This was posted 3 years 3 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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[NSW] Free* 3kW Solar System from NSW Government for Low Income Households in Eligible LGAs

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[NSW] Free* 3kW Solar System from NSW Government for Low Income Households in Eligible LGAs
Go to Deal
non-core promise on 28/12/2021 - 01:28 energysaver.nsw.gov.au (1080 clicks)
Last edited 28/12/2021 - 08:59 by 1 other user

*In exchange for giving up the Low Income Household Rebate for your energy bills for 10 years.

They've recently expanded the program to include several LGAs in Western Sydney.

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/news/solar-for-low-income…

Households can now apply for the offer in the LGAs of Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield and Penrith.

To be eligible for the Solar for Low Income Households program, homeowners must also:

  • hold a valid Pensioner Concession Card or Department of Veterans' Affairs Gold Card and currently receive the Low Income Household Rebate
  • agree not to receive the Low Income Household Rebate for 10 years
  • own your own house
  • not have a solar system already.

The offer is already running successfully in 5 NSW regions: North Coast, Central Coast, Sydney-South, Illawarra-Shoalhaven and South Coast. Eligible homeowners in these regions are still encouraged to apply.

I believe it's just the panels and the inverter. So you would sell excess electricity back into the grid during the day rather than store it in batteries for night time use. Would a 3kW system even have that much excess electricity?

How much would a 3kW no battery system save you over 10 years compared to the traditional Low Income Household Rebate for your bills?

Have any pensioner homeowners (or anyone who lives with one) applied for this or similar past programs? How did it go? It might be worth mentioning energy usage patterns, the latitude and climate of where you live.

FYI for anyone thinking of paying out of pocket for a larger system on top of this: Inverters have to be matched to the output of the solar panels. It isn't always as simple as slapping more panels on the roof. There are various benefits/disadvantages to having a larger inverter vs more solar panels. Do your own research.

Don't forget to enter your solar excess in addition to your usage on Energy Made Easy to make sure you get the best deal.

FAQs.

How long will the offer be available?

The offer will end when all funding is exhausted or on 30 June 2024, whichever occurs first.

Electrical & Electronics Solar Energy System

Related Stores

NSW Government
NSW Government

closed Comments

  • Kenji123 on 28/12/2021 - 02:43
    +31

    What a funny things—-

    Low Income Householder must have own house

    Did you know own a house in Sydney is rich people

    A house in Sydney at least can sell more than $1M , than those people are low income???

    I have $200000 in my bank , also have high pay job , but I am still cannot buy a house ….

    • sunnyii on 28/12/2021 - 03:05
      +5

      Out of interest, what’s a high paying job now days?

      • D3m3ntia on 28/12/2021 - 13:35
        +3

        Agree. Claims to have $200k in bank, has at least $150k income and says banks won't lend him to buy a house. Hard to believe. Must be buying too many of those appreciating assets ($80k+ mercedes)

        • Ti-au on 28/12/2021 - 18:47

          Depends where your trying to live.

          One of my joys is telling people to leave the Suburb they have grown up in and have fond memories of.

    • comm on 28/12/2021 - 03:20
      +7

      My parents are pensioners who bought their house back in 1989 for 120k and just finished paying it off about 6 years ago.

      • tonyjzx on 28/12/2021 - 04:37
        +3

        i got a worse annecdote.

        Let's just say I know someone who bought a house when they first got here in 1980 for $50k.

        Paid it off in less time than your avg car loan by having two family members who worked.. granted in the medical field. Back then they worked dbl shifts weekends holidays you name it and shared a shithouse broken down XD Falcoon wagon.

        Now house is worth $2 mil. 5 bed brick, garage, 1,000 sq… also no capital gains!

        Enjoy saving up the $400k deposit you need for that millenials! Cut back on the smashed avo.

        • netjock on 28/12/2021 - 08:26
          +2

          No capital gains but you need to trade down. Can't sell and buy side ways after all the transaction costs.

          • tonyjzx on 28/12/2021 - 09:20

            @netjock: these people are now in their 70-80s

            its time to liquidate

            • netjock on 28/12/2021 - 09:28
              +2

              @tonyjzx: Hand it down. No inheritance tax. Even better than no capital gains.

