Solar Victoria’s Solar Homes rebate and interest-free loan in Melbourne (2026)

Solar Victoria in 2026: up to $1,400 off panels plus a matching loan

Solar Victoria is the Victorian Government agency behind the Solar Homes Program. It does not sell or install anything: it approves your application, then pays the rebate (and the loan, if you choose it) to an authorised retailer, which takes it off your invoice. More rebates are released each month. What it offers for solar today:

Solar Victoria also runs a hot water rebate, covered on our Victorian energy rebates page.

Who is eligible for the Solar Homes rebate?

For the panel rebate and loan on the home you live in, every one of these must be true:

• you own and live in the home (or own a home under construction)
• the combined taxable income of all owners is under $150,000 a year
• the property is worth under $3 million
• the address has not had a Solar Homes solar panel or battery rebate before
• no solar panel system has been installed at the address in the last 10 years

The system must come from a Solar Victoria authorised retailer and use products on Solar Victoria’s lists. A few cases people ask about:

• Building a home: you can apply during construction and have 270 days to install instead of 120.
• Moved house: a household that had a Solar Homes rebate or loan can apply again at a new address it lives in, if that address hasn’t had one.
• Old system: a system 10 or more years old might qualify for replacement or expansion.
• System size and off-grid homes: there is no size limit, only the maximum rebate, and off-grid homes can apply if they meet the criteria.

Landlords and apartment owners apply through their own streams, below.

Rentals and apartments

How the rebate and the interest-free loan work

1. STCs come off first. The federal discount is worked out on your system’s size and postcode: a 6.6 kW system in most of Melbourne earns 39 STCs if it is installed in 2026, worth up to about $1,500 at $38/STC. STC calculator
2. Then the Solar Victoria rebate. It is 50% of the price left after STCs and any other discounts, up to $1,400. Any system whose price after STCs is $2,800 or more gets the full $1,400.
3. Then, if you want it, the loan. Solar Victoria offers an interest-free loan of up to the same amount as your rebate. Since 1 May 2026 you must choose it when you apply, and no collateral is needed.
4. You pay the balance. Rebate and loan are paid to the retailer and deducted from the invoice; you pay what is left once the system is installed.

Repaying the loan

Repayments are debited from your bank account every month for 4 years (48 payments), starting 30 days after Solar Victoria approves the installation. A $1,400 loan costs $29.17 a month, with no interest charged. If repayments become hard, Solar Victoria has hardship support and decides an application within 10 working days.

The Solar Homes loan covers the rebate-sized part of the price. For the rest, or for a battery, compare cash, green loans and other ways to pay for solar.

Green loans compared

How to apply: eligibility, the retailer’s quote and the install deadline

1. Get a written quote from an authorised retailer for products on Solar Victoria’s lists. The retailer uploads it to the Solar Victoria portal and you get an email confirming it.
2. Pre-approval to connect. Before uploading the quote, the retailer gets your distributor’s approval to connect and export, and must tell you about any export limit.
3. Prove you are eligible in the online application: two forms of ID, proof of income for every owner and proof that you own the property. You do this yourself: authorised retailers aren’t allowed to complete the application for you.
4. Receive your QR code. Once you are approved, Solar Victoria emails a unique QR code, which is your eligibility number.
5. Install within 120 days (270 for a home being built). The installer scans the QR code on site before any work starts.

Don’t install early. A system installed before Solar Victoria confirms your eligibility gets no rebate. Solar Victoria recommends you don’t sign a quote or pay a deposit before approval; if you do pay one, make sure it is fully refundable.

Is there a Solar Victoria battery rebate or loan?

No. Solar Victoria no longer offers interest-free loans for solar batteries to new applicants, and there is no Victorian battery rebate. Households that already have a battery loan keep repaying it, up to $183.34 a month over 4 years.

The battery support open to Victorian homes today is federal: the Cheaper Home Batteries Program takes around 30% off a new battery, stepping down every six months until 2030. Solar Victoria’s product lists cover solar panels, inverters and hot water products, so there is no Solar Victoria battery list; the federal rebate uses the Clean Energy Council approved batteries list.

The federal battery rebate

Financing a home battery

Solar Victoria for rentals and apartments

Landlords and renters

Landlords can claim up to $1,400 on up to 2 rental properties each financial year, plus an interest-free loan repaid over 4 years. The renters’ combined taxable income must be under $150,000 and the property worth under $3 million. Landlord and renters sign an agreement, and the renters agree to give access to quote, install, inspect and maintain the system.

• Renters can agree to pay up to 50% of the loan repayments: $14.58 a month on a $1,400 loan, never more than $231.25 a year.
• The landlord can’t recover the cost by raising the rent or keeping part of the bond.
• Renters don’t apply themselves, but they can ask their landlord to.

Renters who can’t get a rooftop system may look at plug-in (balcony) solar instead. There is no legal way to plug panels into a power point anywhere in Australia yet: the inverter standard, AS/NZS 4777.1:2024, requires inverters to be permanently wired (the Western Australian Government’s consultation paper, October 2026).

Solar Victoria: rental properties

Plug-in solar in Victoria

Apartments, units and townhouses

Solar for Apartments pays owners corporations up to $2,800 per apartment and up to $140,000 per building, until 30 June 2027 or until the rebates run out. It covers apartment buildings, strata townhouses and units that share a common-property roof:

• Owners corporations of up to 50 lots apply as standard; buildings of up to 150 lots or over 8 storeys can ask for an exemption first.
• The system must supply at least 5 homes, pay for itself within 10 years, and send no more than 20% of its power to common areas.
• Solar Victoria recommends at least 3 quotes from authorised retailers. Buildings on an embedded network and retirement villages aren’t eligible.

Solar Victoria’s announcement of 26 October 2026 says buildings of up to 150 lots are now eligible and the property value limit is being removed, so check the program page for the rules that apply when your owners corporation applies.

What changes on 1 July 2027?

Household solar support moves from Solar Victoria into the Victorian Energy Upgrades program. The current Solar Homes panel rebate and loan stay in place until 30 June 2027; the new VEU solar activity is still being designed. Until then you apply to Solar Victoria exactly as above. Solar Victoria will keep administering existing loans, so anyone repaying one carries on as before.

• Until 30 June 2027: the Solar Homes panel rebate and loan under the current rules.
• From 1 July 2027: support through the Victorian Energy Upgrades program, whose discounts come from accredited providers.
• Federal STCs carry on either way, falling every 1 January until 2030. When the rebates drop

Source: Solar Victoria, 21 October 2026.

“Free solar panels” in Victoria: what to watch for

Solar Victoria doesn’t give away solar panels. The Solar Homes rebate covers at most 50% of the price left after STCs, and the loan only spreads part of the cost over 4 years, so you always pay for at least half of the system after the federal discount. An offer of “free” or “government-funded” panels is a reason to check who you are dealing with.

• Solar Victoria bans door-to-door and telemarketing sales of its rebates and loans. Someone who calls or knocks claiming to be part of the program may not be: Solar Victoria asks you to report them to enquiries@team.solar.vic.gov.au.
• Authorised retailers can’t claim to be endorsed by or affiliated with the government, and Victorian Government agencies never ask for banking details over the phone.
• Check any retailer on Solar Victoria’s authorised list. Authorised retailers must give at least a 5-year whole-of-system warranty, workmanship included.

Source: Solar Victoria, consumer protections. Your rights with unsolicited sales, cooling-off periods and where to complain are on our installer guide.

How to choose a solar installer

Solar Victoria: your questions