Adelaide and SA Feed In Tariff Information
Last Updated: 27th Jul 2026
Current solar feed-in tariffs in South Australia are Voluntary Retailer Contributions. This means SA electricity retailers don’t have to pay anything for solar electricity exported to the grid, although they usually do, with some offering reasonably generous rates.
Evening Battery Feed-in Tariffs
These days, in addition to daytime solar feed-in tariffs, electricity plans can also offer a different, often higher, feed-in tariff in the late afternoon and evening. This is designed to encourage battery owners to send their extra battery energy into the grid during the evening when grid demand is high. If you don’t have a battery, or only want to use it to meet your own needs, you don’t have to worring about evening battery feed-in tariffs.
The Highest Feed-in Tariff Plan Isn’t Always The Best
If you have solar, then it normally makes sense to get a plan with a high solar feed-in tariff. But because plans vary in electricity rates and daily supply charges, it’s important to check that you won’t actually be better off on a plan with a lower feed-in tariff. This can be especially true if you don’t export much because you have a small solar system or a battery.
Find Feed-In Tariffs And Compare Electricity Retailers
You can compare electricity plans by entering your postcode on our SolarQuotes Retailer Comparison page. This allows you to compare plans by daytime solar feed-in tariff, evening battery feed-in tariff, electricity rates, and daily supply charge:
Feed-in Tariff Daily Export Limits
Many electricity plans have daily export limits. These offer a higher feed-in rate for a set number of solar kWh exported to the grid per day, and then a reduced amount for additional exports. The higher rate is usually given for the first 8 kWh per day. For example, a plan may offer 8c/kWh for the first 8 kWh, and then 2c/kWh after that. But while these plans will say it’s 8 kWh per day, it’s normally 8 kWh for each day of the billing period. So if the billing period is 31 days, then the higher rate would apply to the first 248 kWh in that period. This is an advantage, because solar exports can vary considerably from day to day.
South Australia’s Older And Higher Feed-In Tariffs
South Australians who applied to install solar panels before the 30th of September 2011 could lock in a 44 cent feed-in tariff until July 1, 2028.
Those who applied from the 1st of October 2011 to the 30 of September 2013 could lock in a 16 cent feed-in tariff until October 1, 2016. This 16 cent feed-in tariff is now over.
If a household increases the size of its solar inverter or the capacity of its solar panels beyond what was already approved by SA Power Networks, or installs a battery, they will lose the high feed-in tariff.
Solar feed-in tariff rules if you want to upgrade your solar system in SA
If you are in SA, on the 44c FiT and are thinking of upgrading your solar power system, you need to find out what size system your installer received permission for to connect to the grid.
You can upgrade your system up to the size that is on your ‘permission to connect’ notice from SA Power Networks without forfeiting your 44c solar feed in tariff.
If you go over this size, you lose your 44c FiT and have to go onto the current FiT (1c – 12c depending on retailer).
Just to be clear, here’s an example:
You’re in South Australia and have an 8kW inverter and 5kW of solar panels. Your installer applied for and received permission to connect an 8kW PV system. You can add another 3kW of panels and keep your existing 44c tariff. If you add more than 3kW of panels, you will lose the 44c FiT for the entire system and will get paid the current FiT rate.
If you are considering upgrading, I’ve written a detailed page on how to avoid getting burned when upgrading your solar power system.
The SA government’s official solar feed in tariff information is here.