State launches rooftop solar for renters rebate into renewables policy vacuum

Queensland’s Liberal-National Party government has launched its new Supercharger Solar for Renters scheme, offering rebates of up to $3,500 to eligible landlords who install rooftop PV systems on their rental properties. 

The $26.3 million scheme, launched two days after the LNP officially dumped the state’s renewable energy targets, and pledged billions of dollars to prop up coal power, is a remarkably progressive policy for a government that seems hell-bent on taking the energy transition backwards.

According to state Treasury, the rebate promises to save 6,500 households that are traditionally excluded from the benefits of rooftop solar around $700 a year on their power bills.

The policy has also been designed to make the rebates available only to eligible Queensland rental properties with existing tenancy agreements, ensuring immediate benefits for tenants.

“Queenslanders’ love of rooftop solar is evident, with 40 per cent of the state’s households adopting it,” said state energy minister and treasurer David Janetzki in a statement last week. 

“This program ensures the strong take up continues and renters also reap the benefits.” 

Landlords looking to take advantage of the Supercharged Solar for Renters program must also live in Australia and secure tenant or body corporate consent. 

Only one rebate per rental property is allowed, but rebates for up to three properties can be secured as long as the property is in Queensland, individually metered, and rented for $1,000 or less per week. 

More eligibility details and information about how to apply can be found here. 

The Crisafulli government pledged to launch the Supercharged Solar for Renters program in its election campaign, last year, as a follow-up on a program previously trialled by the former Labor government back in 2019. 

The then $2 billion Affordable Energy Plan offered up to 1,000 households in Bundaberg, Townsville, and Gladstone rebates of up to $3,500 to encourage rental property owners and their tenants to install rooftop solar systems. 

That trial was allocated $4 million in funding and restricted to properties whose rent was set at $350 or less per week. Landlords and tenants were also required to agree upon a rental increase. 

Hundreds of landlords in the three cities reportedly took advantage of the program, but it was nevertheless left to lapse. 

“We promised to restore this vital program, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” said Janetzki.

“It’s a win-win-win, easing costs for renters, enhancing property values for landlords, all while supporting renewable energy adoption in Queensland.

“The Crisafulli government is committed to a diversified energy mix. As outlined in our Energy Roadmap, solar will play an integral role in long-term stability in the network and to help meet future demand,” Janetzki said.

The Crisafulli government’s commitment to a diversified energy mix is less evident in the big picture of its Energy Roadmap Amendment Act 2025, however, which  dedicates $1.6 billion to propping up coal and just $400 million to be divided between renewables, storage and gas.

As Renew Economy has reported, pushing for more rooftop solar while also pushing to keep increasingly unreliable baseoload coal in the system is a counter-intuitive approach to the energy transition that is likely to further challenge coal and/or potentially force rooftop solar curtailment.

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