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Navigate to your state to see which rebates and incentives are available to you.
Solar rebates were established as an incentive for homes and businesses to install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.
Even a small solar system can cost a couple of thousand dollars upfront.
A rebate helps you pay for those expensive installation costs and encourages more people to get panels installed which in turn helps reduce dependence on fossil fuels in Australia.
There are 3 ways you can get money back after installing solar panels in Australia:
| Response | 75+ yrs | 65-74 yrs | 55-64 yrs | 45-54 yrs | 35-44 yrs | 25-34 yrs | 18-24 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reduce electricity bill | 28.36% | 26.86% | 24.07% | 15.56% | 12.85% | 11.98% | 10.53% |
| Environmental sustainability | 2.99% | 3.43% | 4.32% | 2.78% | 4.82% | 3.23% | 2.11% |
| Solar rebates | 2.99% | 4% | 1.23% | 1.11% | 2.81% | 1.38% | 2.11% |
| Other | 1.49% | 1.14% | 1.23% | 0.56% | 1.61% | 2.3% | 2.11% |
| None | 0.62% | 0.56% | 0.4% |
Most solar rebate schemes have limits based on your income. Here's what you can get depending on where you live.
Queensland has previously offered interest-free loans for solar installation but doesn't have any active state schemes.
You may be eligible for a rebate from the federal government.
The South Australian government previously offered the All Home Battery Scheme. All subsidies have been allocated.
You can still access the federal scheme if eligible.
In addition to the federal small-scale renewable energy scheme, Tasmania has an active Energy Saver Loan Scheme to assist Tasmanian households in reducing their energy bills.
Western Australia doesn't currently have any active state schemes for solar rebates.
If you're a Western Australian homeowner interested in installing solar panels, you may be eligible for a rebate from the federal government instead.
To be eligible for STCs, your system must be less than 100kW in size, use approved solar PV panels and be installed by an approved professional.
They're also available for eligible wind turbines, hydro systems and air source heat pumps. The compliance paperwork that makes you eligible gets signed on installation day, so it's worth knowing what to expect during solar panel installation.
The amount you'll receive for STCs will depend on how they're sold.
The number of STCs you get depends on where you're located, the installation date and the amount of electricity your system is set to generate over a given period, which is known as the "deeming period". It can be 1 year, 5 years or the maximum deeming period.
The current maximum deeming period is 8 years for a system installed in 2023. The maximum deeming period will decrease by each year until 2030 when the scheme is due to end.
You'll get 1 STC for each megawatt hour of electricity generated or displaced by the system during your deeming period.
You can use the government's STC calculator to get an estimate of the certificates you could earn from your solar system.
For example:
Based on the STC clearing house price of $40 per certificate, that adds up to $440 in Melbourne or $600 in Darwin.
The cost of paying back your solar system will depend on its size and how much you receive back in the form of feed-in tariffs and STCs.
You can likely recoup the upfront costs of installing solar in as little as 4 years with a smaller system or up to 8 years with a larger one.
Working out your solar payback period doesn't take very long at all using a solar payback calculator.
It's also worth knowing the common solar mistakes that can stretch your payback period, from choosing on price alone to expecting the feed-in tariff to cover the cost.
Our energy guides can help you compare and understand what plan is best for you.
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Compare 0% plans, green loans, government schemes and home loan options for solar and batteries, plus the costs, fees and things to watch out for.
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In most cases, you can add a battery to your existing solar panels. The cost will depend partly on the inverter you already have and how the battery needs to be connected.
From quote to switch-on, here's what actually happens during solar installation in Australia, how long each stage takes, and how to avoid delays.
Having solar doesn't mean you're covered in a blackout. Here's why panels shut off automatically and what actually keeps the power on.
How often to clean your solar panels and the safest way to do it.
Read about how long it took couples from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to start saving money on their solar power investment.
A home battery can help you do away with your reliance on getting power from the grid, and it can also lead to long-term savings.
Terms like on-grid, off-grid and grid-tied can lead to confusion. They essentially refer to whether or not you want to access the grid alongside your solar power service.
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