Nobody sends you a cheque. The discount is in the price.
Both federal schemes work by issuing tradeable certificates. You assign them to your installer, the installer sells them, and the value comes off your invoice at the point of sale. That is the whole mechanism — there is no rebate to claim afterwards and nothing to chase.
Small-scale technology certificates
Solar panel systems earn small-scale technology certificates under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, administered by the Clean Energy Regulator. How many you earn depends on system size and where you live, because the scheme deems how much power the system will generate over its remaining years.
| Market price | $37–40 | Per certificate. Traded on an open market, so it moves day to day. |
|---|---|---|
| Scheme end | 2030 | The number of certificates a system earns steps down each year until the scheme closes. |
Because the value falls every year, the same system installed next January earns less than it does today. That is a real reason to move earlier, and it is also the reason a lot of sales calls sound urgent. Judge it on the numbers, not the tone.
How it reaches your invoice
Your system is designed and the certificate count calculated for your postcode.
You sign the assignment form, transferring the certificates to us.
We deduct their value from your quoted price, and carry the market risk between quote and installation.
Cheaper Home Batteries Program
The federal battery program opened on 1 July 2025 and works the same certificate way. It is aimed at roughly a third off the installed cost of a home battery.
| Value | ~$252 | Per usable kWh, at a certificate price of $37 and after administration costs. |
|---|---|---|
| Battery size | 5–100 kWh | Nominal capacity. Only the first 50 kWh of usable capacity attracts the rebate. |
| Must be VPP-capable | Yes | The battery has to be capable of joining a virtual power plant. You are not required to actually join one. |
| Approved product | Required | The battery must appear on the approved product list, and be installed by an accredited installer. |
| Scheme end | 2030 | The incentive decreases each year until then. |
On top of the federal schemes
States run their own incentives and feed-in tariffs, and they change more often than the federal ones. What you are eligible for depends on where you live and sometimes on your income or whether you own the home.
What we will not tell you
We do not quote a rebate figure before we have designed your system, because the certificate count depends on system size and postcode, and the certificate price moves. Any installer quoting you an exact rebate over the phone, before seeing your roof, is guessing at one of those two numbers.
The figures on this page are current for 2026 and are here so you can check our arithmetic, not as an offer. We confirm the exact amounts on the day we quote.