Statistics released by the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) on Friday indicate Australians wasted no time taking advantage of the federal government’s national home battery rebate.
Officially launched on July 1, 2025, the Cheaper Home Batteries program currently offers households, businesses and community organisations around 30% off the upfront cost of an eligible solar battery when it’s installed with an existing or new solar power system.
19,592 solar battery installations were recorded across the country during the program’s first month says the CER, adding up to a total nominal capacity of 344.1 MWh. The figures are for installations with claimed or approved Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs – on which the rebate is based).
How the states and territories stacked up on installations:
- NSW: 7,347
- QLD: 4,159
- SA: 3,052
- VIC: 2,716
- WA: 1,567
- ACT: 428
- TAS: 254
- NT: 69
Or, in a graph:
A Big Boost In Battery Capacity
Since the start of last year and up until July, the average nominal capacity of fully-commissioned home batteries was around 11 – 12 kWh. During July, that jumped to 18.2 kWh — perhaps not surprising given the bigger the battery, the more generous the rebate (to a degree). You can see rebate estimates for various selected batteries using the SolarQuotes federal battery rebate calculator.
How the states/territories compared (nominal capacity in kWh):
- NSW: 18.5
- QLD: 19.8
- SA: 17.3
- VIC: 17
- WA: 16.5
- ACT: 17.9
- TAS: 17.1
- NT: 22.4
Again, in a graph:
While the CER’s installation figures are for the month of July, it’s not clear how many of those batteries were ‘installed’ but not fully commissioned before last month. From early April, Australians were able to install a battery and benefit from the rebate’s value as long as the battery wasn’t turned on for testing and certification before the official start date of the scheme. It was from that point that STCs could be created.
Still, the initial results bode well for a successful program. So much so, recent analysis carried out by SolarQuotes indicates the initiative could exhaust its announced $2.3bn funding well ahead of schedule, although we also learned a further $1.2bn has been earmarked to carry the program through to 2030-31. However, there could still be a gap unless the Albanese government takes action.
It’s a lot of money, but it’s not just solar power system owners who will benefit.
“An increase in solar batteries across Australia benefits the householder and reduces supply and demand across the whole electricity grid, meaning lower electricity bills for everyone,” said CER Executive General Manager of the Scheme Operations Division, Carl Binning.
It’s probably more accurate to say this will put downward pressure on network-related costs and wholesale electricity prices during peak periods rather than result in lower electricity *bills* for all. Other factors come into play and some electricity retailers are quite adept at wringing out maximum value from their customers. That being the case, it will always be a good idea to compare electricity retailer plans.
Industry On Notice
It’s a frustrating fact incentive schemes of this nature also trigger a stampede of suspect practices from a minority of players in the industry. We’ve already seen multiple examples of misleading ads, exaggerated performance claims, poor installation, crappy products — and even fake government websites.
On the issue of installation quality, Binning said the Clean Energy Regulator’s inspection program for solar batteries that have benefited from the rebate have already kicked off.
‘We’ll publish inspection findings later this month once enough inspections have been completed to identify trends, and draft findings have been confirmed through due processes,” he said.
As well as state and territory electrical and safety regulators, the findings will be shared with industry bodies such as Solar Accreditation Australia, which is responsible for accrediting solar and battery system designers and installers.
The Clean Energy Regulator isn’t the only government agency keeping an eye out for dodgy behaviour associated with the scheme. Also on Friday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said solar/battery suppliers and electricity retailers must act in the consumer’s interest.
“The ACCC will be watching carefully and actively monitoring consumer complaints, said ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey . “We will hold solar and battery installers, retailers and suppliers accountable to ensure they comply with Australia’s consumer laws.”
But for consumers, 28.3495 grams of protection is worth 453.592 grams of cure as the old saying goes1. Learn everything you should know about home batteries before signing on the dotted line of a sales agreement.
Footnotes
- Updated for the metric generations. ↩
About Michael Bloch
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It’s great to see. I also still think a lot of adopters of solar and batteries take a Robinson Crusoe mindset to the job, the thought of importing any grid electrons is considered a failure. I have a Powerwall 2, and accept that during winter I will need to use grid power often to supplement my solar and battery. Not lots, maybe $300-$400 per year.
I could add a second battery, but there’s not the solar to fill it in winter, and cheap grid rates to do that may not last. In 10 years, a pretty standard warranty for batteries, that would also mean having imported $3-4000 in grid power instead over winter, still less than half what a second battery would cost. I’ll offset a good amount of the additional cost with FITs over the other 3 seasons, but even without that I’d be ahead not getting another battery.
We are all ‘the grid’. It’s not the enemy.