              Leave it to the children to squabble over the money. They sell it and none of them can still afford a house.

              • buffalo bill on 28/12/2021 - 10:23

                @netjock: Not the same house, but $2 mill plus share/cash holdings divided by a couple of kids still buys a place for each of them somewhere.

              • Save Medicare on 28/12/2021 - 11:07
                +3

                @netjock:

                inheritance tax

                Careful, the rich and those in power will call it a "death tax"

                • tonyjzx on 28/12/2021 - 11:15

                  @Save Medicare: yeah i wouldnt worry about that

                  when you have a typical politician with 10 investment properties then why would they cut off their own balls with a 'death tax'

                • [Deactivated] on 28/12/2021 - 11:17

                  @Save Medicare: Hahaha the rich will remain undefeated they will use super, trusts and companies.

                  The polies know who is their true base.

                  • Ti-au on 28/12/2021 - 18:48
                    -1

                    @[Deactivated]: The faceless corporations are the true base now.

                    tbh I think the billionaire thing is mostly bs and used as a strategy to get people to ignore the corrupt corporations now.

                    There are 25 'real' billionaires in Australia (more but we are talking with cash, not $900m tied up in the value of a private comapny).

                    Do you think those 25 people have more power than the Australian Banks?
                    More power than BHP, Rio Tinto or Woodside Petroleum?
                    I highly doubt it tbh.

                    Billionaires are just more 'extreme' with some views and hence get more attention, but the real steam roller is corporations, who have basically taken over Government and using their support of certain academic or activists policies (wokeness, pro immigration, etc) to 'green (or white) wash their actions.

                    (So be pro diversity, LGBQTI, etc to hide the fact you are causing mass economic and environmental damage in 3rd world countries).

                    Eg. woodside: Have a woman ceo. yay diversity!
                    Got the Australian Government to spy on East Timor so they could ripp off East Timor in the Negotiations.

                    Or this statistic:
                    Total of $3.6 billion on federal elections.
                    $572M was donated by Billionaires.
                    And most of the Billionaires are just equal amounts ($200m Trump Adelson/$152m Biden Bloomberg).

                    Meaning $3Billion or almost x6 more was spent by Corporations (roughly).

                    Look at the effective tax rate of corporations in the USA:
                    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Effective_Corpora…

                    Want to know why Governments are running deficits?
                    Do we talk about this fact?

                    Out of the top 500 corporations something like less than 50 are run by owners (fb yes, google now No, M$ now No, Orracle/Larry Ellison yes, etc).
                    Rather its CEOs, etc.

                    Most CEO are psychopaths so it works.

        • iseeyou1312 on 28/12/2021 - 14:33
          +1

          Your numbers are off. I have relatives that did something similar in the 70s, but the house is now worth close to $10m.

    • CyberMurning on 28/12/2021 - 04:52
      -2

      also have high pay job , but I am still cannot buy a house ….

      Then you are not saving good enough

      • gimli on 28/12/2021 - 06:58
        +15

        Wow ur grammar are bad

    • Hybroid on 28/12/2021 - 05:11
      +1

      I have $200000 in my bank , also have high pay job , but I am still cannot buy a house ….

      Why? If you really wanted to, that's enough deposit for a $1.2-1.5m Sydney house with a $3,000/month mortgage.

      • tonyjzx on 28/12/2021 - 06:33
        +2

        there's nothing wrong with going smaller as a 1st property, buy a $500k unit and smash it down

        also a $200k deposit on an $800k loan on a $1 mil house isnt a $3,000 a month mortgage lol… its a lot lot more… like heaps more

        • Hybroid on 28/12/2021 - 06:58
          -1

          I was offered a $3000/month mortgage on $1.4m property from HSBC via Lendi but had to provide 20% deposit as a foreigner. 10% deposit possible if resident.

          • Omarko on 28/12/2021 - 07:14
            +5

            @Hybroid: Not possible, clearly you need to educate yourself before getting a mortgage. Geez. There are lot of calculators out there so google before making a big financial decision like this.

            $1.12m loan on 1.89% rate is around $4000 per month repayments.

