Clean Technica said on their article that solar power adoption and use in Australia has greatly soared in the last decade. This makes solar power the most popular source of renewable energy in the country. Around 15% of all Australian homes have rooftop solar panels installed, but the difference in numbers among rental properties and owner-occupied properties is huge.
Today, Australia’s 2 million rental homes have gained access to cheaper solar energy under an innovative Digital Solar scheme that enables landlords to earn money while their tenants’ savings goes up. The scheme divides the savings between homeowners and their tenants. This scheme can make a big portion of the residential market to gain to affordable access renewable energy technology.
This arrangement will save tenants about $300/year on their electricity bill while the landlord will make an average of $1500/year on profits, the installation costs is good for 4-6 years. This is scheme has big potential because only 1% of Australian rental homes have solar panels installed.
The question now many people are asking is why are rentals not turning solar into a revenue stream? Well, it has not been profitable for homeowners in investing in solar panels so that the tenants can enjoy the benefits. This is a widespread issue in many countries including the UK, Japan, the US and Australia. This is where the company Matters comes in. Their plan is to make system earn profits for homeowners to install solar systems through the Digital Solar Solution. It’s a part service, part gadget solution which enables landlords to get the correct meter reading and the amount of solar energy tenants are using.
The presence of climate change is the reason use of clean energy is more important than ever before. By making it more profitable for landlords to install solar panels on their investment properties, the company Matter is hoping to increase the number the number of solar systems installed on rooftops of rental properties across Australia.
All the alternatives we can get and all the pricing schemes that can make solar energy cheaper should be taken into consideration.