Australian minister wants more federal funding for home solar, batteries

Australia’s minister for climate change and energy, Chris Bowen, has used his ministerial referral powers to direct ARENA to consider funding community solar electrification projects.
Communities across Australia are already benefiting from the clean energy revolution and Bowen said his move could accelerate the rollout of rooftop solar, residential batteries, energy efficient appliances, and shared community energy storage.
The minister said ARENA funding will enable projects to act as test beds for the regulatory changes needed to scale up renewable energy use and to examine how government support can help achieve electrification.
“ARENA pilot projects supporting home electrification will help create valuable insights into how households can transition to renewables and smart energy systems to cut energy costs and reduce emissions,” said Bowen.
The plan is to build on the Electrify 2515 Community Pilot program, which secured AUD 5.4 million ($3.38 million) of ARENA funding in late 2024 to support the electrification of 500 homes in the Illawarra region of New South Wales.
ARENA-backed electrification projects are underway in South Australia and the Northern Territory and the agency has been directed to look at supporting projects in the Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania.
“It is important that suburb-wide or community electrification demonstration projects are trialed in every state and territory in Australia to feed vital information and data back to ARENA, energy and electricity network companies, and governments about how best to roll out household electrification around the country,” added Bowen.
Federal body ARENA is expected to call for electrification projects that demonstrate clear community benefits. Installations will be subject to an independent assessment by the agency’s board.
Saul Griffith, co-founder and chief scientist at nonprofit Rewiring Australia welcomed the move, saying he expected the projects to deliver rich insights into how consumers and tradespeople use and install technology.
“Rural, regional and suburban households have the most to gain from electrification but more research is needed to understand how to make it easy and affordable for everyone,” said Griffith. “If Australia wants to lead the world, we need to understand consumers and installer sentiment and purchasing decisions, shape local government and energy regulatory policies and practices, and create new business models to deliver the change.”
From pv magazine Australia.