            • tonyjzx on 28/12/2021 - 07:22
              +2

              @Omarko: he didnt state the term of the loan

              maybe not 30yrs?

              i mean if you do the maths, $1.4mil, $280k deposit, $1,120,000 principal and your std. interest doesnt come to $3,000 a month…

              • Omarko on 28/12/2021 - 07:55

                @tonyjzx: my calc was with 30 years, you cant get more than 30 years so yeah , its around $4000 per month at current rates.

                • Dmz111 on 28/12/2021 - 08:55
                  +6

                  @Omarko: The screaming from Sydney will be extreme when interest rates go back to a more normal 5 or 6% after the pandemic.

                  • DemocracyManifest on 28/12/2021 - 09:04
                    +3

                    @Dmz111: Hell yeah. Practically zero wage growth and resumption of regular interest rates will be a winning combination

            • Ham Dragon on 28/12/2021 - 16:17
              +1

              @Omarko: Can confirm, just bought a house for $1.28M in Brisbane with a fixed rate 1.89% loan, repayments are just over $4k/month with 20% deposit + additional costs, so turned out to be a 271k deposit.

              • Palamedes on 28/12/2021 - 21:06

                @Ham Dragon: I hope you read the fine print, from what I see most fixed rate loans run 2-3 years now and then you get hit with the current soon to be large rate when it all blows up? I am 65 and saw housing rates up to 19% in my loan back in the day. When I started looking back in the day rates were around 4%, by the time I got my loan it was around 7.5% and went as high as 18-19% for some.

      • Nom on 28/12/2021 - 08:59
        +4

        enough deposit for a $1.2-1.5m Sydney house with a $3,000/month mortgage.

        Something is very wrong with your maths - a 30 year mortgage on $1.5m is wayyyyyyy more than $3000 a month.

      • DemocracyManifest on 28/12/2021 - 09:02
        +4

        Mate, when interest rates double, they will choke

        • Omarko on 28/12/2021 - 09:43
          -2

          Highly unlikely to happen over next 5 years, if anything, they will go down even more. Some countries in Europe already have negative rates on deposits. Its a crazy world. Holding cash not great these days.

          • Drakesy on 28/12/2021 - 10:03
            +2

            @Omarko: That was before the days of this inflation bump we're having

          • Nom on 28/12/2021 - 10:40
            +6

            @Omarko: But the mortgage isn't 5 years - it's 25 or 30. You need to plan for rates going up at some point during the period…

            • tonyjzx on 28/12/2021 - 11:04

              @Nom: its hard to think about what the world will be in 2050

              i mean are we even gonna make it?

              may as well not lose to fomo

            • Omarko on 28/12/2021 - 11:54

              @Nom: Agree you should plan for rates to go up, at least to 5-6%, HIGHLY doubt seeing the world economic crisis and the way governments are printing money like mad for anything to change.

              In saying that, in 5 years lot can change, work on your career, increase your income etc …

          • DemocracyManifest on 28/12/2021 - 12:20
            +2

            @Omarko: Read the reports coming from the RBA, I predict definitely rise sooner. It’ll be irresponsible if they don’t and it could trigger another financial crisis if they don’t put a break on the cheap money

            https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-07/reserve-bank-interest…

    • Sl138 on 28/12/2021 - 07:45
      +2

      "can sell more than $1M"
      That's great, the pensioner can still it for more than $1M, then where are they gonna live??

      • DemocracyManifest on 28/12/2021 - 09:05
        +2

        Nursing home will take it all in fees 🤣

        • iseeyou1312 on 28/12/2021 - 14:35
          -2

          Nursing home fees are heavily subsidised by the government, so no. The relatives get back all the money when they die.

          • DemocracyManifest on 28/12/2021 - 15:32

            @iseeyou1312: My nan went in, we had to sell her house to cover the bond, and the fees were higher when they didn’t have the bond. She was only in for a few months before she died and the fees were significant. If they lasted 5-10 years or so heaps would go in expenses. She was in a Catholic one

            • iseeyou1312 on 28/12/2021 - 20:41

              @DemocracyManifest: We're talking about someone with property that sells it. The bond covers the fees as the State Government bizarrely grants ~6% interest on the money.

          • Ti-au on 28/12/2021 - 18:50

            @iseeyou1312: Isn't it means tested?

