How much is the Victorian apartment solar rebate?

Solar Victoria currently offers eligible Owners Corporations rebates of up to $2,800 per apartment, with a maximum of $140,000 per property. The current program period runs until 30 June 2027 or until available rebates are exhausted, whichever comes first.

The rebate is applied through the chosen authorised retailer as a discount on the invoice. It is not an individual cash payment made separately to each resident.

Who can apply?

The applicant is the Victorian Owners Corporation, not an individual apartment owner. Under the standard eligibility rules, the OC must be a tier three or tier four Owners Corporation with 3 to 50 occupiable lots and must not have previously received funding under the program.

Residents, owners, renters and strata managers can help start the process, but the OC is the entity that applies and approves the project.

What buildings are eligible?

The standard program covers completed Victorian Class 2 apartment buildings and groups of horizontally attached Class 1a dwellings such as eligible townhouses or row units under an Owners Corporation and sharing a common-property rooftop.

Solar Victoria's current rules normally require the building to be no more than eight storeys high. Buildings that exceed eight storeys, or have between 50 and 150 lots, can now request an exemption if the other eligibility requirements are met.

The building cannot be connected to an embedded electricity network under the current program rules. Retirement villages, commercial buildings and some other property types are also excluded.

THE 3 TO 50 LOT RULE HAS AN IMPORTANT 2026 EXEMPTION PATH

Do not assume a 60-lot or nine-storey building is automatically excluded. Solar Victoria now allows eligible larger buildings to request an exemption before beginning the application.

How can solar be shared between apartments?

Solar Victoria permits two broad approaches. A direct-connected design uses multiple solar systems connected to individual residential lots. A solar-sharing design uses a larger shared PV system and approved sharing technology to distribute generation among participating apartments.

The program requires the system to directly supply residential lots behind the meter and to share the benefits equitably. A system that only powers common areas is not eligible.

Where common property also receives solar energy, the program limits the common-area allocation so residents remain the main beneficiaries. Solar Victoria recommends considering systems that connect all residential lots, including rentals.

What approval does the Owners Corporation need?

Solar Victoria says the OC must pass a special resolution to receive program funding. The program provides a template notice of ballot to help committees run that process.

After the retailer submits the final quote and funding is reserved, Solar Victoria issues an Owners Corporation Approval Form. Two OC representatives must sign the form after the OC resolution process. The current application process gives the OC 70 calendar days to return that approval form before reserved funding is cancelled.

For a committee, the practical work is to agree on the proposed system, how costs are shared, how savings are distributed, who owns and maintains the equipment, and what happens if residents opt in or out later.

Can renters benefit?

Yes. The program is designed to include renters as well as owner-occupiers. A renter can start an eligibility check or help become the building's solar champion, but the OC and property owners still control the building-level decision and approval process.

Solar Victoria recommends designs that connect rental apartments where practical so the benefits are not limited to owner-occupied lots.

What about DNSP approval and embedded networks?

The retailer must seek pre-approval from the building's distribution network service provider before the project proceeds. The network can place export constraints on the proposed system, just as it can for a detached home.

Under the current Solar for Apartments rules, a building connected to an embedded network is not eligible. That is a program eligibility rule, not a statement that solar is technically impossible on every embedded-network building.

Read the Victorian export-limit guide ↗

What is the simplest way for a committee to approach the project?

Plain-English process

  1. Check the OC and building against Solar Victoria's current eligibility rules.
  2. Get the plan of subdivision and confirm the number of residential lots, rentals and owner-occupied lots.
  3. Discuss what residents want the project to achieve and whether direct-connected or solar-sharing designs are realistic.
  4. Obtain comparable proposals from Solar Victoria authorised retailers.
  5. Have the retailer obtain DNSP pre-approval and explain any export constraint.
  6. Review the final quote, operating costs, warranties and the required payback calculation.
  7. Run the OC special-resolution process and complete Solar Victoria's approval form.
  8. Proceed only after the funding and program approvals required for the project are confirmed.

For program eligibility, the proposed system must demonstrate a payback period within 10 years using Solar Victoria's prescribed approach. That calculation is based on the eligible system and installation cost after STCs and before the Solar for Apartments funding is applied.

Use the apartment guide as a committee briefing.

If the property is eligible, the next useful step is to compare several like-for-like system proposals and make the ownership, sharing and ongoing-service arrangements explicit before the OC votes.

START MY ASSESSMENT

Sources and further reading

Editorial references checked: 5 October 2026

Source labels identify who published each reference, not an independent endorsement. Confirm current requirements and exact product terms before purchasing.