Australian Solar Incentives: How Much Can You Save?

Australian solar incentives are bringing “green energy” to more homes every day. The last 20 years have been a time of major growth in the Australian solar power industry. At the turn of the century, there were a measly 100 solar installations in the entire country. The figure today is 2 million. That is 2 million Australian homes that have installed a solar power system. 

As climate concerns become more real, people are beginning to see the benefits of using an energy source that doesn’t damage the environment. Solar energy is clean, renewable, and abundant – so abundant that it could satisfy Austalia’s energy dependency 10,000 times over. Even more, you add this to the increased efficiency of solar technology and you have a situation in which using solar power becomes a plausible option for every Australian. 

The only thing that remained was for the government to get on board, which is exactly what they did. As a result, Federal and State incentive schemes have been developed to encourage the adoption of solar power across Australia.

So, let’s go over this nationwide breakdown of the Australian solar incentives, subsidies, and rebates that are available to you as an Australian energy consumer. 

Queensland

The Queensland government have a loan and grant initiative to help encourage homeowners to install solar power systems in their homes. Residents are eligible for interest-free loans of up to $10,000, and grants of up to $3000.

New South Wales

In a bid to help low-income households transition to solar, the New South Wales Government introduced a Low-income Solar Scheme. Started in 2018, the scheme was designed to help up to 3,400 households. For those that are deemed eligible, they can trade their usual $285 low-income rebate in exchange for a 2.5 kW solar system. The government predicts that the solar systems would save $600 per year, more than double the initial rebate.

Victoria

Firstly, we have The Victorian Solar Homes Program. This Australian solar incentive program offers rebates of up to $2,225 to offset the cost of solar power system installation. On top of the rebate, any costs that exceed the rebate amount can also be paid for with an interest-free loan. 

In addition to that program, Victoria also offers the Solar Homes Initiative (SHI). The plan is to pay half the cost of battery installation for 10,000 households. That is why the government has recently introduced this initiative: a 40 million dollar fund for the promotion of solar storage batteries.

South Australia

Home Battery Scheme (HBS). This scheme offers subsidies of up to $6,000 for any household that chooses to install a storage battery as part of their solar power system. A storage battery will save all the excess energy created by your system for use at a later time.

In addition, some batteries are designed to discharge the energy at peak times to minimize the cost of your electricity bill. If you want to learn more about the best solar batteries and the best solar panels, you can read these helpful posts.

Nationwide

Besides the various local Australian solar incentives that are available throughout the country, every Australian is also entitled to two nationally implemented government rebates. These come in the form of Small-Scale Technology Certificates, and Feed-In Tariffs. 

Small-Scale Technology Certificate’s (STC). Also referred to as, Government Solar Rebates,  STC’s offer payments based on the amount of energy your solar power system is expected to generate.

Upon installation, the government will calculate the amount of energy your system is expected to produce by 2031. That is, for each Megawatt of energy your system is expected to produce in that 12 year period, you will be credited 1 STC.

The average 5kW solar system is expected to produce around 96MWh during that time. In other words: this means you will receive 96 STCs. STCs are currently worth $36 each, that is an approximate $3,450 rebate on the cost of your 5kW solar system.

Feed-In Tariffs. Payments from your electricity provider based on the excess energy your solar power system pumps back into the energy grid. 

As a result, these discounts reduce the cost of your electricity bill by offsetting your daytime tariff. 

Feed-in tariff rates also vary from state to state, and from supplier to supplier, the table below offers a rough guide on the discounts you will receive.