NSW Solar, Battery & VPP Rebates/Incentives: What's Available?

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Solar Subsidy: NSW Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES)

As the primary subsidy (technically not a rebate) for solar power in NSW, the Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) is an incentive that encourages investments of both homes and businesses to install rooftop solar up to 100 kW that is less than 250 MWh per year, as well as solar water heaters and air sourced heat pumps.

The SRES is still available in 2026, but its benefits keep shrinking every year on the way to the scheme's scheduled end in 2030. The number of Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) your system earns is based on a "deeming period" that drops by one year every 1 January, so a system installed today generates fewer STCs than the same system would have a year or two ago. This means the amount you can save from investing in a system reduces every year - all the more reason to install sooner rather than later. Note this scheme does not include a rebate for battery storage on its own (see the Cheaper Home Batteries Program below for that).

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NSW Rebate Solar Swap rebate & Low-income household rebate

The more well-known solar rebates like the Solar Swap and Low-income household rebates are no longer available. The Low-Income Household rebate allowed eligible homes to get a free 3 kW solar system installed to help reduce electricity bills.

This was designed to allow homes to save on their electricity bills up to $600 a year, and was funded under a fixed term in the NSW Government’s COVID-19 economic stimulus package. The trial has since closed and been formally evaluated by the NSW Government.

The Solar Swap rebate has also ended, which allowed households who were eligible for the Low-Income rebate to exchange their rebate for a free 3 kW solar system. Neither program is accepting new applicants in 2026.

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NSW Solar Feed-in-Tariffs (FiT) Rebate 2026

A feed-in-tariff is essentially a reward provided by your energy provider for feeding your excess solar energy back into the grid.

Properties with solar and battery storage can take advantage of solar feed-in-tariffs where solar owners get credits by sending excess solar energy back in to the grid. Depending on the plan you’re on, your provider will pay you a different amount for every kWh you put into the grid.

IPART's benchmark for the 2026-27 financial year has the flat, all-day feed-in-tariff sitting between 3.4 and 6.5 cents per kWh - down again from 4.8 to 7.3 cents in 2025-26, as more rooftop solar pushes daytime wholesale prices lower. The upside is that time-of-use plans now pay far more for evening exports, with benchmark peak rates of roughly 17 to 19 cents per kWh with Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy, and up to the mid-30s cents per kWh with Essential Energy. A battery that lets you shift your export until the evening peak, or a VPP that's paid to discharge at those times, is increasingly where the real value is.

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Cheaper Home Batteries Program (Federal Battery Rebate) 2026

Since launching on July 1^st 2025, the Federal Government's Cheaper Home Batteries Program has become the main battery rebate for homes and businesses across Newcastle, Maitland, and the Hunter. It works like the solar STC scheme: the discount is applied to your invoice up front by your accredited retailer, calculated from your battery's usable capacity, an STC "factor," and the current STC price (generally trading between $38 and $39, under a $40 government cap).

From 1 May 2026, the rebate rules changed: the STC factor now steps down twice a year instead of once, and larger batteries earn a smaller share of the incentive (the first 14 kWh of usable capacity is rebated in full, the next 14 kWh at a reduced rate, and any usable capacity above 28 kWh up to the 50 kWh cap at a much lower rate again). In practice, a typical 10 kWh battery now attracts a rebate of roughly $2,500-$2,600, down from around $3,200 before May 2026 - still a meaningful saving, but smaller than it was, and it will keep shrinking every 1 January and 1 July on the way to 2030.

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NSW VPP INCENTIVE (formerly the PDRS Battery Rebate)

NSW's Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) used to pay a standalone rebate just for installing a battery, but that activity was removed from the scheme in July 2025 once the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program launched, so the two incentives wouldn't be stacked against each other. In its place, NSW redirected that support into the NSW VPP Incentive - a payment for signing your battery up to a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) with a participating provider.

Which providers offer the NSW VPP Incentive? The NSW VPP Incentive isn't something you apply for directly through the government, you sign your battery up with a participating retailer or VPP operator, and they handle the certificate side of things through an Accredited Certificate Provider. A number of retailers currently run eligible VPP programs in NSW, including AGL, Origin, GloBird Energy, Amber Electric, and Engie, along with a handful of specialist VPP-only operators. Offers, payment amounts, and contract terms vary between providers, so it's worth comparing more than one before you sign up, and checking how much of your battery's capacity stays reserved for your own use during an outage.

Stacking the Federal Battery Rebate with the NSW VPP Incentive

The good news is the federal and state incentives are designed to work together rather than compete. The Cheaper Home Batteries Program discount comes off your invoice at the time of purchase, while the NSW VPP Incentive is a separate payment made after you've signed your battery up to a participating Virtual Power Plant.

By connecting your solar and battery system to a VPP, you unlock an additional payment on top of the federal rebate, which can boost your overall return and shorten your payback period.

The NSW VPP Incentive is worth up to around $1,500 depending on your battery's usable capacity - a typical 10 kWh battery earns roughly $1,100 - and it can be combined with the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program discount described above.