Smart Energy Council CEO John Grimes provided an outline of industry feedback on the impact of the Victoria Solar Homes Program provided to Victorian Energy Minister at a meeting on Tuesday 16 July.
The webinar included input from local solar suppliers Peter and Elias and also outlined the next steps for industry and consumers.
After gathering case studies regarding the Solar Homes Program from solar installers, retailers, customers who had received or waiting for the rebate and those who essentially gave up due to the process being so difficult, John Grimes went and spoke to the Minister of Solar Homes to reiterate the negative impact the Solar Homes Program has had on the industry and impel the urgency for change prior to August 1st when the solar PV rebate will re-open.
One customer stated that to be able to take a picture to match her passport photo in the application process she was required to take her glasses off but then had to somehow fit her face in the outline on the smart phone screen when she was practically blind. After the image wasn’t accepted, she was prompted to have her image certified by doctor, police officer or chemist etc. For this certified person to be approved as a someone to sign off on her proof of identity they also needed to upload their proof of identity.
Another stated “The process was more difficult than securing a mortgage”
Loss of work and jobs were a high concern in the webinar with companies who would usually secure 80 installations a month, drastically dropping to 1 in the past month and for a customer who did not apply for the Solar Victoria Rebate.
After discussing concerns like this and more with the Minister there was no indication that Solar Victoria is inclined to change the number, rates or criteria of the rebates, however was open to discuss transitional funding for solar providers struggling with the program (no clarity on what this would involve, possibly assistance becoming a CEC retailer?).
In response to this NO ACTION reply the Smart Energy Council wanted to get feedback back from the industry (those on the webinar) whether they were in favour of hitting the ground running with a strong campaign led by Smart Energy Council.
95% of those on the webinar were in favour of this and action for the campaign will commence immediately. The Smart Energy Council is set to create a plan of action and key changes in which they will rally with what seems will be backed by the entire solar industry in Victoria.
Some immediate action The Smart Energy Council are asking for is those in the industry to start contacting their local Minister’s stating how the program has negatively impacted them and the industry.
Some suggestions for program changes that were thrown around in the webinar were;
- Eliminating the entire Solar Homes process and simplifying it so that any demographic can apply with ease
- Halving the amount of the rebate and doubling the number of rebates
On Thursday 25th July (next week) in Melbourne the Smart Energy Council will be holding a conference (venue yet to be confirmed) where they will have the Plan of Action in place and provide more information on the campaign.
