NSW Solar Feed In Tariff Information
Current solar feed-in tariffs in NSW are offered under what is called a Voluntary Retailer Contribution. This means New South Wales electricity retailers don’t have to pay anything for solar electricity exported to the grid, but most do pay for the energy you export – and so they should! While there’s a lot more of it than there used to be, solar energy is still valuable stuff!
In June 2022, the Independent Pricing And Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) recommended an “all-day” feed-in tariff benchmark rate guidance for 2022/23; being 6.2 to 10.4 c/kWh.
In late April 2023, IPART published guidance for 2023-24 – 7.7 to 9.4 c/kWh.
It’s important to note these are just benchmark ranges and some electricity retailers may offer a rate higher than this, and have done in recent years.
For current FiT rates, use our electricity retailer comparison tool.
Another option for New South Wales electricity retailers is offering a time-dependent feed in tariff. This offers lower rates for most of the day and higher ones in the late afternoon and evening when solar output is normally low or zero. The draft benchmarks for these are:
| Time period | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
| 6 am to 3 pm | 5.6 to 9.7c | 7.2 to 8.7c |
| 3 to 4 pm | 7.7 to 14.3c | 9.9 to 11.7c |
| 4 to 5 pm | 12.3 to 24.8c | 12.2 to 14.9c |
| 5 to 6 pm | 11.1 to 20.0c | 12.1 to 15.3c |
| 6 to 7 pm | 16.3 to 27.4c | 23.2 to 27.3c |
| 7 to 8 pm | 9.9 to 16.5c | 14.9 to 17.5c |
| 8 pm to 6 am | 6.3 to 10.5c | 11.2 to 13.2c |
Again, it’s important to note that these rates are not mandatory. NSW electricity retailers can offer as little or as much as they wish.
When shopping around for electricity retailers in New South Wales, bear in mind that plans with higher feed-in tariffs won’t necessarily give the lowest electricity bills. I have found in the past that some plans with comparatively low feed-in tariffs actually offer the best overall deal due to lower daily charges and consumption rates.
Find NSW Feed-In Tariffs And Compare Electricity Retailers
The easiest way to find a local retailer with a good solar buyback rate is to compare them using this tool I made.
NSW’s Generous Gross Feed-in Tariffs Ended On The 31st Of December 2016
From the 1st of January to the 27 of October 2010, NSW households could lock in a gross feed-in tariff of 60 cents a kilowatt-hour. After that, from the 28th of October 2010 to the 28th of April 2011, a gross feed-in tariff of 20 cents could be secured.
Both of these ended on the 31st of December.
If you were on one of these tariffs you probably had your old gross meter replaced years ago. But if you’re not certain this occurred you can check your electricity bill to see if you’re receiving a solar feed-in tariff. If you aren’t, you may not have an electricity meter that can record your solar exports.
Having your meter replaced with a new one should cost you nothing and can be arranged by contacting your electricity retailer.
Options For People Off The Generous Gross Feed-in Tariff
Most solar power systems that received the high gross feed-in tariff incentive in New South Wales are quite small and usually around 1.5 kilowatts. If you still have one of these you’re likely to be much better off with a larger system. Some of the options available are covered in this article.
Batteries Are Unlikely To Pay For Themselves Yet
With the generous gross feed-in tariff in NSW having ended, many solar owners are considering installing batteries, but whether a lower cost battery such as a Sungrow or a more expensive one such as a Powerwall 2 is installed, households are very unlikely to save money unless they have high evening electricity consumption and a time-of-use tariff. But the cost of home battery storage is rapidly falling, so this may soon change.