From today, households and small businesses can access federal rebates for solar batteries, following a regulatory amendment that adds battery storage to the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES).
The Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment (Cheaper Home Batteries Program) Regulations 2025, which became law on 27 June, expands the existing Renewable Energy (Electricity) Regulations 2001.
The changes support the rollout of the Albanese Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program, offering upfront discounts of around 30 per cent on installed battery costs – roughly $3,000 off an 8kWh system.
The program leverages the established small-scale technology certificate (STC) mechanism, used for rooftop solar, to subsidise battery installations.
Under the new rules, households and businesses installing compliant battery systems with new or existing solar PV systems can generate STCs based on the battery’s usable capacity – up to 50kWh – multiplied by a year-specific factor. For 2025 installations, the factor is 9.3, tapering annually through to 2030.
The Commonwealth will directly purchase the STCs created through battery installations, shielding electricity consumers from any cost pass-through by liable entities such as retailers.
To qualify, batteries must be listed on the Clean Energy Council’s approved product list and sized between 5kWh and 100kWh nominal capacity.
All installations must meet rigorous design, safety, and compliance conditions, including adherence to AS/NZS 5139 battery safety standards and VPP (virtual power plant) readiness for grid-connected systems.