NSW Solar Banks rebates of up to 50% in strata to reduce cost-of-living

In October 2023, the NSW government opened up $10m of co-funding for EV charging infrastructure in strata buildings. 28th February 2025 saw the launch of $25m by Anthony Albanese and Chris Minns of Solar for Apartments (SoAR)  rebates. These are for solar systems which feed solar power into individual apartments to reduce cost-of-living pressures....

28 Pembroke St Ashfield, with 9 lots and an Allume Energy Solar Sharing System is the site for the ministerial announcement of Solar Banks for NSW.

The press release with quotes from Anthony Albanese, Chris Bowen and Penny Sharpe can be found here.

If you have 13 minutes to spare, we recommend that you watch Wattblock's overview of the Solar for Apartments Residents (SoAR) incentive here.

If you have 50 minutes to spare, we recommend that you watch our recent interview with Cameron Knox of Allume Energy on the Solar Banks/SoAR funding programs for stratas in Victoria, ACT and NSW. The video is here.

Otherwise, read on....

"The Australian Government is partnering with the New South Wales Government to provide $30 million for 2 solar banks programs.
The programs will support:

• apartment residents through rebates for body corporates to install shared rooftop solar in multi-unit dwellings
• renters and low-income households to access the benefits of solar, such as subsidising a plot in a solar garden.

The Australian Government will provide a further $1 million for community clean energy projects in the Far South Coast."

Duplexes which are technically strata buildings will not be able to participate in the SoAR rebates. We covered why in this article "The missing middle of solar on strata" which is here. It's too easy for duplexes to install solar themselves with little to no red-tape. This program will be for apartment buildings with between 3 and 55 lots.

Some other eligibility criteria include:
Installs must be completed by March 2026 for successful applicants.
50% co-funding capped at $150,000 per apartment block
Applications close 1st December 2026 or when funding runs out (expect it to run out within months)
Mustn't have any solar system installed in the last 10 years (i.e. individual townhouses, but common area is probably OK)
Payback needs to be under 10 years
Common area meter can be connected but can't be over 40% of total solar generated (i.e. 60% of solar has to flow into individual apartments)
Cost has to be borne by ALL owners in the building (on unit entitlements basis) so can't be for a subset of owners
Essential meterboard upgrades can be included
Waterproofing work directly under the solar system can be included
Only for strata buildings, not for company title
Can't be financed via a power purchase agreement, has to be an upfront capex payment for the solar system
Not more than 30% of the solar generated can feed into the grid as export
Doesn't include batteries but you can apply for NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme for batteries which you want to incorporate
Requires 3 competing quotations from solar installers
Needs a letter from an embedded network provider (if connecting a single solar system to the embedded network and making use of the embedded network operator's billing system to apportion the solar savings)
Strata schemes need to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system, that it is value for money, method is sound and the strata scheme is capable to complete the project.

Also, standalone common area solar systems which power house services such as lifts, lighting, ventilation systems etc will not be eligible for Solar Banks/SoAR funding.

The target of the program is to reduce the cost of living in up to 10,000 residential lots in NSW,  which have traditionally been locked out of solar.

That means you have three choices as a strata scheme. If you are a Class 2 townhouse complex (i.e. you have a common underground basement carpark) with 3 to 55 lots, then you can get a quote to install individual solar systems for each townhouse as a bulk install by the same installer. You will have to get ALL owners agreeing to install at the same time.

The second choice is to use Allume Energy's "Solshare" system. Each Allume Energy Solshare can connect to up to 15 single phase individual lot meters to a shared solar system (or 14 individual lot meters and a single phase common area meter or 12 individual lot meters and a three phase common area meter). If you have more lots, then you need to buy more Solshares. In NSW, there are deployments of up to 4 x Solshares for a single apartment block. If your strata building is a medium rise or a high rise and has more than 55 lots it is not eligible for Solar Banks/SoAR funding. ​If you want to see examples of NSW strata buildings using Allume Energy Solshare, you can review this blog here.

The third choice is for the 1% of NSW strata buildings which have embedded networks. If a new solar system is connected to the parent/gate meter and the embedded network operator apportions solar savings to individual apartments, then that is a model which is eligible for co-funding.

Connecting solar to NSW apartment blocks is a bit more involved than Victorian apartment blocks. That is because Victoria did a statewide smart meter upgrade and all the apartment blocks are already upgraded to smart meters. In NSW, it has been apartment owner requested smart meter upgrades to this point in time. NSW Solar Banks/SoAR funding will cover essential upgrades to meter panels, that might be required, as a precursor project to installing solar which feeds into the individual apartments but this cost cannot exceed 10% of the entire project cost. It will also cover waterproofing works directly under the solar systems.

