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Rebate Clock

Eligibility

Is your battery eligible for the federal rebate?

The Cheaper Home Batteries discount has nine conditions.

Updated

You don’t apply for it yourself: your installer checks them, claims the certificates and takes their value off the quote. These are the conditions to ask about before you sign.

  1. It is on the approved battery list on the day it is installed

    The battery, and the inverter it connects to, must be listed on the Clean Energy Council's approved product list at the time of installation. For a stackable battery, the final configuration has to be on the list on the day it is certified. (DCCEEW, checked )

  2. It is installed with solar

    The battery must be connected to a new or existing solar PV system of no more than 100 kW. A battery that only stores power from the grid is not eligible. (DCCEEW, checked )

  3. It is between 5 and 100 kWh nominal capacity

    Eligibility uses the nominal capacity, usually the figure on the label. The certificates, and so the discount, use the usable capacity, and only the first 50 kWh of it counts. (Clean Energy Regulator, checked )

  4. It can join a virtual power plant, if it is on the grid

    The inverter must be able to connect to external parties, receive remote signals and respond to them. Joining a VPP is not required; being able to is. (DCCEEW, checked )

  5. An accredited installer installs it

    The installation must be done, or supervised on site, by a Solar Accreditation Australia installer with battery endorsement, and must meet AS/NZS 5139:2019 and your state's electrical safety laws. (Clean Energy Regulator, checked )

  6. It is new and installed in one job

    The battery must be new and not previously installed or claimed. A group of batteries connected to work as one unit counts as one system if installed in a single job. (Clean Energy Regulator, checked )

  7. It is the first battery claimed at the premises

    Only one battery system per premises can claim certificates: one per national metering identifier (NMI) for grid-connected homes. Adding capacity later qualifies only if the existing battery never claimed, and the addition is at least 5 kWh with the total staying within 100 kWh. (Clean Energy Regulator, checked )

  8. It was certified on or after 1 July 2025

    A battery counts as installed from the date its certificate of electrical compliance is issued. Systems certified before 1 July 2025 are not eligible, and certificates must be created within 12 months of the compliance date. (DCCEEW, checked )

  9. It stays put

    The battery should stay at the property until the end of its warranty or the end of 2030, whichever is later. Moving it to another premises ends its eligibility. (Clean Energy Regulator, checked )

Listings change between step-downs

Rule 1 is the one that moves. The approved list is updated all the time, and a battery that qualified when you were quoted can drop off before it is installed.

In January 2026 the Clean Energy Council brought forward the expiry dates of more than 700 battery listings to 31 December 2027, as it moves to a new technical specification for home batteries, SA TS 5398. (Clean Energy Council, checked )

From 15 September 2026 it suspended several Neovolt models made by Bytewatt, which are not eligible for certificates while suspended. (Clean Energy Council, checked )

Each battery page shows the date its listing runs to. Several popular batteries have listings that end before 1 January 2027.

What the installer must tell you

If you assign your certificates, the retailer turns them into a dollar discount and may include administration fees. It must show the upfront discount clearly against the price of the system. (DCCEEW, checked )

The retailer must explain how the battery’s size suits your solar system, and give you its expected payback period, energy benefits and cost savings. (DCCEEW, checked )

Ask every installer for the number of certificates and the price per certificate behind their discount. With those two numbers you can check the quote against the rebate calculator in a few seconds, and see how much of the $40 Clearing House value reaches you.

Questions

Do I have to apply for the battery rebate?

No. Most people assign their certificates to the installer, who takes the value off the price. You can instead keep the certificates and sell them yourself through the REC Registry, in which case the installer gives you no discount.

Does my postcode change the federal battery rebate?

No. Unlike solar panels, which earn more certificates in sunnier postcode zones, a battery's certificates depend only on its usable capacity and its install date. The regulator's calculator asks a battery for those two things and nothing else. Your state can matter, because some states add their own incentives.

Are portable batteries or electric vehicles eligible?

No. The department's eligibility page excludes portable batteries and electric vehicles.

Is my old battery's top-up eligible?

Only if the existing battery has never received the discount, and the added modules are at least 5 kWh nominal with the whole system staying at or under 100 kWh. The certificates are claimed for the new modules only.