If you've been quoted for a battery in the last year you've almost certainly had the federal rebate applied without anyone explaining it properly. It's worth understanding, because how big a battery you choose changes how much of it you actually receive.
What it is
The Cheaper Home Batteries Program is a federal scheme that takes roughly 30% off the upfront cost of an eligible home battery. It started on 1 July 2025, it applies to Clean Energy Council-approved battery systems, and — unlike Solar Victoria's rebate or the NSW loan — it is not means tested. There's no income cap and no property value cap.
You don't apply for it and you don't claim it back. Your installer assigns the certificates and takes the value straight off your invoice, the same way the federal STC rebate already works on solar panels. If you've read our federal STC rebate explainer, it's the same machinery applied to storage.
The part most people don't know: it tapers by size
Since 1 May 2026 the rebate no longer pays the same rate across the whole battery. It steps down in bands based on usable capacity:
- The first 14kWh earns the full certificate rate
- Capacity from 14kWh to 28kWh earns 60% of that rate
- Capacity from 28kWh to 50kWh earns 15%
So the rebate is front-loaded toward the first 14kWh. A bigger battery still earns more in total dollars — just not proportionally more. It also means the *percentage* discount on a 40kWh system is meaningfully smaller than on a 16kWh one, which is worth knowing before you compare two quotes of different sizes and wonder why the discounts look inconsistent.
It shrinks every six months
The scheme steps down on a schedule that runs through to 2030. That's deliberate — it's designed to bring batteries forward, not to sit there indefinitely. In practical terms: the same battery installed next year will attract a smaller rebate than the one installed this year. If you're going to do it anyway, earlier is worth real money.
What it stacks with
The federal battery rebate is separate from the state schemes, so it stacks:
- Victorian customers — federal battery rebate plus the Solar Victoria rebate and interest-free loan on the solar side.
- NSW customers — federal battery rebate plus the NSW $15,000 interest-free loan, and, once it opens, the $4,000 discount for lower-income households.
Not sure which state scheme is yours? We've written a side-by-side comparison — Echuca and Moama are five minutes apart and get completely different deals.
The honest caveat on dollar figures
We've deliberately not put a single headline dollar amount on this page. The rebate is paid in certificates, and certificate prices move with the market, so any specific number we published today could be stale by the time you read it. What we can tell you is the real, current figure for your exact battery on the day we quote you — that's the number that actually matters.
What it looks like on our pricing
Our current GoodWe ESA pricing is $8,900 (16kWh), $11,900 (24kWh), $14,900 (32kWh) or $17,900 (40kWh) installed, before the federal rebate is applied. Those are cash, Solar Victoria rebate/loan or NSW Sustainable Home Loan prices — no third-party finance — and cover an AC-coupled single-phase install with a 5kW inverter.
Want the real number for your home, with the rebate already worked out? Call Brooke on 0408 258 298 or use our Quote Builder.
Solar On Electrical handles all the paperwork. Get a quote today.