Health Minister Katy Gallagher made the announcement at the GetUp climate change rally yesterday at Parliament House.

Under the plan, a Labor government would ask for expressions of interest from Canberrans who wanted to buy solar panels.

The ACT Government's purchasing agency would then put out a commercial tender for the panels and pass on the bulk-buy discount to consumers.

A similar plan was set up in Brisbane but hit a snag when the Federal Government tightened the rules for its $8000 solar panel rebate program.

Ms Gallagher said she was confident people who did not qualify for the federal solar panel rebate would still receive a massive saving.

''A 1kilowatt unit costs about $12,000 at the moment, in Queensland the bulk purchase brought that down to $8100,'' she said.

''So people eligible for the Commonwealth scheme they were paying about $100 for their unit, but here in the ACT for people that aren't eligible for the scheme it's still about a $4000 reduction in price.''

Liberal environment spokeswoman Vicki Dunne said the scheme did not provide a practical solution to installing solar energy.

''I think it's something that has merit but I think most importantly we should be looking at ensuring that we have good baseload solar in the ACT and that should be our first priority,'' she said.

''It's a proposal that has merit as a way of bringing down the cost but the scheme should be accompanied by a green loans scheme.'' Natasha Rudra