About

The Victorian Community Solar Alliance (VCSA) is an unincorporated alliance of over 25 organisations committed to fostering a sustainable energy future that is led, owned, or operated by the community.

VCSA or simply the ‘Solar Alliance’ consists of community solar organisations (CSOs) from across Victoria who are working to develop community-based approaches to installing, generating, and distributing renewable energy, as well as removing barriers and helping to scale up the community energy sector.

The Solar Alliance was formed in 2015 to:

• Grow a strong and unified voice for community energy in Victoria
• Help secure policy change and seed funding to help stimulate the Victorian community energy sector
• Collaboratively respond to relevant Government enquiries and reviews
• Identify key barriers and solutions to help scale the community solar sector and provide ethical investment pathways for the clean energy transition
• Deliver key projects designed to fill gaps in the sector, such as the Community Solar Toolkit

Moreland Energy Foundation (MEFL) and Community Power Agency (CPA) are founding members and remain key sector support groups as part of the Solar Alliance.

Find out more:

Community Solar Toolkit Project Partners

Participating Community Solar Organisations

What is Community Energy?

Community-owned renewable energy, or ‘community energy’ (CE) describes a group of people coming together to participate in, develop, deliver and benefit from a renewable energy resource or energy efficiency initiative. CE projects typically involve grassroots community members working together to initiate renewable energy projects that provide cascading benefits back in to the local community.

Every CE project is different and is developed to suit each community’s unique needs and context. Local communities can benefit from these types of projects in a number of ways as shown in the figure to the right, and can create positive dynamics with far-reaching effects across a local area, region and beyond.

Community solar is a form of community energy which typically utilises solar photovoltaic (solar PV) technology to generate clean energy for project partners and in many current models, a financial return for community-based investors.

Find out more

Frontier Impact Group – Behind the Meter Solar PV Funding Guidebook

Guide to Community-Owned Renewable Energy for Victorians

Types of Community Energy projects

Community energy projects come in many different forms and can vary based on technology, governance, size, funding and motivations. Some of the leading examples in Australia include:

• Supplying local renewable energy e.g. Hepburn Wind, RePower Shoalhaven, Lismore Community Solar, Bendigo Sustainability Group, Clearsky Solar, Geelong Sustainability Group
• Programs delivering energy advice, products and services e.g. Moreland Energy Foundation’s Positive Charge
• Local renewable energy and climate change strategies e.g. Totally Renewable Yackandandah, Zero-Net Energy Uralla, Moreland’s Zero Carbon Evolution
• Community owned electricity retailers e.g. Enova 

The Community Solar Portal focuses on behind-the-meter solar PV projects as they are currently one of the most financially and technically viable options in the Australian context, easily scaled and achievable within a short time period.

Community solar organisations or CSOs take many forms in Australia, from ‘for-purpose’ social enterprises, to trading and non-profit co-operatives. These models are all designed to bring ownership of small to medium scale solar projects within the reach of local communities, while ensuring that a broad range of social benefits are created as a result.

Find out more

Guide to Community-Owned Renewable Energy for Victorians

Frontier Impact Group Community Energy Funding Toolkit

Community Energy in Australia

Community energy is relatively new to Australia, however over the past five years the sector has grown from a handful of operating projects to around 100 projects under development nationally and over 70 installed.

In Victoria, there are over 40 individual projects or communities developing models to enable greater community participation, empowerment and ownership of Australia’s rapidly transforming energy sector. The sector continues to show strong growth and the Community Solar Portal is designed to address key resource gaps and minimise risk to support continued development of the sector.

Since 2015, the Victorian Government has provided strong support for the development of the community energy sector through the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and Sustainability Victoria. This includes:

• Grant programs – New Energy Jobs Fund and Climate Change Innovation Grants
• Information and resources – Guide to Community-Owned Renewable Energy for Victorians
• Pilot programs and other initiatives – Community Power Hubs, and Zero Net Energy Town Hepburn

Key community energy sector resources

Frontier Impact Group Community Energy Funding Toolkit– a comprehensive resource to assist community energy groups develop and deliver community energy projects, with a strong focus on behind-the-meter solar PV projects.

Coalition for Community Energy webinar series – videos on a range of community energy topics

Embark Wiki – online best-practice toolkit, offering information and advice on a wide range of community energy issues

Community Power Agency – resources, support, advocacy and research on community energy

New solar business models are being developed by many of the community solar organisations involved in this project, as well as broader Solar Alliance members and many other groups across the country. A key driver for many projects is to enable consumers who may not otherwise be able to put solar on their own roofs to access the benefits of distributed generation. These customers include businesses, apartment dwellers, renters and low-income households.

The Community Solar Portal showcases local projects that utilise the community investment model. Under this model, capital is raised by opening up investment to community investors with the expectation that member-shareholders will receive a modest return on their investment. Community solar projects are increasingly attracting funding through alternative methods such as community investment as there are a number of additional benefits including generating local economic activity and contributing to the clean energy transition.

The diagram below provides a high level example of a community investment model. This is a Power Purchase Agreement which involves the rooftop host entering a long-term contract with a community solar organisation to purchase electricity at an agreed rate. Investors receive a return on their investment through the sale of electricity.

There are a number of different community investment models available to community solar organisations to deliver projects. Frontier Impact Group and project partners have developed the Community Energy Funding Toolkit – a comprehensive resource to assist community energy groups develop and deliver community energy projects, with a strong focus on behind-the-meter solar PV projects. The Toolkit provides information on the types of funding available for community energy projects and guidance to increase the likelihood of securing funding for projects.

Find out more:

Information on investing in a Community Solar Project

See which projects are open for investment

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