Cheaper Home Batteries Program

About the program

The Cheaper Home Batteries Program is now available. Households and small businesses may be eligible for around a 30% discount on the upfront cost of installing a small-scale solar battery. The discount will be based on the solar battery’s usable capacity and will gradually decrease until 2030.

We will administer the program under the existing Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES). The SRES has established compliance frameworks that will be extended to batteries to allow us to continue support states and territories fulfil their obligations for leading electrical and safety regulation. We will work closely with Solar Accreditation Australia, the Clean Energy Council, state and territory electrical safety regulators to make sure our processes, inspections and infrastructure supports their roles in ensuring:

• products and installations are safe and meet standards for electrical safety
• the people designing, selling and installing solar batteries are qualified and properly accredited.  

The Australian Government will fully fund the discount for solar batteries by purchasing small-scale technology certificates (STCs). This means no costs will be passed on to householders through energy retailers.

Household batteries will assist in balancing electricity supply and demand across the whole grid. This should reduce costs to all households over time.

Stay up to date

Subscribe to our solar batteries list to receive the latest updates about the program.

Eligibility

Eligibility for the program includes:

• A single solar battery with a nominal (total) capacity of 5 kWh to 100 kWh will be eligible.
• The solar battery's usable capacity will be used to calculate the number of STCs it will be eligible for. STCs can only be claimed for the first 50 kWh of usable capacity.
• The solar battery will need to be installed with a new or existing solar photovoltaic (PV) system.
• The solar battery is considered ‘installed’ when a certificate of electrical compliance or equivalent is signed, which confirms that the system complies with relevant state and territory electrical safety regulations.

See the full eligibility requirements on the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) website.

Safety

Safety is a priority. We’ll deliver the program through the SRES, which is a legislated scheme with an established regulatory framework. The SRES has provided consumer protection and safety measures for other small-scale renewable energy resources such as solar PV systems.  

As with solar, we will apply strict standards on where and how batteries are installed, and ensure certification of installation businesses with the skills, training and accreditation to install batteries safely. To ensure safety, solar batteries must be:

• listed on the Clean Energy Council (CEC) approved product list
• installed by an installer with battery accreditation with Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA)
• installed to meet state and territory electrical safety requirements and installation standards.

Homeowners and small business owners can find out more about safety considerations when buying a solar battery on energy.gov.au.

Solar battery retailers, installers and designers can find out more about the work, health and safety laws in their state or territory on Safe Work Australia’s website. 

Inspections

We're responsible for conducting inspections on small-scale renewable energy systems. Our inspections ensure select systems under the SRES:

• meet installation requirements
• are eligible for STCs.

We will begin conducting inspections in early July on installed eligible solar batteries. We’ll publish inspection data on our website and share results, including insights on key learnings and risks, with state and territory regulators and authorities responsible for electrical safety and fair trading.

Read more about how we conduct inspections on small-scale renewable energy systems. 

STC markets

The main demand for STCs is from liable entities who need to source and surrender certificates to meet their legislative obligations under the Renewable Energy Target.

The small-scale technology percentage (STP) helps calculate the amount of STCs liable entities surrender each year. 

Solar batteries won’t be added to the STP as the Australian Government will purchase STCs equivalent to all battery STC creations.

No additional costs will be passed on to energy retailers and households.

Read more about how STCs will be calculated.

Who can participate

Homeowners and business owners

The solar battery system you choose will depend on your personal circumstances, including:

• current and future electricity usage
• if you will be installing a new PV system with your solar battery or if you have an existing solar PV system installed
• budget.

Make sure you research which system best suits your needs and get multiple quotes to compare the systems. It is important to research the retailer and installer you choose and make an informed choice. Review the contract carefully, we also recommend you maintain documentation (email correspondence, quotes etc.) from the sales process.

If your solar battery system was installed before 1 July, make sure it is tested as capable of storing or discharging energy on or after 1 July 2025, as shown on the state/territory certificate of electrical compliance. If your solar battery was tested and certified before 1 July 2025, it won’t be eligible for STCs.

Solar battery retailers

As a solar battery retailer, you must:

• check your installers are accredited for battery installation by Solar Accreditation Australia
• check that only approved solar batteries and components listed on the Clean Energy Council (CEC) approved product list are installed
• make sure that installation complies with relevant state and territory electrical safety requirements.

If a solar battery was partially installed before 1 July, make sure it is tested as capable of storing or discharging energy on or after 1 July 2025, as shown on the state/territory certificate of electrical compliance. If the solar battery was tested before 1 July 2025, it won’t be eligible for STCs.

Solar battery installers and designers

As a solar battery installer or designer, you must:

• check you’re accredited for battery installation by Solar Accreditation Australia
• check you’re installing approved battery systems and components listed on the Clean Energy Council (CEC) approved product list
• make sure that installation complies with relevant state and territory electrical safety requirements
• take selfies of your presence at each stage of the installation for solar battery and solar PV installations
• collect the required documentation for the creation of certificates (including installer, designer and retailer declarations and Certificate of Compliance or equivalent). 

If a solar battery was partially installed before 1 July, make sure it is tested as capable of storing or discharging energy on or after 1 July 2025, as shown on the state/territory certificate of electrical compliance. If the solar battery was tested and certified before 1 July 2025, it won’t be eligible for STCs.

Each jurisdiction has its own requirements. However, the Solar Victoria website provides useful guidance based on the Australian Standards for battery installations and includes past webinars on commonly found compliance issues.

