New South Wales residents are eligible to claim financial assistance for the installation of solar PV systems through various state-based and Federal Government schemes. Rebates can reduce the upfront cost of a system, as well as provide residents with credits on their electricity bill for any unused solar power.
Those living in NSW will also receive further assistance through state-based rebates. Information for both homeowners and businesses regarding rebates are outlined below.
Credits for excess power: In New South Wales you will receive a credit on your 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). Those living in the state of New South Wales will have their feed-in tariff set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). The benchmark range for feed-in tariffs is 8.5 to 10.4 cents per kilowatt hour. Your rate will vary based on your electricity retailer, however you can compare energy plans, including feed-in tariff rates on the NSW Energy Switch service.
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 your New South Wales home, 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 NSW 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 1st 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.
Finance facilitation service: The Empowering Homes Program will provide interest-free loans to eligible New South Wales residents to install battery and solar-battery systems across the state over the next 10 years. The program will support 300,000 installations. Interest-free loans of up to $9000 for a storage battery or up to $14,000 for a solar PV and battery storage system will be available to owner-occupiers with an annual household income of up to $180,000.
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