New solar panel surge expected as rebates close and new round of installations begins

Origin Energy and O’Donnell Griffin (ODG) have welcomed the federal government budget announcement of an additional $245.3 million for the Solar Homes and Communities Plan and predicted a surge in new applications.

Both companies are prepared for the surge in demand for their solar rooftop panels program as consumers rush to qualify for the federal government’s $8000 solar rebate that finishes June 30.

Origin Energy and ODG kicked off their national ‘buy-and-install’ program in NSW, Queensland, SA and WA, with most of the demand coming from households qualifying for the rebate.

According to a department spokesman for the Minister for the Environment, applications for the rebate have reached “record” highs, with about 1000 applications being received each week nationally and extra staff employed to process them as the June 30 deadline looms. Statistics from the department indicate that 25,195 systems had been installed nationally up to the end of March, with 6213 in NSW, 5331 in Victoria, 4397 in Queensland, 5921 in SA, 2406 in WA, 419 in Tasmania, 36 in NT and 472 in ACT. The highest response per capita has been in SA, which has 23.5% of the installations but 7.5% of the national population.

These figures, however, are expected to surge nationally, as last-minute consumers who are eligible for the June 30 rebate make their applications.

To make it straightforward for consumers wanting to utilise the rebate, Origin Energy has established an interest-free payment-by-instalment plan. ODG National Service Manager Andrew Cross calls it a ‘buy now, save later’ plan, stating: “It allows homes to install a powerful solar panel and, using the finance deal, gain rapid access to electricity savings, which can be as high as 50% or more on non-solar power bills.

“Origin Energy and ODG are experiencing a flood of orders as consumers realise the window of opportunity for those eligible for the rebate [is closing]. Many smaller operators will be caught in the rush and face long delays to clear the backlog. But Origin avoided this problem with linking with ODG’s highly qualified network of solar installers to ensure they have the capability to meet the demand and install the systems as quickly as possible.”

Consumers can also look forward to further financial benefits with feed-in tariff systems running in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and SA, soon to be joined by WA. Under these schemes, solar consumers are paid money for every excess kilowatt hour they return to the power grid at a substantially higher rate than the domestic retail price of electricity.

The Origin Energy/ODG national program allows consumers to simply order a rooftop solar system online. The federal government rebate is processed as part of the order on behalf of consumers and the panels are installed by ODG in around 2–3 months.

ODG is Origin Energy’s preferred installer of the solar systems nationally. Cross added that consumers have the added comfort of buying from a national power organisation offering high-quality products and having them installed by a professional electrical services organisation.