            • iseeyou1312 on 28/12/2021 - 20:42

              @Ti-au: Nope, the more you have, the more welfare you can claim. They give you a flat interest percentage on the "bond".

        • Palamedes on 28/12/2021 - 21:23
          -1

          The whole Nursing Home thing in OZ is crap. I had a poor Auntie with a unit that sold for $330,000 still owes a debt on her cheap nursing home placement (Cheap discounted one at $380,000) that I had to guarantee to get her in there so I am at risk on her debt. Her money left after all the costs per fortnight is maybe $150? We actually know some millionaires where the mother got in for $0 and pays zip from her pension because they knew how it worked and made sure Mum had $0 when she got assessed. We need a revolution to fix this rubbish.

    • onetwothreefour on 28/12/2021 - 08:21

      I have $200000 in my bank , also have high pay job , but I am still cannot buy a house

      Lower your expectations then you will be able to buy a house/unit easily.

      • Ti-au on 28/12/2021 - 18:53

        get out the Suburb you have friends in.
        get out of the Suburb you grew up in
        get out of the Suburb your family lives in (don't worry the State will pay for their care when you get old).
        get out of having Kids because you need to live in a poorly built apartment from a Chinese developer who fled the country to avoid paying GST to suppliers.

        what a time to be alive!

        • Ti-au on 29/12/2021 - 17:27

          when they get old).

    • bonking on 28/12/2021 - 08:27
      +3

      I have low paying job, own a house in outskirt of Penrith. Just paid off mortgage February this year.

      Not impossible.

      • iseeyou1312 on 28/12/2021 - 14:39

        FYI, your house in Penrith isn't going to be worth a whole lot after the next major flood.

    • BaeSuzy on 28/12/2021 - 09:06
      +8

      haha you ask anyone who has made it, your problem is you have $200,000 in the bank.

    • buffalo bill on 28/12/2021 - 10:26
      +2

      There's an irony about someone who comes from a foreign nation complaining about Australian property prices…

    • happyhammer on 28/12/2021 - 15:51

      Time to move to brisvegas. we were in that position in Sydney a few years ago (prices increase faster than we could save). 1 mil here can get you a nice place (in suburbs).

    • seek on 29/12/2021 - 10:18

      all jokes aside. 'low income' implies asset rich, income poor

    • TrustNoBody on 15/01/2022 - 09:17

      i know it does sound stupid but i think it’s mainly for ppl on old age pensions and a lot do own their homes and are just on the pension now

  • tonyjzx on 28/12/2021 - 04:38
    +2

    btw. this is the worst state trade deal in the history of trade deals maybe ever….

    said a wise man.

  • ozcheese on 28/12/2021 - 04:46

    My mother is a pensioner in Victoria and she owns a home* in a retirement village. Is there anything similar she could take advantage of in Victoria?

    *it's more like a 99 year lease

    • ezzaf on 28/12/2021 - 10:43
      +2

      She would be eligible for some form of the solar homes program, exactly how would depend on what that ownership/lease structure looks like.

      https://www.solar.vic.gov.au/

  • WatchNerd on 28/12/2021 - 07:39
    +2

    The offer does not include a battery therefore you are trapped by whatever price the retailer you choose charges for power needed when the panels aren't producing any & the feed-in tariff.

    The solar electricity not consumed in your home is fed back into the grid and some electricity retailers pay for this (this is called a solar feed-in tariff). Generally, the solar feed-in tariff is less than the amount you pay for the electricity you use from the grid.

    Most electricity retailers provide a solar feed-in tariff and the amount paid by retailers can differ. To receive a solar feed-in tariff you could be required to change contracts with your retailer. This may result in you paying a different rate for the electricity you purchase from the grid.

    • mskeggs on 28/12/2021 - 08:23
      +4

      This is the same for everyone who has solar but no battery.

      • WatchNerd on 28/12/2021 - 08:30
        +1

        Yes but they don't have to agree to not receive the Low Income Household Rebate for 10 years as mentioned with this offer.

    • netjock on 28/12/2021 - 08:29
      +3

      Wake up at sunrise and sleep at sunset. Only run washing on sunny days.

