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[QLD] Up to $10000 Interest Free Loan + $3000 Grant for Solar + Battery or $6000 Loan + $3000 Grant for Battery Systems @ QLD G.

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[QLD] Up to $10000 Interest Free Loan + $3000 Grant for Solar + Battery or $6000 Loan + $3000 Grant for Battery Systems @ QLD G.
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tor on 27/11/2018 - 17:36 qld.gov.au (2154 clicks)
Last edited 27/11/2018 - 17:39 by 1 other user

The Queensland government is now offering solar and battery interest free loans and grants. For a combined installation you can apply for up to $10.000 as an interest free loan plus a $3000 grant, for a battery only installation you can apply for up to $6000 as an interest free loan and a $3000 grant. There are 1000 solar+battery and 500 battery loans and grants available. You need to get a quote from a licensed installer, which are listed on the website. I applied today, and am just over applicant number 500 for the solar + battery loan and grant, so there are still some available if you are quick.

T&Cs are available on their website.

Electrical & Electronics Rebate Solar Energy System

Related Stores

Queensland Government
Queensland Government

closed Comments

  • Saturday on 27/11/2018 - 17:47

    Too bad i just installed a solar system 5 months ago. Would it worth adding a battery to it with this offer?

    • mps41 on 27/11/2018 - 18:17
      +3

      Be aware that a battery is pretty marginal economically and it would not be surprising to lose money on it even with this subsidy. There are cases where they make sense, but really do your research beforehand and if you aren’t sure then you probably shouldn’t buy one.

      That’s the opposite to Solar where unless you have a good reason not to get a system you should because the usual case these days is it paying for itself within 5 years or less.

    • asa79 on 27/11/2018 - 22:52

      Around $13.5k for a telsa 2 battery system. That is before the $3k grant and $10 interest free loan

    • MikeKulls on 28/11/2018 - 08:32

      Batteries save about 90c a day. If you do the maths on that they can take a long time to pay back. They also have a much more limited life than solar

      • asa79 on 28/11/2018 - 17:53

        How do you get 90c from 12kw of storage. Your maths is bad

  • ry34 on 27/11/2018 - 17:58
    +8

    we need more incentives like this in WA… could definitely use a battery to go with my 5kw system.

    • Splurge on 27/11/2018 - 17:59
      +5

      and NSW

      • Maxxjet on 27/11/2018 - 18:12
        +7

        not possible - all went to ANZ stadium

        • abc on 27/11/2018 - 18:39

          Which under the original plan would have been knocked down lol.

          • [Deactivated] on 27/11/2018 - 19:29

            @abc: They’re not knocking it down?

        • [Deactivated] on 27/11/2018 - 20:17

          too true, my sources at NSW Office at Environment & Heritage advised me in Jan 2018 that they were having funding pulled for energy efficient incentives to assist government departments save money , so Gladys could use the funds for pork barrelling.

    • rockinrors on 27/11/2018 - 23:06

      Federal Labor has committed to up to $2,000 subsidies for battery systems if they win the next election.

  • Coley on 27/11/2018 - 18:13
    +1

    Anyone know a good source of information on up to date brands/reviews of different panels and batteries etc. Need to get some fast research in to request/compare quotes.

  • OzyBe on 27/11/2018 - 18:17

    I know of people that have said they got govenment incentives for new solar panels in NSW.
    Would be interested to learn more about these.

  • solidussnake on 27/11/2018 - 18:18

    Are your home electricity costs more than $1,000 over the past 6 months, or more than $2,000 over the past 12 months?

    Need to consume to juice to be eligible

    • Twisty on 27/11/2018 - 18:28

      What???

      I didn’t read that part

      So my bill that’s after discount is about $440 per quarter is not eligible?

    • asa79 on 27/11/2018 - 22:54

      I think your reading it wrong

  • mit on 27/11/2018 - 18:45
    +1

    Do you receive Family Tax Benefit B?

