What you need to know about the Solar Power Rebate in NSW.
Federal Government incentives are available to qualifying residential and commercial premises in Australia that install Solar Panels and other Renewable Energy Systems. Most people call these solar rebates.
This solar panel rebate can mean significant reductions in the cost of your solar system. The intent is to encourage Australia’s use of renewable energy.
The home solar panel rebate program – which is part of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target – means that when you install a Solar System, this action leads to the creation of a number of Renewable Energy Certificates. These Certificates (referred to as STC’s – or Small-scale Technology Certificates) are then purchased by Energy Companies. This is part of their Renewable Energy commitments.
The value of these Certificates varies and can either be deducted from the price of your system or sold (usually at a higher price) via the Clean Energy Regulator’s certificate Clearing House system.
| Solar System | Solar Power Rebate* |
| 5kW System | $2,500 |
| 7kW System | $3,500 |
| 10kW System | $5,000 |
* Numbers are rounded estimates and assume an STC price of $36 for a solar system installed in 2021. Please check with the Solaray Team for the current STC price as it often changes.
What does this mean for me?
When we install a system, we normally reduce the purchase price by the value of the STCs created by your system. There is no additional paperwork, and you receive the value of the STCs at the current market price.
STC PRICE: The system for trading and pricing STCs for small systems is managed by the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES).
STCs are bought by Liable Parties (usually electricity retailers) and must be surrendered at the end of each quarter.
As the number of STCs that must be surrendered is a fixed amount each year. However, the number of STCs created is variable. Thus, the price paid for STCs also varies and is determined by supply and demand.
The Federal Government legislated in 2010 a fixed price for STCs by implementing a Clearing House system where STCs can be bought and sold for $40. However, there is no requirement for Liable Parties to purchase from the Clearing House, so they are likely to only do so if there is a shortage of STCs or the market price exceeds $40.
There is currently a surplus of STCs in the market which means the market price of STC’s is below $40.
However, as the price of solar systems has literally halved over the past 18 months or so, this means that the reduction in STC value has been more than absorbed by the decrease in panel costs.
Do I need to know all of this?
No, we make it simple for our customers by offering a number of easy options for obtaining cost reductions with STC’s. These include deducting the value of the STC’s from the purchase price or arranging with you to put them in the Clearing House System. We would be happy to discuss these with you based on your own requirements.
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Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) solar rebates
Small-scale Technology Certificates (STC’s) come about when a Renewable Energy System such as a Solar PV system is installed. STCs previously went by the name of Renewable Energy Certificates or RECS
The number of STC’s depends on the size of the system and therefore the amount of energy it generates. One STC comes about for every megawatt-hour of production capacity of the system. This is further multiplied by the number of years the system is likely to generate energy. For solar systems, this was 15 years (the life of the solar panels themselves is considerably more than that). However, as the rebate phases out in 2030, each year the number of STCs generated reduces. This is why it is important to purchase and install a solar power system as soon as possible. These solar rebates do not last forever.
There are currently great federal government incentives/rebates available on all of our solar systems. The larger your system the greater the solar power incentive:
