Batteries · 1 November 2026 · 5 min read
The Cheaper Home Batteries Program in late 2026, explained
How the federal battery discount works now that the 1 May 2026 changes are in place, with the current STC rate, the size tiers, the dates it steps down and who is eligible.
The federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program started on 1 July 2025 and discounts a battery added to new or existing solar. The government describes it as around 30% off the upfront cost. It was changed in a big way on 1 May 2026, so a lot of what was written about it in 2025 is now out of date. Here is how it works today, taken from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and the Clean Energy Regulator (CER).
How the discount is worked out
The program runs through the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, the same scheme that has discounted rooftop solar for years. An eligible battery creates small-scale technology certificates, or STCs, and the government buys the matching number of certificates so the cost is not passed on to other customers.
The number of STCs depends on two things:
- the battery's usable capacity in kWh (the energy you can actually draw out, not the bigger nominal figure on the box)
- the STC factor that applies on the day the battery is installed
A battery counts as installed on the date its certificate of electrical compliance is issued, so that is the date that sets your factor.
The current rate and the step-down dates
From 1 May 2026 the STC factor drops every six months instead of once a year, and it drops faster than first planned. The official schedule is:
- January to April 2026: 8.4 STCs per kWh
- May to December 2026: 6.8
- January to June 2027: 5.7
- July to December 2027: 5.2
- January to June 2028: 4.6
- July to December 2028: 4.1
- January to June 2029: 3.6
- July to December 2029: 3.1
- January to June 2030: 2.6
- July to December 2030: 2.1
For context, the factor was 9.3 for batteries installed in 2025. The next step down is on 1 January 2027, when the rate moves from 6.8 to 5.7. A battery that is certified in December earns the higher figure; one certified in January earns the lower one.
The taper for bigger batteries
The second change is that the rate now tapers as the battery gets bigger:
- The first 14 kWh of usable capacity gets the full STC factor.
- Each kWh above 14 and up to 28 kWh gets 60% of it.
- Each kWh above 28 and up to 50 kWh gets 15% of it.
Only the first 50 kWh of usable capacity can earn STCs at all. A larger battery can still be eligible, but nothing past 50 kWh is counted.
Here is roughly how that plays out at today's factor of 6.8 (the REC Registry's STC calculator gives the exact count):
- 10 kWh usable: about 68 STCs
- 14 kWh usable: about 95 STCs
- 20 kWh usable: about 119 STCs
- 28 kWh usable: about 152 STCs
- 40 kWh usable: about 164 STCs
Going from 28 to 40 kWh adds only around a dozen certificates. The CER's own figures show what happened after the change: the average battery installed under the program fell from 36 kWh in April 2026 to 23 kWh in May and June.
What a certificate is worth
STCs can be sold through the CER's clearing house at a fixed price of $40 each, excluding GST, or on the open market, where the price moves with supply and demand. The CER reported a spot price of $39.85 in mid August 2026. Most people never deal with certificates: the installer or retailer takes the right to create them and gives you the value as an upfront discount or a rebate after installation. You can also claim them yourself through the REC Registry, as long as you have not already signed that right over to the installer.
Who is eligible
The main rules, from DCCEEW and the CER:
- The battery must be between 5 and 100 kWh of nominal capacity. Smaller modules can be stacked to reach 5 kWh.
- It must be connected to a new or existing solar system. A battery that only charges from the grid is not eligible.
- The battery and inverter must be on the Clean Energy Council's approved product lists. If you are keeping an existing inverter, it must be on the list, or at least must not have been delisted for safety reasons.
- The installation must be done or supervised on site by a Solar Accreditation Australia installer with battery accreditation, and it must meet AS/NZS 5139 and state electrical safety rules.
- Only one battery system per premises is supported, and only the first time it is installed, added to or replaced.
- You can add to an existing battery if that battery never received the discount, the addition is at least 5 kWh and the total stays at or under 100 kWh nominal.
- The battery has to stay at the property. Portable batteries and electric vehicles do not count.
- STCs must be created within 12 months of the compliance certificate.
The VPP-ready rule
A grid-connected battery, including its inverter, must be technically capable of joining a virtual power plant. In practice that means the inverter can connect to outside parties, receive and respond to remote signals, and has the communications protocol to do it. Joining a VPP is not required. You can join at installation, join later, or never join. If you do join, you will need an ongoing internet connection.
What to ask for in writing
Retailers must give you written information about the battery, its size relative to your solar, the value of the discount and when you get it, and the system warranty. Keep your quotes and emails.
If you want to see what a battery looks like on your own home, design your system on your own roof and get a real installed price for it. Our home batteries page covers the batteries we install.