    Are your home electricity costs more than $1,000 over the past 6 months, or more than $2,000 over the past 12 months?

    Do you have an existing solar system?

    There are quite a few conditions you should be listing. Save a lot of people from clicking. I'm nowhere near $2000 a year. Probably (un)lucky to make it to $1500.

    • asa79 on 27/11/2018 - 22:55

      There is a checklist to see if your eligible for it

      Also two options
      Grant + Loan
      or just Loan

  • dbglt on 27/11/2018 - 18:50
    +1

    Those conditions do not apply. They are from a previous grants scheme. The new scheme does not have them.

    • solidussnake on 27/11/2018 - 19:15
      +1

      Eerrm when you hit check your eligibility it asks those questions so you are saying the government is wrong lol

      • dbglt on 27/11/2018 - 19:46
        -1

        No, I am saying your reading comprehension is lacking. Check the eligibility criteria properly.

        http://www.qrida.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/1093…

        The category you want is "Loans and grants for combined solar and battery system"

        • solidussnake on 27/11/2018 - 20:59

          Going off the website hero but seems each one is contradicting each other thanks for your helpful 2 cents m8

          • Bargain80 on 28/11/2018 - 01:23

            @solidussnake: The FTB B criteria is only for the solar interest free loan.
            The loan and grant for solar + battery doesn't need FTB B.

  • dbglt on 27/11/2018 - 19:01
    +4

    Also - I looked into this, unless you are a ridiculously heavy power user, this is not really worth it. See discussion on whirlpool forum: https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2765635

    Also, if anyone has an existing quote/supplier please share so people can see what offers are out there too.

    • asa79 on 27/11/2018 - 22:58

      Tesla Powerwall 2 Home Battery AND Back up included TESLA POWERWALL 2 AC $13.5k from Bradford Solar.

      Based on their Figures
      The output of a solar PV system depends on its size. The most common household systems are 5 kilowatts (kW) today, although some property owners have installed systems of up to 10kW. The table below shows the average daily production of some common grid-connected systems throughout Australia. A typical Australian house consumes around 21 kilowatt hours (kWh) per day. A 5kW Bradford Solar ChargePack with Tesla Powerwall 2 is capable of producing up to 22kWh of solar energy and storing 13.5kWh for night time usage. Solar panels produce more energy in summer than they do in winter.

  • Lucky1 on 27/11/2018 - 19:07

    if i buy buy just the solar without the battery, am i eligible for the interest free loan and rebate?.

  • Yowie1212 on 27/11/2018 - 19:14
    +1

    There have been a couple of comments about the usage requirement.

    When you click on the "Apply Now" you get the following statement

    If applying for a solar loan (without battery storage) you will also need to provide:

    • either 6 or 12 months of electricity bills (demonstrating electricity costs at your home of more than $1000 over the past 6 months or more than $2000 over the past 12 months)
    • a Centrelink statement confirming you receive Family Tax Benefit Part B.

    So it seems it is really to push batteries or get the really high electricity users onto solar.

    • davidl820 on 27/11/2018 - 20:34

      Seems only to benefit the households with low income and high electricity usage? That just seem conflict.

      • plasmapuff on 29/11/2018 - 03:34
        +1

        You forgot the meth labs ;)

    • MrFrugalSpend on 28/11/2018 - 09:11
      +2

      makes sense to me, solar feed-in is causing problems for the grid due to its lack of storage. In some states on the wholesale market they can't give the power away when the sun is shining to retailers because there is so much hitting the market but conventional power is still also generating (because it has to meet base load), but then the price spikes heavily into the early evening when the sun goes down but people are home/cooking/using electric devices. Furthermore, say a big storm passes over a region or the likes and the solar panels generation drop off, they need to be prepared with a backup source of power such as gas that can be turned on quickly - either there are shortages or power ends up going to waste because it was on standby as it can't react quickly enough.

