Australia is making it cheaper for businesses to install rooftop solar, opening a much larger opportunity for factories, warehouses, farms and other commercial buildings to generate their own clean electricity. Under the expanded support, solar systems of up to 1 megawatt can receive assistance, compared with the previous 100-kilowatt limit. The government expects the change to reduce the upfront cost of medium-sized business solar installations by around 20%, with some larger businesses able to save as much as $200,000. Australia is already a world leader in household rooftop solar, with solar installed on roughly one in three homes, but business rooftops still represent a huge and largely underused source of renewable energy.
This is more than just another solar incentive. For Australian businesses facing high electricity costs, putting panels on the roof can mean producing electricity where it is actually needed, reducing dependence on the grid and lowering emissions at the same time. The government is also working to make approvals and grid connections easier because cheaper panels alone will not be enough if businesses have to wait too long to connect their systems. The next phase of Australia’s solar story may therefore be above our workplaces rather than our homes—with warehouses, factories and farms turning their enormous rooftops into clean-energy generators. More