Many homeowners unaware of solar rebates

Australian Property Investors Magazine – Posted on Thursday, May 27 2010 at 12:00 AM

Only half of Australian homeowners are aware of the rebates available to help them be more environmentally friendly and cut household energy bills, a Newspoll survey suggests.

At the same time, a poll conducted by PRDnationwide has found homes with ‘green’ features could achieve higher values.

Fifty-eight per cent of respondents to the PRDnationwide poll said they felt environmentally efficient features could help boost values.

“It really is a question at the moment of ‘at what cost’ are they willing to pay to have their own environment friendly home,” says PRDnationwide managing director Jim Midgley.

The poll revealed that 30 per cent of respondents would pay up to $10,000 more for a ‘green’ home, while 16 per cent of home hunters would bump up their buying price by between $10,000 and $30,000, and nine per cent would fork out an additional $30,000.

“The research shows that installing enviro-friendly features could make the difference to potential buyers, possibly as much as a nicely finished kitchen or bathroom would,” said Midgley.

According to the poll, water-saving features rank highest, followed by solar energy features.

PRDnationwide research director Aaron Maskrey expects enviro-friendly additions to the home will out-rank landscaping as a value-adder and compete with room renovations.

“Buyers are interested in anything that has been installed that they don’t have to including tanks, grey water and solar,” says PRDnationwide New Farm director Adam Gray.

The Federal Government currently offers a $1000 rebate to those replacing electric water heaters with a solar hot water system, and some state governments also offer additional rebates.

Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are also available for the installation of solar systems, which can save consumers up to another $1000 on the cost of a hot water system.