Solar scheme aims to power up Eyre Peninsula homes and businesses

A community solar power scheme for the Eyre Peninsula aims to help thousands of people move towards renewable energy and provide a shot in the arm for the region’s economy.

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Eyre Peninsula councils will band together in a bid to help thousands of homes and businesses install solar panels and batteries.

Peter Scott, economic development manager at Regional Development Australia Whyalla & Eyre Peninsula, said the scheme aimed to address power shortages in the region and help people save money on their electricity bills.

“We want to keep the lights on and the beer cold while people watch the footy,” Mr Scott said of the Energy on Eyre project.

“The goal we have is to fill up people’s roofs with solar so they have more money to spend in the local economy.”

Mr Scott’s organisation, along with the Eyre Peninsula Local Government Association, has already received expressions of interest from about 400 people interested in the scheme. It will offer quotes from three companies to supply solar panels or batteries, rather than traditional bulk-buy schemes which favoured one company to the detriment of other suppliers.

Mr Scott said consultation had found many locals had not pursued solar because they did not know “how to do it or who to trust”.

“We’re doing all the ground work and making sure that the companies can offer all the latest products that are available,” he said. “We’re not here to put solar on people’s roofs who are ready to go – we’re trying to chip away at those who are stuck.”

The project, which Mr Scott said eventually aimed to see every home and business on the peninsula with panels, would also take advantage of government rebates and loan schemes.

He said that would make it affordable for pensioners, along with the rest of the community across the region’s 11 councils.

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