The Victorian Government has officially closed applications for its interest-free home battery loan program, bringing an early end to an initiative designed to help households reduce the upfront cost of installing energy storage systems.
Launched in July 2023 by Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, the scheme offered interest-free loans of up to $8,800 to support the installation of home batteries alongside new or existing rooftop solar systems. The program aimed to deliver 4,500 loans.
However, the program has now concluded ahead of its scheduled end date of 30 June 2025, with Solar Victoria confirming it is no longer accepting new applications.
“Solar Victoria has now closed applications for its interest-free battery loans offering, now that targets for this incentive have been met,” the agency said in a statement. “That target has now been exceeded with hundreds more applications now being finalised, meaning that solar battery installations will continue to grow over the coming months.”
According to the 2025–26 state budget papers released last week, the scheme was expected to support more than 3,800 batteries during the 2024–25 financial year, in addition to the 2,036 batteries funded in 2023–24.
Despite the program’s apparent success, the state government indicated the associated performance measure is to be discontinued. Victorian Greens energy spokesperson Tim Read criticised the decision, calling it short-sighted.
“This was a sensible, low-risk scheme that let people take control of their energy bills and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels,” said Read. “Helping more people electrify their homes is One of the best ways to save energy bills and emissions. We should be scaling this up, not winding it down.”
The loan scheme formed part of the state’s broader $1.3 billion Solar Homes Program, replacing the previous battery rebate initiative. According to Solar Victoria, more than 20,000 solar battery systems have been installed across the state through a combination of rebates and loans.
Looking ahead, the federal government’s new $2.3 billion Cheaper Home Batteries Program, set to launch on 1 July, is expected to continue supporting the uptake of batteries. The initiative will provide an upfront rebate of approximately $370 per kilowatt-hour of usable battery capacity. It will apply to systems sized between 5 kWh and 100 kWh for households, small businesses, and community facilities—covering both on-grid and off-grid installations. For larger systems, up to 50 kWh of capacity will be eligible per site.
The federal rebate scheme will be administered under the existing Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) by the Clean Energy Regulator.