  • tabboo on 28/12/2021 - 07:45
    +4

    low income earners
    owning a house in Sydney

    One of these things is impossible with the other… (profanity) our government is dumb

    • Sl138 on 28/12/2021 - 07:49
      +6

      You really don't think pensioners could have bought a house? Not even in 1970 through to 2000? And it's the government that's dumb…

  • [Deactivated] on 28/12/2021 - 08:28
    +4

    Well it’s something… almost.
    Any step towards a greener country is at least… a step

    • NinjaChicken on 28/12/2021 - 09:21

      So you would sell excess electricity back into the grid during the day rather than store it in batteries for night time use. Would a 3kW system even have that much excess electricity?

      Good question! In short, you would probably have not much excess to sell back to the grid. You are probably only going to have maximum generating capacity between ~11am - 4pm (depending on your hour orientation, and a few other factors), during those hours, in the summer months, you might want to run your air-con. A decent sized system will take up most of your 3kw generating capacity. In the winter months, you will have less sun, and less generating capacity - unlikely to have the potential to sell much back to the grid there - once you take into account running heating for any portion of the day..

      How much would a 3kW no battery system save you over 10 years compared to the traditional Low Income Household Rebate for your bills?

      That's the gamble really, isn't it? it might save you money. You could certainly use it to offset your electricity usage. I'm unaware of what the low income household rebate is.

      In any case, as Mitchins says, it's a step towards a greener country at least.

      A good complimentary scheme would be for the Government (at all levels) to incentivise the owners of power stations, poles and wires to upgrade the infrastructure (think batteries, transformers, etc) to cope with household solar generation, and store electricity generated during the day, for use when there is no solar generation.

  • Pinchy on 28/12/2021 - 08:50
    +1

    So you need to be a pensioner or a veteran AND be a low income household. Sounds highly targeted to me..

    • hippyhippy on 28/12/2021 - 09:08
      -2

      Very targeted… no one is going to qualify for this. Houses in these areas will be 2m+…. and 3kw system ain't going to benefit anyone.

      • ezzaf on 28/12/2021 - 10:49
        +1

        Quite the opposite, a 3kW system is going to provide more benefit to both the user and the grid overall than a larger system. Especially for smaller households, which this is realistically targeted at. With feed in tariffs dropping oversizing your system with the expectation of making the investment back on export is not going to work for long.

        In Penrith it would produce around 70% of the average household energy consumption annually. That's a pretty good fit.

      • iseeyou1312 on 28/12/2021 - 14:42
        +1

        The house could be $50 million, they would still qualify. When it comes to government benefits, the government values all properties at exactly $250k. You can live in a harbourside mansion with more wealth than 99.9999% of Australians and still collect a full pension.

  • Rod71 on 28/12/2021 - 09:18

    Seems like a bad deal. Maybe if there was a pool in the back yard running the filter all day anyway. Otherwise you'd be better off with the rebate every bill.

  • lknight on 28/12/2021 - 09:21
    +1

    We all keep yapping about how the govt is dumb, interest rates are ridiculous, house prices are exp and yet Sydney has been almost consistently smashing records since GFC :D I'm not saying it is good but as long as there is a bank willing to lend, low-med IRs and a buyer, this is not going to stop. There is so much vested interest in this sector, developers and planning dept etc. Majority of the ones buying in the 1.3-1.8 mil range in Sydney are either cashed up meaning have sold something else for a mil or have a bigger deposit > 500k. There is some level scrutiny when assessing loan application so bank is not entirely stupid, they know the housing market is too big to crash… if anything it will stop growing and stagnate.

    • Ti-au on 28/12/2021 - 18:57

      just increase immigration to increase the price of housing.
      (when their is down year, reduce by 15% to reduce unemployment).

  • mskeggs on 28/12/2021 - 09:36
    +9

    Lot’s of strange speculation in this thread.
    A 3kW PV system will generate about 12kWh per day, on average over the year.
    That is worth about $2.40 to $3 in NSW in avoided power costs, or 60c - $1.20 if you literally use no power in daylight and export it all to the grid.
    The pensioner rebate is about $313 p.a.

    Average household power use in NSW is about 22kWh per day. Low income households typically use less.

    This looks like a good deal any way you look at it, for people who qualify.

    • ChickenDinner123 on 28/12/2021 - 09:45
      +1

      Thank you. So it would save half hour electricity cost? My folks would be eligible for this deal, they probably pay around $1600 per year in electricity.

