Australian Capital Territory State Government Solar Rebates

The Australian Capital Territory Federal Government assists residents with the installation of solar PV system’s through providing a rebate which reduces the upfront cost of a system. Residents will also be credited for any unused solar power their system generates.

The ACT also provides state-specific rebates to those installing solar and battery storage systems, as well as support to low-income earners and pensioners installing solar. Further information on both the state and Federal Government rebates are detailed below.

Credits for excess power: Australian Capital Territory residents will receive a credit on their electricity bill for any unused solar power that is generated by your system and sent back to the grid. This is called a Feed-in Tariff (FiT). In the ACT, the feed-in tariff is determined by your electricity retailer. Feed-in tariffs currently range from 8.0 cents per kilowatt hour to 20.1 cents per kilowatt hour. You can visit the Australian Energy Regulator’s Energy Made Easy website to find out what feed-in tariffs electricity retailers are currently offering in the ACT.

If you installed your solar PV system before July 1 2013, you will be receiving a 1:1 solar feed-in tariff from ActewAGL. The 1:1 feed-in tariff allows you to receive an import rate of the same amount as to what you pay for your export electricity rate. This rate applies for 20 years from the date of installation. Rooftop solar installed before the 13^th of July 2011 will be receiving a feed-in tariff rate of 45 cents per kilowatt hour for 20 years from the date of installation.

The greatest benefit that your solar system will give you however is not from your credits for excess power, but rather by offsetting your daytime electricity consumption. For every unit of electricity your solar power system produces and that you consume at the premise saves you from having to purchase that unit from your electricity retailer.

Reduction in purchase price: When you install a solar system in the Australian Capital Territory, you generate Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs), which are sometimes referred to as a ‘Government Solar Rebate’. You’ll receive 1 STC for every Megawatt of energy your system is expected to produce until 2031.

For example, a 5kW system (approx 17 panels) will produce around 88MWh worth of electricity over the 11-year period until 2031, meaning you are entitled to 88 STCs.

Once your system has been installed and the STCs have been registered, they can be sold to recover a portion of the cost of purchasing your solar PV system. Given the complexity surrounding creating and selling STCs, it’s common practice to assign the right to create the STCs to your ACT solar provider, in exchange for an upfront discount off the full, or ‘true’, system price. 

STCs currently trade for around $37 each, which means you’d receive around $3,250 discount off the full, or ‘true’, cost of a 5kW system.

Infinite Energy will quote a price to you that is inclusive of the STC discount. This is the final price of your system. STC’s reduce every year on the 1^st of January (and will do so until they are completely phased out), so it’s best to avoid holding off installing your system to acquire the maximum amount.

Solar battery discount: The Next Generation Energy Storage Grants provides Australian Capital Territory households and businesses with a discount to install a battery storage unit with a new or existing rooftop solar PV system. The program is available to 5,000 households. The current rebate is $825 per kilowatt (kW) up to a maximum of 30kW. A typical household system of 5kW would be eligible for about $4000 in financial support.

Solar panel rebate: The Solar for Low Income Households Program is an incentive for pensioners in the Australian Capital Territory to invest in rooftop solar PV panels to help reduce their energy costs, with a subsidy of 50% of the total cost of a solar PV system. The incentive also includes an interest free loan with ActewAGL to pay back the remaining costs over a 3-year period with no deposit.