Illustration: Matt Golding Credit: The scheme, announced in the lead-up to the 2018 state election, promised to install energy panels on 650,000 homes. Home owners excited at the $2225 subsidy for each new solar system flooded the program and in July the allocation for installations was gone within 60 hours. However, the scheme has sparked anger within the solar installation industry, with hundreds of solar installers rallying at Parliament House last week over problems with the program. The Smart Energy Council said businesses had been forced to lay off staff and some have been forced to close down. They have called for urgent changes to the scheme.

"You are more likely to encounter a unicorn in Victoria today, than meet someone who was successful in securing a rebate," the council's chief executive John Grimes said on Thursday. "Because there are so few rebates, and such high demand, we estimate that around 90 per cent of customers who had accepted a quote, and are eligible, missed out. "And that does not count the thousands of Victorian households who want to access the scheme to slash their power bills." He said a survey undertaken by the council of 60 Victorian solar businesses on Wednesday found 80 per cent of solar businesses polled had either closed or were concerned they will close as a result of the Solar Homes Program.

"I've already had businesses contact me [today] telling me they're considering getting out of solar altogether because they don't have the resources to weather a fifth month of not having revenue." Loading Just in the last two weeks three solar businesses he knew of had gone into liquidation, putting 60 Victorians out of jobs, he said. "It's heart wrenching. These are good people, good companies, they're long-term players who do quality work and they're the ones who are being hurt." "The Solar Homes Program has been a catastrophe for the Victorian solar industry. The Premier must announce major changes to the program today," said Mr Grimes.

ECG Electrical Victoria director Elias Ellis, whose business has been struggling since the introduction of the scheme, said the latest announcement had him teetering on the edge of giving up. "I'm ready to close my doors, I'm haemorrhaging money," he said. He said his business had gone from a flourishing operation in April to barely being able to keep on its employees in June. "I was doing 30 installations a month in April. Last month I did four. This month I'd be lucky to do a handful more than that. "I've lost hundreds of thousands of dollars because our costs don't go away and we're trying to keep our staff working.

"What a screw-up this program is." A new agency, Solar Victoria, was established to roll out the program, and the former boss of the government’s Victorian Cladding Taskforce, Stan Krpan, was put in charge. You are more likely to encounter a unicorn in Victoria today, than meet someone who was successful in securing a rebate. John Grimes, Smart Energy Council chief executive The program was designed to bring the number of homes in Victoria with solar panels to 1 million within a decade – the carbon emissions savings equivalent of almost 4 million tonnes, or of removing 1 million of Victoria’s 4.6 million cars off the road. Energy minister Lily D'Ambrosio said she made "no apologies" for the scheme.

"This is a significant change in the way the solar industry operates and we’re working with the sector to help them adapt – but we make no apologies for making it cheaper and easier for families to install solar and take control of their energy bills." "We always knew there would be huge demand for this program," she said, adding it was designed in consultation with industry. With Clay Lucas