Over half a megawatt of solar and 26 Powerwall batteries have been sold through the MASH and Hepburn Community Solar Bulk-Buys in the last three months. This equates to 136 systems purchased by households in the Macedon Ranges Shire, Mount Alexander Shire, Hepburn Shire and the Bendigo region.
The total value of systems ordered is just over $1m, with the resulting benefits for the local economy as the solar installations are being carried out by a Bendigo-based solar retailer, Cola Solar, who employs local installers. Once these systems are installed, there will be around $10,000 raised for the community bonus ‘kitty’ for these regions. This will mean more free solar for community groups and schools in the region.
“We ask every person who requests a quote what their motivation is and we are finding that the top three reasons are to cut electricity bills, to help cut CO2 emissions and to become more energy independent,” said Jo Kaptein, organiser of the MASH and Hepburn Solar Bulk-Buys which are owned and managed by the not-for-profit Castlemaine-based Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance.
“Solar is a mainstream purchase item with 2.5 million Australian households now with a solar rooftop,” said Jo. “The recognition of the financial benefits of going solar are well recognised. With government rebates at current attractive levels, the out-of-pocket cost for getting a high quality system installed has been cut significantly.”
“I’m particularly excited about the strong uptake in the Powerwall 2 battery,” said Jo. “We’ve been holding lots of Zoom Info Meetings about solar as well as batteries and the interest in the battery zoom sessions is particularly strong with sometimes over 50 people at a session. Given that a Powerwall is still a big ticket item at just under $15k before the state government battery rebate – and the fact that there’s limited supply of the battery rebate at the moment – it’s pretty amazing that this many have been sold. It just shows that the appetite for greater energy independence amongst households is huge.
“The feedback from the customer surveys we send out is really positive too, which is very good news”, said Jo. “Our solar supplier, Cola Solar, is going a great job for customers and they are responding with some very positive comments like the ones below:
Very happy with the install and the relatively quick time period to go from enquiring to producing power from the sun.
I was attracted to the local-community-in-action aspect of the offer. The whole exercise proceeded in a drama-free manner with no hiccups, resulting in a system that met all our expectations. What’s not to love?
Cola Solar admin staff were excellent. The installation crew were fantastic. Everything was done in a professional and timely manner.
To learn more about the bulk-buy program and to request a quote call 1300 466 274 or visit mash.org.au.
There’s good news for landlords and renters looking for more financial help to get solar panels installed on their rental properties.
