The Solar Neighbourhoods Campaign was a program offered by Beyond Building Energy, a Brisbane-based company, for installing a grid interactive solar system onto homes. It enabled homeowners to capture free and clean energy from the sun to reduce power bills.
The details were:
- Subscribers pay $895 (per home)
- A Beyond Building Energy BB Energy Saver 1000 solar pack consisting of solar panels and a grid interactive inverter is supplied.
- 1000 watts of solar panels will be fixed to your roof and a grid tie inverter installed by our BCSE accredited Installers.
- Energy suppliers connected systems to the electricity grid.
Note: Beyond Building Energy is no longer operating [link]
How was this possible?
- In May 2007 the Federal Government announced new rebates for homeowners to encourage the use of renewable energy. The BB Energy Saver 1000 Offer qualifies for the maximum Government rebate available – which was $8,000.
- With the rebate and RECs, $895 is all people paid.
- The rebate was planned to last 5 years. Numbers were limited – when the rebate ended, Beyond Building Energy’s offer of $895 must also finished.
The Solar Neighbourhoods offer reached full capacity. It was overwhelmed by demand!
Additional applicants from existing neighbourhoods or new sponsored neighbourhoods were offered a Sponsored Solar Neighbourhoods scheme.
Sponsored Solar Neighbourhoods bring together a sponsor’s access to credit with access to quality renewable energy products at a heavily discounted price.
The program works the same way as the neighbourhoods funded, except that a sponsor purchases the systems up front, and is repaid out of the rebates.
Sponsors include large employers, councils, demand reduction programs aimed at electricity utilities, companies looking to offset their emissions and philanthropists.
Sometimes the customers are the sponsor’s staff, or the neighbourhood of their facilities.
Sponsors typically provide storage and a coordinator as well as the finances.