{"id":741018,"date":"2026-06-16T22:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T22:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/741018\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T22:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T22:10:15","slug":"interest-free-loans-and-cash-subsidies-available-to-nsw-residents-for-renewable-energy-uptake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/741018\/","title":{"rendered":"Interest-free loans and cash subsidies available to NSW residents for renewable energy uptake"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interest-free loans and cash subsidies are being offered by the New South Wales government to encourage the uptake of renewable energy measures like solar panels and household batteries.<\/p>\n

From today, home owners with a combined household income of $210,000 or less can apply for a 10-year loan of up to $15,000 at zero interest.<\/p>\n

The government will fund $480 million worth of loans, meaning 32,000 households could borrow the maximum amount.<\/p>\n

Premier Chris Minns said the new scheme was a practical way to help ease the pressure of energy bills on the cost of living.<\/p>\n

“For many households, the up-front cost of these upgrades has simply been too high,” Mr Minns said.<\/p>\n

“We’re stepping in to help where we can, so more families can access technology that lowers their bills and makes their homes more comfortable.”<\/p>\n

\"Men<\/p>\n

The state government will fund $480 million worth of loans. (ABC News: Peter Garnish)<\/p>\n

Cash subsidies of up to $4,000 for energy-saving upgrades will be available to concession card holders and households earning less than $80,000 a year.<\/p>\n

Renters will be able to access the payments provided that their landlord approves the upgrade.<\/p>\n

The up-front payments are set to begin later this year and will cost taxpayers $77 million.<\/p>\n

Those eligible are encouraged to apply for the cash first and seek a loan for the remaining cost of the improvement.<\/p>\n

‘More efficient technology’\"Ms<\/p>\n

Ms Sharpe says the scheme will help more families upgrade their homes. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)<\/p>\n

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Penny Sharpe said the program would give more families access to better technology.<\/p>\n

“Every household that upgrades to more efficient technology is playing a part in NSW’s energy future,” Ms Sharpe said.<\/p>\n

Eligible home improvements include rooftop solar, batteries and switchboard upgrades, as well as ceiling insulation, draught-proofing and double glazing.<\/p>\n

The scheme also covers appliances like solar water heaters, reverse cycle air conditioning, induction cooktops, EV chargers and DC ceiling fans.<\/p>\n

Funding was first allocated in the 2024-25 budget, with the initiative in development since then.<\/p>\n

People will be able to use the state program on top of the federal government’s home batteries scheme, which cuts up-front installation costs by around 30 per cent.<\/p>\n

The government said more than one in two houses in New South Wales already had solar panels and 13,000 batteries were being installed each month.<\/p>\n

How long will it take to pay off?<\/p>\n

Smart Energy Council chief executive David McElrea said a battery and solar system can range from $10,000 to $40,000 depending on size and the electrification needs of homes.<\/p>\n

He said systems paid themselves off within seven years through cost savings, but with the government scheme it could be paid off in as soon as four years.<\/p>\n

“You can even sell electricity back into the grid and it also means that you have some control over your own energy usage,” he said.<\/p>\n

“So it is the best investment you can make in bringing down cost of living.”<\/p>\n

Mr McElrea said there was increased demand for solar batteries in response to federal government subsidies and that he hoped New South Wales would experience the same.<\/p>\n

“There’s been very strong demand, partly because the federal government has provided a generous subsidy for batteries,” he said.<\/p>\n

“That subsidy is winding down a bit \u2026 I think New South Wales can get ahead of other states and drive increased demand, and the more people that can get access to a battery or solar, the better.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Interest-free loans and cash subsidies are being offered by the New South Wales government to encourage the uptake…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":741019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[357427,64,63,13727,99,357426,68,2610,132406,116011,357424,90678,65158,84867,357428,2733,27990,25271,165517,8146,357423,11144,253294,7128,8525,189964,357425],"class_list":["post-741018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-480-million","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-battery","tag-business","tag-cash-subsidy","tag-climate-change","tag-cost-of-living","tag-energy-efficient-home","tag-home-owners","tag-household-batteries","tag-interest-free","tag-loans","tag-minns-government","tag-new-energy-scheme","tag-nsw","tag-nsw-premier","tag-penny-sharpe","tag-premier-chris-minns","tag-renewable-energy","tag-renewable-energy-subsidies","tag-renters","tag-smart-energy-council","tag-solar","tag-solar-panels","tag-taxpayer-funded","tag-zero-interest-loan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=741018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/741019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=741018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=741018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=741018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}