      The idea of this would be if you use a large amount of power then you won't need batteries as you are consuming all you use, not feeding back into the grid, and the rest can use it on demand when it is needed, early evening or when a storm passes over etc without drawing on the grid.

      • Bargain80 on 28/11/2018 - 12:35

        Heard AGL is trialing a marketplace for excess of electricity from solar.
        So people with the excess can sell it higher than feed-in tariff while other people can buy it cheaper than the retailer rate.

        • asa79 on 28/11/2018 - 17:56

          It's power you can't just redirect it

          • MrFrugalSpend on 28/11/2018 - 23:14

            @asa79: It's not about physical electricity, its all about contracts, commitments, take or pay arrangements etc. Generally electricity on the eastern seaboard is fed onto a common grid, it doesn't need to be 'redirected' in a physical sense. There is regulation through AEMO about how it all works, who has to pay for what etc. The players are Generators, Wholesalers, Transmission Service Providers (e.g. Transgrid, Powerlink High Voltage Links), Distribution Service Providers (Down to LV amongst the suburbs), Retailers, Customers and government regulators. Some parties span multiple categories.

            Retailers sell to customers (e.g. via tariffs), but must "buy" the amount of power their customers use from generators (or via wholesalers). They also collect network charges that pay for the distribution and transmission assets (often regulated pricing to pay for and maintain the wires/transformers etc).

            However, based on the aggregate of their customer base's average usage, they may contract a certain amount of base load (e.g. traditionally they approach a power generation business that has coal fired power stations and commit to buy a certain amount of load from them at a really cheap bulk buy price). The generator with whom they contracted is then responsible to produce that power and make it available on the grid physically and the retailer must buy it. However as their customer's usages peak above this, they may have to buy more to meet a shortfall in what their customers demand. There is a live spot price (similar to a share price) for this and it can spike to hundreds of times more expensive then the customers are paying via their fixed tariffs at the time when there is a shortage and retailers are fighting over it. Quick to respond generators that cost more money to run (like gas generation) fire up at this time because there is a lucrative market demand for more expensive peak demand power and they make hay while the sun shines. Coal generation can't ramp up that quickly.

            Solar doesn't help this. It is more expensive than coal, it can't be turned on 24/7 when needed, and generally there is so much now the shortages can often occur in the evenings as solar drops off. It doesn't make sense to call in staff and fire up the next boiler on a coal fired power station to meet a 1-2 hour evening peak shortfall - it doesn't work that quickly. So consequently, solar is causing problems by making coal uneconomical as it eats into its customer base load during the day, and driving up prices because people who have (expensive) wholesale storage or (expensive) gas generation are capitalising on the peak spot prices when the sun doesn't shine.

            Some retailers also invest in assets in their portfolio like a gas fired peak demand station to hedge their risk, and a lot of attention is now being turned to storage for short term shift of demand throughout a daily cycle. Effectively it is about predicting load, and balancing risk and all manner of special contractual agreements help them do this when needed (e.g. as a large business you can agree to shed your load if they need you to due to a shortfall - it gets you cheaper power as the retailers risk is lower and they can hedge their bets).

            However in essence, it is quite possible for AGL to extend their marketplace participation indirectly to customers so they can influence how customers use their power to better balance risk in their portfolio. They may have too many customers with solar feed in committed, they can't give it away during the day, so they are selling it off to make back some of the money they are effectively subsidising to the owners of the solar.

            • asa79 on 28/11/2018 - 23:19

              @MrFrugalSpend: Still cant redirect electricity, so you dont know where your power is technically coming from

              • MrFrugalSpend on 28/11/2018 - 23:20

                @asa79: irrelevant

                • asa79 on 28/11/2018 - 23:38

                  @MrFrugalSpend: So your saying you can redirect your excess power to your neighbour or something along those lines?

