Solar Battery and Solar Panel Rebates in Australia (2026)

The current rebate for solar batteries is the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program. It takes around 30% off the upfront cost of an eligible battery installed with new or existing solar, delivered as small-scale technology certificates (STCs) that your installer or retailer takes off the price. For batteries installed from May to December 2026, each kWh of usable capacity earns 6.8 certificates for the first 14 kWh, less above that, and the rate steps down every six months until the end of 2030. At the $40 clearing house price, a 13.5 kWh battery installed now earns about 91 certificates, worth about $3,640.

Solar panels earn the same kind of certificates under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, a little fewer each year until it ends in 2030, and some states add their own rebate or loan. This guide explains how each is calculated and what is open as at 2 October 2026.

At a glance

The Cheaper Home Batteries Program: how the battery rebate works

The Cheaper Home Batteries Program started on 1 July 2025. It works through the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme: an eligible battery earns small-scale technology certificates, and the government buys the certificates created for batteries, so the program’s cost is not passed on to other electricity customers. Certificates are worked out on usable capacity, and only for the first 50 kWh.

Who is eligible for the solar battery rebate?

To be eligible, the battery must:

• have a nominal capacity of 5 kWh to 100 kWh;
• be connected to new or existing solar (portable batteries and electric vehicles do not count);
• be approved by the Clean Energy Council and installed by a Solar Accreditation Australia accredited installer;
• be capable of joining a virtual power plant, although joining one is not required.

State programs set their own conditions, covered below.

How to claim the battery rebate

You don’t apply to the government. The discount is delivered through the installer:

1. Get quotes from installers with Solar Accreditation Australia accreditation, and check the battery is on the Clean Energy Council’s approved list.
2. Check the quote shows the certificate discount separately, worked out for the expected installation date.
3. After installation, you assign the certificates to the installer or retailer, which either takes the discount off the price or pays it to you as a rebate.
4. Certificates must be created within 12 months of installation; the installer normally does this for you.

How many certificates a battery earns

Two things set the number: the STC factor for the installation period, and a taper by battery size. The factor applies in full to the first 14 kWh of usable capacity, at 60% for each kWh from 14 to 28 kWh, and at 15% for each kWh from 28 to 50 kWh.

These factors and the taper took effect on 1 May 2026, when the government reset the program to keep the discount at around 30% as battery prices fall.

What the discount is worth

For example, a battery with 13.5 kWh of usable capacity installed in October 2026 earns about 13.5 × 6.8 = 91 certificates. At $40 each, the government clearing house price (excluding GST), that is about $3,640. The Clean Energy Regulator reported that STC prices stayed close to $40 throughout the June quarter of 2026. Installed in January 2027 instead, the same battery would earn about 76 certificates, about $3,040.

Estimates from the published factors, rounded down to whole certificates and valued at $40 each. The REC Registry’s calculator gives the exact number. The discount is fixed by the installation date, not the date you sign the contract, so a delayed install can cost you money if it slips past a step-down date.

The Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES): the solar panel rebate

Each STC represents 1 MWh of renewable electricity a system is deemed to generate. For a solar panel system, the Clean Energy Regulator’s formula uses three things:

• System size in kW.
• Zone rating, which reflects how much sun your postcode gets. There are four zones, from Zone 1 (1.622) in the sunniest parts of the country to Zone 4 (1.185), which includes Melbourne, Tasmania and other southern areas.
• Deeming period: the number of years of output the system is credited with up front. It falls by one year every year until the scheme ends in 2030.

A rough estimate is kW × zone rating × deeming years, rounded down. For example, a 6.6 kW system in Zone 3 (rating 1.382) installed in 2026 would earn about 6.6 × 1.382 × 5 = 45 certificates, about $1,800 at $40 each. The Clean Energy Regulator’s calculator gives the exact number for your postcode.

