Cheaper Home Batteries Program explained: how the rebate works

If you're looking at a home battery anywhere in Australia, this is the rebate that matters most. The Cheaper Home Batteries Program is the federal government's battery rebate, and it takes roughly 30% off the upfront cost of an eligible battery. Your retailer takes it off your price, so there's no form for you to fill in.

How much you get comes down to two things: how much usable energy your battery can store, and the date it's installed. Here's how it works as of October 2026, and what I'd check before you sign anything.

What is the Cheaper Home Batteries Program?

The program started on 1 July 2025 and is available to households, small businesses and community organisations across Australia. By August 2026, the Prime Minister and Energy Minister said more than 507,000 batteries had been installed under it (Energy-Storage.News, August 2026).

It isn't a cash payment from the government. Instead, it works through the existing Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, the same scheme that has long discounted rooftop solar. Your battery earns certificates, and those certificates have a dollar value.

How STCs turn into a discount

The certificates are called Small-scale Technology Certificates, or STCs. Each eligible battery creates a set number of them. Energy retailers (AGL, Origin, etc) and other liable businesses have to buy STCs, so they're traded at a market price.

In practice, you assign your battery's STCs to your solar retailer, and they take the value off your price. The Clean Energy Regulator says the certificates must be created within 12 months of installation.

How many STCs does a battery get?

The number of STCs is worked out from the battery's usable capacity in kilowatt-hours (kWh), multiplied by an "STC factor". The factor depends on when the battery is installed. For batteries installed from 1 May to 31 December 2026, it's 6.8 STCs per kWh (Clean Energy Regulator).

Bigger batteries earn less per kWh

Since 1 May 2026, the full factor only applies to the first 14 kWh. After that, it tapers:

• First 14 kWh: 100% of the factor (6.8 STCs per kWh)
• 14 to 28 kWh: 60% of the factor (4.08 STCs per kWh)
• 28 to 50 kWh: 15% of the factor (1.02 STCs per kWh)
• Above 50 kWh of usable capacity: no STCs

The total is rounded down

Once each tier is added up, the total is rounded down to a whole number of certificates (DCCEEW). A 13.5 kWh battery works out to 91.8 STCs, so it gets 91.

Worked examples for 2026 installations

Here's what common sizes earn if installed before 1 January 2027, at $38 per STC:

• 10 kWh usable: 68 STCs, $2,584
• 13.5 kWh usable: 91 STCs, $3,458
• 20 kWh usable: 119 STCs, $4,522
• 28 kWh usable: 152 STCs, $5,776
• 40 kWh usable: 164 STCs, $6,232

Notice how going from 28 kWh to 40 kWh adds only 12 certificates. That's the taper at work, and it's why I always size a battery to the household's evening and overnight use rather than the biggest unit on offer. Bigger isn't automatically better value.

Why usable capacity matters

Battery spec sheets often list two numbers. Nominal capacity is the total energy the cells can hold. Usable capacity is the energy you can actually draw out, because some is held back to protect the battery.

The rebate is based on usable capacity. A battery sold as "15 kWh" might only have 14 kWh usable, and that's the figure the STCs are calculated on. When you compare proposals, check the usable figure on the spec sheet and make sure the rebate matches it. Our guide to STC miscalculations shows what to look for.

Who is eligible?

Unlike many state programs, there's no income test. The battery system has to meet these rules (Clean Energy Regulator):

• a nominal capacity between 5 kWh and 100 kWh (only the first 50 kWh of usable capacity earns STCs)
• connected to new or existing rooftop solar
• a battery and inverter on the Clean Energy Council's approved list
• capable of joining a virtual power plant (VPP). Joining one is your choice
• installed by a Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA) accredited installer with a battery endorsement

If you already have solar, you can still claim this rebate. We talk to quite a few people that want to get a battery without having solar to take advantage of the Midday Power Saver program, and while that is possible, without solar, the battery installation won’t be eligible for this rebate.

Another thing to consider is whether your current inverter can work with a battery, or whether you need a new one. Our page on compatibility mismatches covers this.

When does the rebate go down?

The STC factor steps down every six months until the program ends in 2030. What counts is the installation date, not the date you sign or pay a deposit. Here's the schedule published by the Clean Energy Regulator:

• 1 May to 31 December 2026: 6.8
• January to June 2027: 5.7
• July to December 2027: 5.2
• January to June 2028: 4.6
• July to December 2028: 4.1
• January to June 2029: 3.6
• July to December 2029: 3.1
• January to June 2030: 2.6
• July to December 2030: 2.1

For a 10 kWh battery, the drop on 1 January 2027 takes the rebate from 68 STCs to 57 STCs. At $38 each, that's $418 less. For a 20 kWh battery, it's 119 down to 100 STCs, $722 less.

Can you combine it with other rebates?

Yes, in many cases. The federal battery rebate can sit alongside state programs where they exist. In Victoria, Solar Victoria no longer offers a battery rebate, but its solar panel rebate is still available to eligible households until applications close on 30 June 2027. See our Victorian rebates page and federal rebates page for the current details.

If you're installing new solar panels at the same time, those panels earn their own STCs under the same scheme, separate from the battery.

What to check in a battery proposal

A clear proposal makes the rebate easy to verify. Look for:

• the battery's usable capacity, not just the nominal figure
• the number of STCs and the price per STC used
• the price before and after the rebate
• the expected installation date, and what happens if it slips into 2027
• the installer's SAA accreditation number

If a proposal is vague on any of these, ask. A good retailer will happily walk you through the numbers, and it's exactly what we look for in the retail partners we work with.

If you're not ready yet, that's completely fine. The rebate doesn't disappear on 1 January 2027. It steps down every six months until 2030, so it'll still be there when the time is right for you. If you're still weighing it up, my take on whether a battery is worth it in Victoria is a good next read.

And if you're in Victoria and ready to look at a battery now, I'd love to help. Our team will work out exactly what you can claim, recommend a battery and electricity plan that suit how you use power, and put together a package with one of our vetted retail partners, with blackout protection and the likely extras priced in upfront.