15 February 2021

We’re happy to report that we’ve had a positive response to the call-out to the community for Solar Reference Group members. We are now in the final stages of sorting through applications, and will be in touch with all applicants as soon as possible to inform them of the outcome. We sincerely thank all of you who took the time to apply and for your interest in the Community Solar Program.

If you applied and don’t make it through to the reference group, please know that we have had a large number of people apply, and have based decisions on obtaining a broad and diverse group of community members that is representative of the broader Hobsons Bay community. There will be many other opportunities to get involved. Please click ‘+Follow’ at the top of the page to stay updated with solar events, updates and information sessions coming up this year.

Help shape the future of renewable energy in Hobsons Bay!

Contribute feedback, attend forums, or even nominate to become a member of Council's new Community Solar Reference Group - starting early 2021.

Hobsons Bay City Council is calling for community members to help shape the future of the Community Solar Program. This includes a range of ways to provide feedback, or for people who are willing to commit a bit more time, to join a Community Solar Reference Group, which will run from early February 2021.

The Community Solar Program is an extension of Council’s Large-Scale Solar installation program which includes the installation of solar panels on more than 40 Council buildings. The project includes a Virtual Energy Network (VEN) that will enable solar energy from all buildings to be distributed across Council-owned assets. In the longer term the VEN will allow the community to participate in what will become a Hobsons Bay Community Solar network. This could enable community members to opt-in to be a producer of energy, a user of energy, or both.

The Reference Group will be a small representative group of individuals that will provide input and guidance to Council on options for community access to the VEN and low cost locally produced renewable power. Members will bring a diversity of perspectives and experiences across Hobsons Bay and include different ages, genders, cultural backgrounds, tenants and homeowners and small and large business representatives - to ensure the group is broadly representative of the Hobsons Bay population.

There will be one meeting per month from late February to May 2021 (four meetings in total), with likely intermittent follow up meetings during the remainder of 2021. Meeting durations will be a maximum of 2 hours.

If this sounds like you and you would like to contribute, we encourage you to apply.

Click here to read the Guidelines, or click here to fill in an application form. Alternatively, these can be viewed in the Document Library to the right of this screen.

Please note, numbers are limited, however there will be a range of other ways that the community can be involved.

To find out more about the Reference Group and register your interest, you can:

Click the '+Follow' button at the top of the page to be updated about other ways to get involved, and to stay across all information, upcoming events and updates about the Hobsons Bay Community Solar Program.

Applications close at 11:59pm on Sunday 24 January 2021.