Hundreds of solar installers protested at a rally at Victoria’s Parliament House on Thursday morning.
Protesters say changes in the state government’s energy rebate program have caused major problems and slowdown in installations.
Victoria launched its ambitious plan of installing 1 million homes with solar panels within a decade in lead up to 2018 state elections.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced an energy rebate of $2225 for each of 650,000 homes who will get solar panels installed.
However, the government stopped the scheme in April and reopened it with a cap of almost 3,300 homes every month.
The decision has left many in a lurch.
Indian Australian Bharat Patel, a Business development manager with an instalment company Solar Miners told SBS Hindi, “Business is technically on a standstill, the government has introduced changes which are forcing companies to shut down.”
John Grimes, Chief executive officer of Smart Energy Council, in the rally, said, “The government says there is no problem and program is working well and they are not responsible for how installers run their business.”
A data on Solar Victoria website shows statewide installations jumped from 3,000 to almost 7,000 every month after the subsidy was announced in 2018.
Mr Patel says, “We just want the government to understand that making the process easy for consumers will help us saving up hundreds of jobs.”
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