      • mysterytal on 28/12/2021 - 11:16

        It depends on when they use most of the electricity. If they use it during the day when the sun is shining then the savings are bigger. I personally save the baseload usage covering the fridge, NBN box, TV and PVR which is about 2kWh per day without trying. I then save a further 2kWh per day by moving usage to the middle of the day such as a dishwasher cycle and a washing machine load. During summer I use fans and the air conditioner whilst the sun is shining which increases the savings significantly.

    • hhuy837 on 28/12/2021 - 11:45

      I agree with this. It doesn't look like a bad deal as it helps those who qualify it to get solar and could save them more money than being on the rebate.

      What I couldn't find out from the link was whether or not they were teaching the owners how to use the solar to maximise its benefits (when the sun is out) and who does the installation/warranty.

      If the system breaks and the installer goes bust, they could be screwing the low income households even more.

  • shaybisc on 28/12/2021 - 10:08
    -4

    Greeny NSW Liberals gone mad with anti-coal Marxist ideology.

    • tonyjzx on 28/12/2021 - 11:06
      +4

      lol this has to be a /s

      the NSW Libs are very very much pro fossil fuels and big business lol

      have you seen dom and gladys? my word what a pair of big time capitalist conversative running dogs

      dom to pull out of fossil fuels? guy cant even pull out his missus!

    • shaybisc on 28/12/2021 - 16:45
      +1

      Aw, I've been cancel cultured. The humour of my impression of a Sky Murdoch Errorgraph ranter not appreciated.

  • Cheapskate Paul on 28/12/2021 - 11:10

    Are all these suburbs in Liberal & marginal seats?

    • tonyjzx on 28/12/2021 - 11:17
      +5

      largely labor acutally

      but its a state initiative and the NSW Libs is like 'corruption lite' compared to the Feds.

  • Bid Sniper on 28/12/2021 - 13:15

    Who come up with these idiot policies?

    Seriously low income home in NSW, I though this was satire.

  • TheFlyingCoder on 28/12/2021 - 14:20

    clearly no one read that this program is already running across a large portion of regional NSW where a the majority of low income households would be 👀 Sydney was just an addition, not the only city in NSW my guys

  • furyou on 28/12/2021 - 17:48

    A proper 3kw system will set you back 5k? A Dodge fb one will cost 3k or less.

    How much is the rebate? Like 100/yr?

    • Creekbargain on 28/12/2021 - 18:20
      +1

      The rebate is near $285/yr You also have to buy a "smart meter" and pay for installation. My quarter bill is usually around $250 and even when away caring for my elderly mum for months $127.-$115 Is just supply charge living rural.

      • furyou on 28/12/2021 - 22:16
        +1

        The elec gives you the smart meter free, at least in Sydney.
        Organising your own install wow that's terrible to inflict, esp on low income earners. I hear solar is one thing you don't want to cheap out on dodgy installs.

  • FujiFruit on 28/12/2021 - 21:52

    So I don’t get it. Is it better to get it or not?

    • Rod71 on 29/12/2021 - 09:08

      You need to do the maths.

      • WatchNerd on 30/12/2021 - 13:14

        The feed-in tariff will most likely drop in the future as more renewable energy connects to the grid.

  • saliya on 29/12/2021 - 12:45

    The deal may be worth it if you do the math, but I don't think much of the online calculator.

    I get electricity and gas from Origin.
    My electricity bill (10kW solar, no battery, pay 29c FIT 21c) is -$500 p.a.
    My gas bill (hot water, cook top only) is $1000 p.a.
    Net total is $500 p.a.
    I uploaded 8 bills showing this to the calculator.
    It suggested Simply Energy at net $2700 p.a…

    You need to do the math with actual figures offered to you by a provider.

  • vegemite2008 on 11/01/2022 - 21:00

    A question, how much can a battery store?

    We use power during the day (aircon, washing etc) so not sure if it is worth it to buy a battery.

    • twig on 15/01/2022 - 09:18

      Batteries aren't really worth it in terms of cost to benefit right now, especially with the current failure rates as reviewed by Choice

      Especially for a lowly 3kw system you won't be getting much worth out of it.

      Maybe in the future but not now. Can always add later.

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