{"id":28961,"date":"2019-03-25T12:49:17","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T02:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=28961"},"modified":"2019-03-26T08:41:15","modified_gmt":"2019-03-25T22:11:15","slug":"agl-off-site-solar-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/agl-off-site-solar-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Off-Site Solar Scheme: Don’t Buy AGL’s Golden Handcuffs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"AGL

Tenants who ‘invest’ in AGL’s Offsite Solar are emotionally\u00a0handcuffed to their tariffs for 7 years<\/p><\/div>\n

If you are lucky enough to own an unshaded roof over your head, solar power is a no brainer.<\/p>\n

Millions of homeowners have realised this and, for those who have done it right<\/a>, they are living a life free of energy bill worries for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

But what about the 30% of Australians who rent? They are seemingly stuck having to pay electricity retailers for overpriced, dirty grid electricity.<\/p>\n

Over the last few years a number of innovative companies have created products to try to address this injustice, allowing landlords to install solar panels and share the benefits with their tenants<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately the weak link in all these schemes – to date – is\u00a0 they rely on a landlord being prepared to spend money on their investment property. I spent most of my life renting, and my experience of landlords is they are loath to spend even one cent more than they have to on their properties. Every landlord I ever had was pathologically tight; focused only on increasing their ‘yield’ by minimising any expense on their properties.<\/p>\n

If you ever meet me down the pub, ask me to tell you about taking my last landlord to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. He refused to get covers installed on the halogen downlights that were literally causing the insulation to smoulder1<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Because so few landlords are willing to spend on their properties, any solar-for-renters scheme needing the co-operation of a landlord has a severely limited market.<\/p>\n

AGL to the rescue?<\/h2>\n

Last month AGL put out a press release proclaiming:<\/p>\n

AGL has launched a new product that makes the savings from solar energy available to people living in households without traditional solar rooftop panels.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As a company that is committed to making energy more affordable for our customers and helping them manage their bills, AGL created this product to help the Australians who are not able to access the savings that solar energy can provide…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We believe this is the only product of its type in Australia available for the 80 percent of Australian households that do not have solar, including people who are renting, living in apartments, have unsuitable roofs, cannot afford it or move too often to justify the cost.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Customers who sign up to AGL Offsite Solar for $1 a day in the first year receive bill credits of about $50 per year plus loyalty credits of $33 per year in years two to seven.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is how it works: AGL own a commercial solar system on a factory in Wagga Wagga. They will ‘sell’ you the output of one of those solar panels for a 7 year period. The benefits come as dollars deducted from your electricity bill – which has to be an AGL bill.<\/p>\n

So does this AGL ‘Offsite Solar’ scheme allow tenants to finally share the benefits of solar energy without getting the landlord involved?<\/p>\n

Short answer: no. Longer answer follows.<\/p>\n

7 News Asked My Opinion<\/h2>\n

A couple of weeks ago, 7 News asked me for an opinion on the AGL scheme, prompting me to look closely at its details. You can see their final report here.<\/p>\n