What a certificate is worth

STCs are traded. Prices on the open market move with supply and demand, while the government’s STC clearing house price is set at $40 excluding GST, with no guarantee of how quickly certificates will sell there. In practice most households assign their certificates to the installer, whose quoted discount reflects the price it expects to get.

Conditions

To create certificates, the system must use approved products, be installed by a Solar Accreditation Australia accredited installer, and have its certificates created within 12 months of installation. Systems must be no larger than 100 kW. On 5 August 2026 the government announced that solar systems of up to 1 MW will become eligible, which mainly matters to businesses, farms and community facilities.

Can I combine federal and state battery rebates?

In two states, yes. As at 2 October 2026, NSW’s virtual power plant incentive and the WA Residential Battery Scheme can both be claimed on top of the federal discount. Elsewhere there is no state battery rebate open to combine with it.

State programs change often, so check the official page before you sign. The sections below cover each state.

State programs

Victoria

Solar Victoria’s solar panel rebate is worth up to $1,400, with an optional interest-free loan for the same amount. Owner-occupiers qualify if the combined taxable income of all owners is under $150,000, the property is worth less than $3 million and no solar system has been installed at the address in the past 10 years; a separate stream covers rental properties. You must use an authorised retailer. Solar Victoria is no longer taking applications for battery loans.

NSW

The NSW battery installation discount is no longer available to households, because the federal program offers a larger discount, and the two could not be combined. NSW still pays an upfront incentive for connecting a battery to a virtual power plant; from 1 July 2026 batteries of up to 50 kWh are eligible, batteries in apartment buildings are not, and it can be claimed on top of the federal discount. The Home Energy Saver program offers zero-interest loans of up to $15,000 for upgrades such as solar and batteries, with a discount of up to $4,000 for lower-income households still to open.

ACT

The Sustainable Household Scheme lends $2,000 to $20,000 at 3% interest over up to 10 years for batteries, heat pumps and other upgrades. Eligible concession card holders can get zero-interest loans, including for solar, under the Home Energy Support Program.

Western Australia

The WA Residential Battery Scheme pays a rebate of up to $1,300 for Synergy customers and up to $3,800 for Horizon Power customers (based on 10 kWh of usable capacity), plus no-interest loans of up to $10,000 for households earning under $210,000. You must join a virtual power plant. It runs until 100,000 rebates have been paid; as of December 2025 the WA Government expected that to be in 2027.

Tasmania

Tasmania has no state battery rebate open as at 2 October 2026. The Energy Saver Loan Scheme, which offered interest-free loans of $500 to $10,000 for energy upgrades, closed on 1 September 2025. Tasmanians can still claim the federal panel and battery certificates, and Tasmania is the only state that sets a minimum price for exported solar: see the Tasmanian feed-in tariff.

South Australia

The SA Government’s solar and battery pages list no household battery rebate as at 2 October 2026. They point instead to South Australia’s Virtual Power Plant and to the dynamic export rules that every new solar inverter has had to meet since 1 July 2023.

Queensland

The Queensland Government’s solar pages list no household battery rebate as at 2 October 2026, only a battery buyers guide. Queenslanders can claim the federal discount.

Northern Territory

The Home and Business Battery Scheme, which paid $400 per kWh of usable capacity up to $12,000, has reached its $6 million funding allocation and is closed to new grants. Only installations already approved through the scheme are funded.

Before you sign a quote

1. Check the discount is itemised. The quote should show the STC discount, and any state rebate, separately from the price.
2. Check the installation date. Battery certificates step down every six months, and the discount follows the install date.
3. Check the installer and retailer. Ask for the SAA accreditation number. Buying from a New Energy Tech Consumer Code signatory is voluntary but brings extra protections on sales practices and warranties.
4. Check the numbers work. A discount lowers the cost but not the saving. Our guide on whether solar batteries are worth it shows how to test payback against your own bill, and our feed-in tariff guide covers what you will be paid for exports.

For the bigger picture on how solar pays and which plans suit solar households, see our solar hub.