                  • MrFrugalSpend on 28/11/2018 - 23:40

                    @asa79: check out this https://www.aemo.com.au/Electricity/National-Electricity-Mar… it will help paint a picture about how the Australian Energy Market game works.

                    Its one big pool of energy in from various sources, and millions of customers drawing energy out. It does not matter at all who puts in the actual piece of energy you use, what matters is that out of the pooled resources on the grid someone does. A massively complicated scheme regulates the interactions between generator and customer in between in terms of who pays what and who does what.

                    If AGL 'retail' to me and my neighbour, and they have bought 1000kW of power from generators, 5kW of which comes from me (my solar) but they are only using 900kW, then sure, I could agree to arrangement (via their licence and contract) whereby I sell my excess power for a higher price to my neighbour than I would otherwise have got… or in fact someone no where near me… it matters not where we are so long as it is not in say Perth where they aren't on the same grid.

                    I am not familiar with the detail of AGL's trial but its definitely possible if they setup the platform to govern it. I would guess they are passing the risk onto me that if it doesn't sell, I get $0 for it on the chance I get more when needed. Saves them having to pay me then get nothing for it.

                    it may also influence total demand. If I know via an app I'm currently profiting big time, I might turn off my pool pump or A/C to make more money temporarily, which helps the grid in a shortfall and saves them from having to buy inflated spot prices and vice versa when its not selling. There are other trials to use smart devices which use IoT to turn off power hungry devices when there are shortages (e.g. I could agree to give a remote pump controller to my retailer to allow them to turn it off when they have a shortage). Similar to the old water heater / pool pump tariffs but without need for special wiring / meters - just using an app/firmware/IoT.

  • 2stroksmokr on 27/11/2018 - 19:43
    +1

    Nice heard about this and probably will consider. What battery do people recommend? And which company are people going through for the quotes?

    • lealvinav on 28/11/2018 - 07:30

      Redflow zcell. Go to their website

  • boomramada on 27/11/2018 - 19:47

    Waste of rate payers money, value of the battery probably half in few years.

    • MikeKulls on 28/11/2018 - 08:36
      +1

      These sort of schemes are why solar is now so cheap. It's actually a good use of our money. Better than giving it the fossil fuel industry

      • boomramada on 29/11/2018 - 00:19

        These schemes don't make solar cheap. Our buying power wouldn't do much for the global production. Australia is like 5% of the global consumers market and we probably the only one with stupid expensive schemes.
        We just wasting money by jumping too early.
        We need to think of big picture and introduce cheaper power price to compete with larger economies like China and India. Before wasting money on renewable, perhaps Nuclear or cleaner coal power.

        • tor on 01/12/2018 - 01:39

          Renewables are already cheaper than coal.

    • asa79 on 28/11/2018 - 17:57

      The original telsa battery hasn't gone down much at all

    • MrFrugalSpend on 28/11/2018 - 23:26

      The original solar scheme was a waste of taxpayer money, whereas storage is a great idea as makes that solar energy useful so it can actually make a difference to electricity production costs - it can be used whenever required and smooth out daily cycles.

      • asa79 on 28/11/2018 - 23:30

        The Solar RECs was a very good scheme

        • MrFrugalSpend on 28/11/2018 - 23:36

          Yes and no. It was better than the inflated feed in tariff which was not a good idea.
          Unless you like driving up solar install costs due to spikes in demand for them, creating lots of (sometimes dodgy) installer businesses that aren't sustainable and later go broke, and putting up the price of power overall for everyone by shifting the cost of power from those who can afford solar onto those who can't (but overall increasing costs in aggregate by increasing overheads and duplicated capital etc). Government interventions in market often have poor side effects ('unintended consequences').

          Long and short of it is, storage is an important part of fixing the grid problems we now have due to unreliable timing of renewables to stablise the grid supply around the clock and lowering overall electricity prices, such as by stopping the 'gaming' of the market the big players are colluding to achieve (i.e. shut down coal fired plant A to drive up prices 20 times so the same party can 'fix' the problem by firing up gas plant B and capitalising on retailers pain… that they caused).

