One of the questions we’re regularly asked at AG Solar is: “Is the government battery rebate still available?”
The short answer is: Yes.
The Australian Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program has not finished. The program commenced on 1 July 2025 and continues to provide significant financial support towards eligible home battery installations.
What has changed is how the incentive is calculated. Since the program began, the level and structure of support has changed, particularly from 1 May 2026, and further reductions are scheduled through to 2030.
So if you’ve heard that “the battery rebate has ended”, that’s incorrect. But if you’ve heard that the rebate isn’t exactly the same as it was when the program launched, that’s true.
Here’s how we got here.
July 2025: the Cheaper Home Batteries Program begins
The Australian Government launched the Cheaper Home Batteries Program on 1 July 2025.
It extended the existing Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme – commonly known as the SRES – to eligible solar-connected battery systems.
Rather than homeowners generally applying to the government and waiting for money to be paid back later, the financial benefit is usually provided as an upfront discount by the battery retailer or installer.
The scheme works through Small-scale Technology Certificates – STCs.
Eligible battery installations create STCs based largely on the battery’s usable capacity. Those certificates have a financial value and are generally assigned by the customer as part of receiving the upfront discount.
At launch, the Australian Government described the program as providing approximately a 30% discount on the upfront cost of eligible systems.
The response from Australian homeowners was enormous. Australia’s home battery market changed dramatically in a very short period.
Why did the rebate change?
The initial level of support generated much stronger demand than many people expected.
The Australian Government subsequently announced changes designed to keep the program financially sustainable and encourage households to install batteries appropriately sized for their needs.
That led to the biggest structural change in the program so far.
1 May 2026: the major rebate change
For systems installed from 1 May 2026, two significant things happened.
- First, the STC factor reduced.
- Second, the incentive became tiered according to battery size.
The current structure applies the STC factor as follows:
- First 14 kWh of usable capacity: 100% of the applicable STC factor.
- Capacity above 14 kWh and up to 28 kWh: 60% of the applicable STC factor.
- Capacity above 28 kWh and up to 50 kWh: 15% of the applicable STC factor.
This was particularly significant for very large residential battery systems.
Before 1 May 2026, additional battery capacity could attract substantial additional STCs. After the change, the amount of support for capacity above 28 kWh became much smaller. That doesn’t mean homeowners can’t install larger batteries. And it doesn’t mean larger batteries no longer qualify at all. It simply means the financial incentive for that additional capacity is much lower.
How much battery capacity can receive the incentive?
Under the current rules, eligible battery systems can have a combined nominal capacity of up to 100 kWh. However, STCs can only be claimed against the first 50 kWh of usable battery capacity. And because of the tiering introduced in May 2026, those first 50 kWh don’t all attract the same level of support. That’s an important distinction.
Why battery sizing matters more now
Before May 2026, some homeowners were attracted to very large batteries partly because the incentive made the additional capacity relatively inexpensive.
The new structure places more emphasis on getting the battery size right.
That’s actually consistent with the way we believe batteries should be designed.
At AG Solar, we don’t start with:
“How large a battery can we fit?”
We start with:
“How much battery capacity will this household actually benefit from?”
That requires understanding:
- daily electricity consumption;
- evening and overnight consumption;
- solar generation;
- existing solar capacity;
- available roof space;
- electricity tariffs;
- the ability to charge from the grid when electricity is cheap;
- EVs and future electricity consumption;
- backup requirements; and
- the homeowner’s objectives.
A government incentive shouldn’t replace good system design. It should make a properly designed system more affordable.
What is the rebate worth today?
The exact dollar value isn’t fixed. The scheme doesn’t operate like a simple “$5,000 battery rebate”. Instead, the number of STCs is determined using an STC factor, the battery’s eligible usable capacity and the applicable capacity tiers. The value of those certificates can also vary.
For batteries installed between 1 May and 31 December 2026, the published STC factor is 6.8 per eligible kWh, before applying the capacity taper.
For comparison:
- 2025 factor: 9.3;
- January-April 2026: 8.4; and
- May-December 2026: 6.8.
So the incentive today is lower than when the program first began, but it remains substantial.
For homeowners who were already considering a battery for energy-bill savings, greater energy independence or backup capability, the current program still provides a significant contribution towards the upfront investment.
Is the rebate ending in 2027?
No. This is another common misconception. The current legislated schedule continues reducing the STC factor progressively through to 2030. From 2027, the reduction occurs every six months.