Registered agents

As a registered agent you have responsibilities that you must comply with to ensure you can claim STCs for solar batteries. This includes:

• ensuring you are collecting all required documentation
• ensuring you are performing checks on the information you receive from third parties
• engaging in due diligence process when engaging in contracts with installers and retailers
• maintaining good record keeping practises including maintaining documentation and records for five years following submission of a claim.  

You must make sure you are familiar with the eligibility requirements for solar batteries. Unlike solar PV where STCs are calculated on the rated power output of the whole PV system, STCs for solar batteries are only available on the first 50kWh of usable capacity.

Required documentation

As with solar PV, you must ensure you have all required documentation prior to creating STCs for solar battery installations in the REC Registry. This includes:

• STC assignment form
• electrical certificate of compliance (or equivalent)
• designer, installer and retailer declarations (noting these are different to solar PV declarations)
• installer selfies confirming the installer’s presence through all 3 phases of the installation.  

The following documents are now available on our website to help you design and create your own STC assignment forms and written statements. These are example forms only and should be adapted to your business and signed by the relevant parties:

• Solar battery STC assignment form
• Solar battery Retailer written statement
• Solar battery Designer and installer written statement.

The existing STC assignment forms and written statements for solar PV remain available on our website. Agents may decide whether to use separate forms or combine them. However, it is expected that any submitted form explicitly sets out that the assignment of STCs for solar PV and solar batteries are both included in that case. Agents should also consider their responsibilities under Australian Consumer Law. 

Submitting claims for STCs

We’ve made changes to the REC registry to accommodate solar batteries. You’ll need to access the form via your current log in to the REC Registry and selecting “SGU – solar battery” when starting a new STC form. 

Screenshots and validation rules can be found on our website to help you register your eligible system. No changes are required to your REC Registry account to create STCs for solar batteries from 1 July. 

The new SGU – solar battery form and other functionality changes (such as searching solar battery applications) will be visible from Friday 27 June and ready for you to submit applications from 1 July. You can’t submit applications prior to this time.   

Make sure you’re submitting applications for STCs correctly based on the configuration of your system.

Installing solar PV and a solar battery at the same time

A separate form in the REC Registry is required for both solar PV and solar batteries. Both forms can be found under the “register new Small Generation Unit” (SGU) screen. Please create your solar PV SGU prior to the solar battery SGU in the REC Registry if they are installed at the same time to assist with timely validation.

Solar batteries with a new inverter

If you are installing a new inverter, you must declare the solar battery system uses this inverter and select the appropriate inverter from the list. You must also provide the serial numbers.

Solar batteries with an existing inverter

If you are connecting to an existing inverter (for example, a hybrid inverter) you may leave the inverter details field blank. The existing inverter must still be VPP capable if it is being used for the new battery system.

The installer should check that the inverter was not removed from the CEC product list for safety reasons. One way to do this is to check the Clean Energy Council’s product recall list. 

Solar batteries with an integrated inverter

If your solar battery contains an integrated inverter, you must declare the solar battery component and the solar inverter component separately. This means you will need to declare the solar battery make and model and that the installation includes a new inverter and select the make and model (which should be the same). You will need to provide the same serial number in both the battery and inverter serial number fields.  

Reminder: bulk uploads for solar batteries not available until September

As previously advised, bulk uploads for solar batteries won’t be available from 1 July. We anticipate this will be available in the REC Registry by September 2025. Bulk uploads for solar PV and solar water heaters will be unaffected. While you can still continue to enter the voluntary information regarding solar batteries on the solar PV bulk upload csv file, please note that this will not register your solar battery for claiming STCs.

We encourage you to consider how you prepare to process solar battery applications individually until bulk uploads are available.

Number of installations per day

Installers can complete 2 installations a day, including solar PV (i.e. one solar PV and one solar battery installation on a single day – including instances where the solar PV and battery systems are at the same premises). During July, Solar Accreditation Australia will allow installers to commission 4 battery systems provided they have only roughed in the system at an earlier date and only the connecting, testing and commissioning phase is completed on the same day.  

The installation date listed in the solar battery STC application must be the date of test on the certificate of electrical compliance (or equivalent).

Installations prior to 1 July

Solar battery systems installed before 1 July must be tested as capable of storing or discharging energy on or after 1 July 2025, as shown on the state/territory certificate of electrical compliance. Solar batteries tested and certified before 1 July 2025 won’t be eligible for STCs.

Commissioning of solar PV separately from solar battery 

If an installer completes a new solar PV and solar battery installation in phases using hybrid inverter, it is possible for the solar PV section of the system to be connected, tested and commissioned and claim STCs before the solar battery parts of the system.

• In this case, the installer must complete a separate certificate of electrical compliance (or equivalent) for each stage of the installation.
• If the battery is connected to the inverter, or any other electrical work on the battery part of the system is completed, at the time the solar PV part of the system is connected then the certificate of electrical compliance (or equivalent) must comply with state and territory requirements and include the battery system.

Integrated hybrid inverters

Where the hybrid inverter is integrated with the battery system (for example, the top unit of a stackable battery system) it may not be possible to connect, commission and test the battery unit at a later date. This is because the stackable nature of the battery means it will have been connected and forms part of the electrical work being certified. 

This applies even if there is a software control stopping the operation of the battery system until a later date.

When you submit an application for STCs, you must make sure all information is true and correct. This includes the installation date and any documentation including electrical certificates of compliance or equivalent.

Multiple solar battery installations behind a single National Metering Identifier (NMI)

The agency has published guidance regarding multiple systems installed behind a single NMI previously. The same rules will be applied. However, unlike solar PV, which can claim multiple times to add up to 100kW, only one battery is eligible at each address, once.