In the ACT, a solar finance company called Brighte (backed by billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes) is providing administration of the Solar Banks program and also arranging a 50% loan to strata schemes which are eligible for the 50% rebate. This allows Owners Corporations to avail themselves of a $0 dollar down solar solution for their apartment block. NSW Strata financier, Lannock, has announced that it is working with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to develop a strata loan which can complement the SoAR grant. The article is here.

NSW has an advantage over Victoria in that in 2021, the NSW government passed the Sustainability Infrastructure Amendment to the NSW Strata Schemes Management act. This reduced the voting threshold for installing solar from a 75% threshold special resolution to a 50% threshold, via a sustainability infrastructure resolution. Watch a video on this here.

Now, back to the EV charging infrastructure grants in NSW. When the NSW government portal opened up in October 2023, the program was oversubscribed within 6 weeks and they shut the portal to new registrations. Expect the solar applications to close in a short period of time. In NSW the number of strata buildings which have already received a solar feasibility study inclusive of solar sharing, but haven't yet installed solar sharing, is greater than the number of stratas which will be given grant funding in the first round of NSW Solar Banks/SoAR.

In Victoria, one strata management company bulk uploaded over 150+ applications for their own strata buildings into the Solar Banks portal. That one strata management company went on to secure more than $2.5m of government funding for 892 individual lots across their portfolio. Expect strata management companies to do the same thing in NSW. 

Also, in the Victorian program over 80% of the successfully funded strata applicants presented solutions involving the unique, Australian made Allume Energy "Solshare" system. If there were additional connection points to the Allume Solshare in the Victorian program, it was possible to connect up a common area meter to the Solshare, as long as the Solshare was primarily connected to individual lot electricity meters. In NSW it will be possible to connect the common area meter to a solar sharing system as long as 60% of the solar power flows into individual apartments and not more than 40% of the solar power flows into the common area meter.

There is another segment to the NSW Solar Banks funding, which wasn't in the Victorian or ACT schemes. That is renters and low-income owners will be able to get assistance buying solar panels in an "offsite" solar farm. This type of arrangement has come to be known as a "Solar Garden". The most famous of these is Haystacks. Watch a video on Offsite Solar and Strata apartment buildings here. This section of the program hasn't been announced yet.

Download the 12 Steps to "SoAR" Process here

​Wattblock ran a number of EV charging infrastructure tenders to help strata schemes evaluate and select installers for the NSW government EV charging infrastructure grants programs. Examples of these include Wharf Terraces (Woolloomooloo), 10 co-located strata schemes in Waterloo Divercity/Rise, Presidio (Erskineville), Locarno by Mirvac (Forest Lodge) and The Gantry which was 6 co-located strata schemes in Camperdown.

Wattblock has been running solar tenders for shared solar systems using Allume Energy's Solshare over the past 9 years. We are well positioned to assist simple to complex strata schemes "go-to-market" and find the best solar installer on a fee-for-advice basis. We don't receive any kickbacks or commissions from any solar installers, solar equipment providers or energy retailers and we don't provide any kickbacks to any strata managers. We don't receive any annuity income on solar finance opportunities from any strata lenders. Wattblock can also provide an online "Solar Sharing Survey" for $499 to strata schemes which want to survey their residents to see if there is enough interest in applying for the Solar Banks/SoAR grant.

However, if you want to find your own solar installer for the NSW Solar Banks/SoAR program, you can try out Electrify Strata Installer Directory which is here. Type "Allume" into the Google search toolbar at the top of the map to find strata experienced solar installers who are accredited to install Allume Energy Solshare. Our list of Top 40 solar installers for strata is here.

Additional resources which may assist you on your NSW Solar Banks for strata journey are:
A map of NSW apartment buildings with Solar Sharing installed is here.
Solar Readiness for Strata online training course here.
40 videos on solar for strata here.
​Find all government rebates and incentives available to NSW strata schemes here. This includes a separate battery rebate as part of the NSW government's Peak Demand Reduction Scheme at 5A)
20 videos of strata committee members talking about electrifying their strata buildings here.
Examples of Wattblock customers in NSW which have installed Allume Energy Solshare are here.
Connect with over 100 strata electrification "champions" on the Electrify Strata Whatsapp community here. We have setup a separate group in the Whatsapp community to discuss NSW Solar for Apartments (SoAR) grants. 
Read a guide to "Optimising Solar for Apartment Residents (SoAR) rebate for NSW strata" here.

To go to the NSW government page and start your application, click here. Ask your strata manager for the last annual financial statement and your strata insurance policy (which must show public liability insurance on it), as you will need these documents to make it through the expression of interest stage. Best to get in the queue early!

Brent Clark
​Contributor, Strata Energy News