The currently published schedule is:
- January-June 2027: 5.7
- July-December 2027: 5.2
- January-June 2028: 4.6
- July-December 2028: 4.1
- January-June 2029: 3.6
- July-December 2029: 3.1
- January-June 2030: 2.6
- July-December 2030: 2.1
The current 14 kWh / 28 kWh / 50 kWh tiering also applies to the calculation. So the important message isn’t: “The rebate is about to disappear.” It’s: “The support is designed to progressively reduce over time.”
Does that mean you should rush out and buy a battery today?
Not necessarily. We don’t believe homeowners should make a major energy investment simply because somebody tells them a rebate is changing. Getting the system wrong can cost significantly more than the value of a rebate.
For example, installing an unnecessarily large battery doesn’t suddenly become a good investment because it attracts an incentive. Likewise, installing too small a battery simply to minimise the purchase price can leave the household drawing substantial grid electricity every evening.
The better approach is: Understand your home first. Then understand the rebate. Then make the decision.
An example: two homes can need completely different batteries
Imagine two homes in the Sutherland Shire. Both use around 30 kWh of electricity per day.
At first glance, you might assume they need the same battery. But their energy usage tells a very different story.
Home A uses a significant amount of electricity during the day, when its solar system is producing power. This means much of its energy can be used directly from solar, reducing the amount of battery storage it needs.
Home B, however, is mostly empty during the day and uses most of its electricity from 4 pm onwards. With less daytime energy consumption, more of its solar generation needs to be stored for later — meaning a larger battery could make more sense.
Now consider the solar system itself.
- Home A: 6.6 kW of solar
- Home B: 15 kW of solar
Even though both homes use the same amount of electricity, their solar generation and consumption patterns are very different. That changes the battery strategy again.
Then there are electricity tariffs.
One household might have access to cheaper electricity during certain hours, making grid charging an attractive option. Another household may have different tariffs where this strategy provides little benefit.
The Right Battery Starts With the Home
This is why choosing a battery based purely on the government incentive or rebate doesn’t necessarily make sense.
The right battery should be sized around how your home generates, stores and uses energy — not simply around the maximum incentive available.
The battery needs to work with your home, not the rebate table.
The rebate is an opportunity - not the strategy
The federal battery program has significantly improved the economics of home energy storage.
For many households that previously looked at batteries and decided the payback didn’t stack up, the numbers are now much more attractive.
But the government incentive should be viewed as part of the investment rather than the reason for the investment.
A good home battery should still:
- reduce electricity purchased from the grid;
- allow you to use more of your own solar;
- help manage time-of-use electricity costs;
- potentially provide backup during outages;
- support future electrification; and
- provide greater control over household energy.
If those benefits make sense for your home, the federal incentive can make an already sensible energy strategy considerably more affordable.
AG Solar has been there throughout the battery-rebate journey
AG Solar has been designing and installing home batteries since well before the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program began. Since the program was first announced, we have worked with hundreds of homeowners to understand how the changing incentives affect the size and economics of their proposed systems.
Based in Caringbah, our primary customer base includes the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, Wollongong and the Illawarra, where our in-house teams have designed, installed and supported hundreds of home battery systems using leading platforms including Sigenergy, Tesla, Fronius and Sungrow.
That experience has taught us something important:
The rebate changes. Good design principles don’t. The starting point should always be the customer.
How much energy do you use? When do you use it? How much solar can your property generate? What are you paying for electricity? What will your energy requirements look like in five years? And what are you actually trying to achieve?
Those questions matter much more than simply selecting the battery package with the largest advertised government discount.
Are home battery rebates still worth taking advantage of?
For many households, absolutely. The incentive available today is lower than it was when the federal program launched in July 2025, and under the current schedule it will continue to step down over the coming years. But the Australian Government is still providing substantial support towards eligible home battery installations.
For homeowners who have been considering a battery, that makes the current period a very attractive opportunity to assess whether storage makes sense.
Not to rush. Not to buy the biggest battery possible. But to get good advice, understand your electricity usage and design the right system while meaningful government support remains available.
Want to understand what the rebate means for your home?
If you’re considering a home battery in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, Wollongong or the Illawarra, speak with the AG Solar team.
We can review your electricity usage, existing solar, property, tariff and future energy requirements and show you:
- what battery capacity actually makes sense;
- which battery technologies suit your property;
- what federal incentive is currently available; and
- what the proposed system could do for your electricity bills and energy independence.
A rebate can make a good battery investment better. But getting the system design right comes first.
