Funded by a solar PV and hot water grant from the Bendigo Bank Bushfire Recovery Fund.
We received $49600 from the fund to:
- Install up to $10000 of solar PV in each of four low-income homes, together with a switch on the hot water electrical circuit to enable daytime heating using the solar PV electricity
- $9600 to obtain legal advice on the status of giving interest-free loans to homeowners under the Credit Act.
We will provide a report to Bendigo Bank in December 2024 detailing our use of the grant.
Highlights and features:
- Five homes have been assisted in installing a total of 38kW of solar panel systems at a total cost of $41000. $1000 of this came from voluntary grant repayments by householders of the cost of their installation. The average 8kW system will save about $1500 per household, assuming the home uses 40-50% of the power produced
- 12 months after installation, SUO will obtain data on household electricity usage collected by Ausnet for the previous two years, with the homeowner’s permission. This data will allow us to measure the benefits of the system and provide a basis for further advice on ways to increase their savings
- Homeowners are invited to repay the grant, interest-free, over ten years voluntarily
- Homeowners get a grant – not an interest-free loan – as any gaps in repayments might otherwise adversely impact their credit rating.