          • asa79 on 29/11/2018 - 08:24

            @MrFrugalSpend: Solar scheme had nothing to do with driving up solar install costs. Solar is only getting cheaper because components are getting cheaper because companies can buy them in big bulk, just like bigger TVs get cheaper over time.

            Same reason that Batteries are still expensive because the components need to come down in price by companies needing to be able to sell more to buy the components in bulk.

            • MrFrugalSpend on 29/11/2018 - 09:01

              @asa79: Solar scheme had lots to do with driving up install costs temporarily, particularly when its end was near. Its basic supply and demand. I had quotes towards the end of the feed in tariff debacle that were ~$8000 for a 3kW system at that time, it had been cheaper both before and after then.

              Certainly economies of scale can drive down prices, and matured technologies almost always get cheaper in price, however I wouldn't have thought too many companies are buying in more bulk than when the feed in tariff was on and ending, install rates have probably dropped back from the height of that scheme.

              However yes the prices have come down since the scheme ended helped in part by the fact Australia now has an abundance of people supplying / installing solar off the back of the rebates which allowed the industry to mature… (hence my comment about some installers going broke after the scheme ended). Similarly schemes in other countries promoted more manufacturing capabilities.

              However I am quite supportive of schemes to now fix what was broken by this, by using storage to allow the grid to smooth out the peaks and recover electricity prices - the only good way to in part replace fossil fuel production is to be able to use renewable-generated energy 24/7 reliably. Otherwise we always need both on hand (e.g. solar and gas), with all the extra capital cost and maintenance associated with doubling up on generating capacity, driving up average costs due to return on capital required to have both available.

              • asa79 on 29/11/2018 - 10:28

                @MrFrugalSpend: It didnt raise the cost of solar when the scheme started, it just caused alot of pop up shops that failed, but I didnt overpay from the price before the scheme started, if you did, that was becuase you didnt shop around

                • MrFrugalSpend on 29/11/2018 - 23:22

                  @asa79: I refused to buy from the pop up shops and risk my home, the reputable electricians with long-standing businesses in my community were charging more as they were busy. Regardless, this is largely irrelevant to all my main points detailed above. The reality is the scheme and influx of solar had a lot of bad side effects as I have detailed.

                  Many other consumers are now paying unfair electricity costs to pay for these schemes. It is important that heavily inflated feed in tariffs that simply take money from people without solar so as to give it to people with solar are phased out. Everybody is also feeling the effects of the supply unreliability 24/7 coupled with big players gaming the market to take advantage of the situation. We need energy storage to help alleviate the solar problem on the grid and combat those who are ripping us off in times of shortages. It will allow people to make a sensible contribution to the energy problem rather than just profiteering from their fellow citizen and not paying their fair share of energy costs - most of which is in the capital asset costs, not the actual generation costs (accordingly it makes no sense given people with solar still rely on the grid to not contribute to its upkeep).

  • justtoreply on 27/11/2018 - 19:51

    Some of what the eastern states State Governments do is pretty cool.

    WA is so lame.

    Possibly just that WA is underfunded? Due to the eastern states thieves :p Take your fair share guys, thats cool, we're all a country together, but don't take any more than that!

    • odysseus on 27/11/2018 - 20:19

      You need to look closer to home. The Langoulant inquiry into your state's finances this year found they were in a bad state due to "the former Barnett government botched major projects, ignored warnings from senior officials and did not address governance and management problems, contributing to large deficits and a soaring debt bill."

    • SBOB on 27/11/2018 - 20:20

      and yet solar systems are generally cheaper in WA when you compare installed prices
      Electricians in WA must work cheaper or something

  • mstrelan on 27/11/2018 - 20:22

    I was quoted over 20k for a 6.5kW system with LG panels and Tesla Powerwall. It's more like 8k without the battery but then you need to be eligible for FTB Part 2.

