South Australia Liberals pitch cheap solar for renters in lead-up to state election

South Australia’s Liberal Party has unveiled a $20 million policy pledge to deliver discounted rooftop solar systems for rental properties in Australia’s most renewable state, in a last-minute pitch to voters ahead of the March election.

The SA Liberal Party and its new leader Ashton Hurn on Sunday promised $40 million to fund two solar funding programs, one for renters and one for small businesses, in an effort to “make life more affordable.”

The announcement, published solely on Hurn’s Facebook account, says a $20 million fund would target landlords, offering a $2,000 grant plus a $2,000 interest free loan to install solar panels on their residential properties.

A second $20 million pool of funding would go to small businesses, offering access to up to $50,000 for purchasing and installing rooftop solar panels and batteries.

Hurn’s Liberals are facing bleak polling ahead of the March 21 poll where they will face off against the incumbent Labor Party, under the leadership of Peter Malinauskas, who has been in office since the 2022 election, and a resurgent One Nation Party.

Like the Queensland Liberals, the SA Libs’ pledge to drive rooftop solar uptake on rental properties is overshadowed by a distinct change of tone on renewables, aligning more closely with federal Liberal policy.

Since taking the helm in December, Hurn has suggested the party will abandon South Australia’s target of 100 per cent net renewables by 2027 – a target first set under the Marshall Liberal government in 2019.

South Australia, the country’s most advanced renewables grid, has averaged around 75 per cent renewables over the last 12 months and regularly hits levels of more than 100 per cent renewables.

The state government has an official target of reaching an average 100 per cent “net” renewables by the end of 2027, helped by the completion of a major new transmission link to NSW, and its growing fleet of big batteries which should reach around 20 by that time.

“Net” renewables means that the state will export surplus power to neighbouring states when needed (the output below zero in graph above), and also import power from those states at times (the purple blobs). Big batteries also play a prominent role (in blue), and account for up to 40 per cent of state demand at times in the evening peak.

Nevertheless, a policy promising to boost the rollout of solar on rental properties in the state has been welcomed, including by Solar Citizens, who called on South Australia’s other political parties to match or better the pledge.

“Right now one third of Australians who rent are currently locked out of the cost of living relief and carbon reduction benefits that cheap, clean rooftop solar power (backed by storage) provides,” said Heidi Lee Douglas, Solar Citizens CEO.  

“A four-person household with rooftop solar saves around $1,400 per year on their electricity bill.

“It’s encouraging that the SA Liberals are in step with the Queensland Liberal Government – who launched their Supercharged Solar for Renters scheme late last year. That scheme offers eligible landlords rebates of up to $3,500 to install solar on their rental properties.”

Queensland’s Liberal-National Party government launched its Supercharger Solar for Renters scheme in December – two days after they dumped the state’s renewable energy targets and pledged billions of dollars to prop up coal power.

Duelling policies

With the South Australian Liberals also stepping up to the plate to advocate for solar for renters and businesses, the logic behind the Liberal Party’s efforts to hinder renewable energy development continues to unravel.  

So far, the SA Liberals have not followed their federal counterparts’ in abandoning net zero. Hurn, however, also announced last month that a state Liberal government would “secure gas power generation for the future” under the guise of keeping “power bills under control”.

The duelling policy promises serve to highlight the current division in the Liberal Party in Australia and its inability to serve both its fossil fuel masters and the needs of Australians.

While welcoming the policy promise, Solar Citizens nevertheless thinks the SA Liberal Party can go further.

“The SA Liberal policy would be even more effective if it included rebates and loans for energy efficiency upgrades, and policy support for Mandatory Minimum Energy Efficiency in rental homes,” added Lee Douglas.

“This is an important policy gap that should be addressed this state election. South Australia does not have legislated, comprehensive, and mandatory minimum energy efficiency standards for rental properties.”

Solar Citizens’ Lee Douglas also highlighted that South Australia’s current policies and promises focus only on free-standing rental homes but not apartments.  

“That’s why we are calling for South Australian political parties to commit to a solution for people seeking solar for apartments: Urban Renewable Energy Zones (UREZ) pilots,” said Lee Douglas.

“This would activate big roofs in our town and cities by installing medium-scale rooftop solar and batteries on large commercial, industrial and public buildings, so this cheaper, clean energy can be shared locally to nearby rental homes and apartments.  

“Solar Citizens urges State, Local and Federal levels of government to work together to develop (UREZ) pilots, including in South Australia.”