more than 1 Gigawatt of energy generation capacity through the Solar Homes Program, Victoria is powering towards its renewable energy target and clean energy future with more solar panels installed in Victorian homes. There are approximately three million panels powering around 165,000 households in the state.

This milestone is the result of the government’s efforts in the solar industry and unprecedented $1.3 billion investment in the program, according to the announcement made by Minister for Solar Homes, Lily D’Ambrosio.

Ever since introduced, Solar Homes program has been making a vital contribution to the state’s ambitious target of halving the net emissions by 2030 along with an employment target of adding more than 5000 jobs in the solar industry.

Also, an increase of more than 70 per cent is seen under the households powered by the solar industry in Victoria itself, thereby making it a huge success.

In Metropolitan Melbourne, the top five suburbs with panels installed via the program are:

• Tarneit
• Craigieburn
• Clyde North
• Point Cook
• Truganina

While in the surrounding regions, the top five positions are held by:

• Mildura
• Shepparton
• Wodonga
• Wangaratta
• Wallan

In Tarneit and Truganina, more than 40 per cent of homes have solar panels installed under the Solar Homes program.

In Wangaratta, almost half the homes are powered by the renewable solar energy.

In addition, Shepparton and Wodonga are also very close with nearly 45 per cent of homes having installed solar.

When it comes to the overall hike in number, the Solar Homes Program has helped in increasing the percentage of homes with solar from 14 per cent to 22 per cent. Out of the total customers surveyed, 71 per cent of respondents said they were in no favour of solar installation if it weren’t for the program’s rebate introduced in 2018.

Conclusion

The impact of the Solar Homes Program is this large that more than 180,000 households and small businesses have applied for $340 million in rebates since it began in 2018, thereby revolutionising the industry to a large extent.