    • asa79 on 28/11/2018 - 17:58

      How much was the telsa 1 or 2

  • No on 27/11/2018 - 20:33
    +1

    As more people get solar they will increase the daily supply charge instead of the usage charge as they have done recently in WA.

    I don't regret getting panels but beware of this possibility.

  • sputnik on 27/11/2018 - 20:43
    +1

    “The Queensland government is now offering solar and battery interest free loans and grants.”

    You mean the Queensland taxpayer?

    • asa79 on 28/11/2018 - 17:59

      Federal taxpayers as each state is given an amount to spend somehow

  • tlaing on 27/11/2018 - 20:53
    +2

    Does anyone know what the cheapest battery is on the list? I haven't managed to get a quote out of any of the installers. So far they all are pushing the tesla powerwall at around $9K + install.

    I'm looking to get the cheapest battery to use the balance of the 13K to buy as big a solar system for my roof as possible (over 6.5kw).

    iampivot: Would you mind sharing what specs you were quoted and for what price?

    • tor on 28/11/2018 - 01:14
      +1

      I'm going with a tesla PW2 quote, as I've got a three phase supply, so the battery selection is limited for my application (need a high voltage battery). It's about $9K plus the tesla backup gateway and installation. Am also getting a solar setup at about just under $6k with a Fronius Symo 6.0 inverter and Q Cell panels. This was with Keen2BGreen.

      Note there's a limited set of approved suppliers of batteries for these loans, so there won't be many solar cowboys running this game.

      Edit: this is with 18 275w panels == about 5kw output. It's possible to connect up to 28 panels of this size to this inverter, and I was quoted about $1.8k more for that, so will see what we can afford at install time.

      • GR3GD4RK on 28/11/2018 - 11:13

        what was the total quote for this system? thinking of also going with keen2bgreen with a very similar system!

        • tor on 28/11/2018 - 13:48

          Can you send me a pm?

      • asa79 on 28/11/2018 - 18:00

        Who was the telsa quote from

  • grips on 27/11/2018 - 22:25

    Installations with the old Solar Bonus Scheme (44 cents) are NOT eligible for the battery support.
    Also the list of approved batteries doesn't include the Australian Redflow batteries, which are not Li-Ion and can't burn down your house.

    • sillyhead on 28/11/2018 - 07:12

      Really why would anybody with 44c tariff want a battery? Best to export as you produce. You are already getting more for the export than what you pay for consumption. Unless you can configure the battery to discharge when you aren’t using any power. So you use your power at 25c and then export everything you make at 44c. But then it wouldn’t be worth the cost or efficiency loss.

      • grips on 28/11/2018 - 11:23

        I just wanted to point out the restriction (I get 51c).
        But the problem with the list still stands.

  • Richie312 on 27/11/2018 - 22:26
    +2

    I've applied for some quotes, will share afterwards

  • caleb2003 on 27/11/2018 - 22:31
    +1

    I got a few quotes for this to just add a battery to my existing system, amazingly the quotes were for $9k, the same amount as the incentive and loan, incredible coincidence?

  • Kustard King on 28/11/2018 - 01:04

    Overnight cowboy solar pop up companies start your engines!!

    • Bargain80 on 28/11/2018 - 01:27

      Only eligible for selected companies. So no, there won't be overnight cowboy pop up companies

    • asa79 on 28/11/2018 - 18:01

      They have to be approved by the scheme so that will stop pop ups

  • fez on 28/11/2018 - 10:18

    Wasn’t this release about a weeek ago?

    • asa79 on 29/11/2018 - 08:27

      Technically a few months ago, the Battery scheme was only opened up 2 weeks ago

  • tor on 04/12/2018 - 15:02

    Looks like the scheme has been extended with another 1000 grants / loans.

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