By Olivia Condous
Twelve suburbs in the City of Melton were in the top ten postcodes with the highest number of solar panel installations in western Victoria, according to data released by electricity distribution company Powercor.
According to Powercor, the number of households with rooftop solar panels increased by 16 per cent last year to a total of 175,000 in western Victoria.
Melton suburbs such as Melton West, Kurunjang, Harkness, Melton South, Cobblebank and more were in the top ten postcodes.
Melton West resident Alexandra Sankari said installing solar panels had made a “huge difference” to their utilities bills.
Ms Sankari said their summer electricity bill would normally amount to $400, but after installing solar panels at the start of this year their bill was only $60.
“We had already seen the benefits of having the solar panels because the cost of paying for electricity had significantly reduced,” she said.
“Obviously the cost of groceries has gone up and the cost of petrol so… we were able to put [extra money] into that area.”
Ms Sankari admitted she thought the government solar rebate program was a “gimmick” initially, but after seeing some of her neighbours making the switch she realized the benefits were real.
“We really are so grateful that we got it done.”
Truganina was among the suburbs with the highest number of solar panels in the region as of January this year, with 15,343 installations across the 3029 postcode, making up more than forty per cent of households.
Caroline Springs also ranked high on the list, with 5920 installations across the 3023 postcode.
CitiPower and Powercor general manager of electricity networks Mark Clarke said the increased number of installations would see current technologies like rooftop solar and pave the way for electric vehicles, virtual power plants and more into the future.
“These solar enablement works allow our customers to export their excess solar, while also supporting Victoria to reduce emissions and increase the use of clean energy generated by customers at home.”
