Solar Neighbourhood for Violet Town and District
The Violet Town Action Group are partnering with Rezeko to operate a bulk-buy scheme to install grid interactive solar electricity substantially cheaper than current market rates.
This 1.5kW system is installed on a house in Tulip St, Violet Town. click image
At present there is a government rebate of $8 000 for 1kW systems. There is no additional rebate for additional capacity over 1kW. Most installations under this scheme are for 1kW systems.
Under the bulk-buy scheme, 10, 25 or 50 households, community buildings, etc., in a neighbourhood or district all sign up, and economies of scale allow the installation pre-inspections to be grouped together, and the pv hardware to be bought in bulk direct from the manufacturers.
Solar panels give some extra shade on the south side of the house in Violet Town. Click image
For a 'mini solar neighbourhood' of a minimum of 25 participating houses, the cost is $9,095 for each 1kW installation.
For a 'solar neighbourhood' of a minimum of 50 participating houses, the cost is $8,895 for each 1kW installation.
The net cost to the consumer for an installation that is part of the bulk buy, after the government rebate of $8 000, is $895 for a 'solar neighbourhood' of 50 houses [50 kW], and $1 095 for a 'mini solar neighbourhood' of 25 houses.
There are additional costs of electrical inspection and 2-way meter. Allow $300 - $500 for these.
This compares favourably with the costs of a single purchase installation. For a 1 kW system, the current market price is about $13 000 to $15 000. The hardware alone for a single purchase installation costs the installers over $8 000 for them to purchase, wholesale.
The nett cost to the consumer for a single purchase installation, after the government rebate, is $5 000 to $7 000.
This bulk buy scheme is so attractive that the fund of government money for the $8 000 rebate is rapidly being exhausted. This round of rebate money is likely to be finished by the end of July, so the Violet Town community are trying to move quickly to catch the rebate while it lasts.
Usually the process of forming a neighbourhood and getting to the stage of applying for the rebate takes much longer than three weeks, but we think we can do it.
Our neighbourhood includes Violet Town and District, pretty much anyone who considers Violet Town to be their community. Plus we are including Strathbogie township, and houses in between Violet Town and Strathbogie.
To qualify for the rebate you have to be an owner occupier, that is, the house has to be your 'primary place of residence', you have to own it, and also your household combined annual taxable income has to be less than $100 000. If you don't qualify for the government rebate you are still welcome to join our neighbourhood, which is very competitively priced.
Find out more .. click image
Interested people should go to www.rezeko.com for more information. It is a good idea to apply and sign up on-line, no obligation or money required at this stage, just get yourself on the list.
Come to the Launch of the Solar Neighbourhood at 5.30pm on Tues 15 July in the Supper Room at the VT Community Centre. Erik Zimmerman of Rezeko will give a presentation, and answer questions.
Other enquiries can be directed to David Arnold, Neighbourhood Co-ordinator, 03 5798 1679.
For details/interview call the Editor on (03) 5798 1858