A pair of Powerwalls in Toowoomba, QLD. (Installation Credit: Green Solar)
Update 12 Feb 2024: The Queensland Battery Rebate is live.
Update 24 Apr 2024: The Battery Booster Program will end at 11:59 pm on 8 May 2024.
With the resignation of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk providing a first-rate distraction, Queensland last week joined the ranks of Australian states supporting home solar battery storage with a rebate program.
Rebates of up to $4,000 will be available to Queensland households under the Battery Booster Rebate Scheme, with the federal and state governments providing $24 million under a 50:50 split to support the program.
If the taxable income of the income earner for the application is over $66,667, the rebate is reduced to $3,000.
SolarQuotes estimates the first-year savings for a $10,000 10 kWh installation at $850 for a flat tariff in QLD and $1,248 for a time-of-use tariff. If reduced to $6,000 by the full rebate, it gives a simple battery payback of 7 years on a flat tariff and 5 years for those on a time-of-use tariff.
While the program’s start date hasn’t yet been announced, the government quietly published the legislation enabling the scheme last week.
“The purpose of assistance under the scheme is to give individual owners of residential premises a rebate to offset the cost of having an approved battery system suitably installed at the premises,” the introduction to the legislation states.
According to the ABC, which covered the scheme here, the state government has based the rebate on a cost of battery + installation in Queensland of more than $9000.
The scheme will be open to individual homeowners with a combined household income below $180,000 a year, with approved batteries to be supplied by approved installers.
The legislation says:
approved battery system means a battery energy storage system that is included in the list of systems approved, for the purposes of the scheme, on the electricity department’s website.
and
approved installer means an installer of approved battery systems at residential premises who is included in the list of installers approved, for the purposes of the scheme, on the electricity department’s website.
So it appears the QLD Government will maintain those lists.
Energy Minister Mick de Brenni told the ABC the scheme would begin in 2024.
Victoria is the only state with a current solar battery support scheme. That state offers Solar Battery Loans of up to $8,800, with more than 2,900 loans still available.
The government hasn’t announced caps for the scheme, but this tender for the scheme’s inspectorate, says “up to 2,500 inspections across Queensland will be required”.
The Inspectorate will be responsible for ensuring the safety and quality of installations and educating installers on industry best practice and battery safety risks.
About Richard Chirgwin
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Recently I had a solar panel installer in my home to try to obtain a quote to replace my 1.5 system to perhaps a 6.8 or more system.
The very “switched on” young man looked at my room and immediately said ” we won’t touch your roof as your roof tiles are not suitable for solar panels or could perhaps create some leakage problems in the future if you install a new system”.
Well – my old system has been already installed for over 7 years at least and I never had a leak. Could anybody tell me what’s that all about?
Besides – the young man was a lovely guy who obviously was very honest and “over a cuppy” I learned a lot about Solar panels and batteries.
Are there any comments on this issue?
A bit of a shame there isn’t anything for those who’ve already purchased and installed batteries but I understand it’s an incentive for those on the fence.
The Victorian scheme is not a rebate, it is a loan. It does not reduce the overall cost of the system. Kindly stop parrotng the vic government falsehood of including an interest free loan under the heading of rebate.
Who is calling the Victorian loan a rebate?
Lets see if the retailers up their prices by $3999.
Also, our solar bill is $250/qtr even after the recent hikes so it would be a long pay-back time.
Great, but not for those of us who have already forked out our savings because we do not trust the grid or electricity companies anymore.
Is this program only for new battery installation on systems without batteries, or will it apply to additional battery fitment?
Having only recently installed a new system and battery, is there any back dating for the program?
As I read it, as long as you haven’t claimed the rebate, you can claim for a new battery installation. There isn’t any backdating component though.
Very interesting. Is there any news backdating so far? They did that with the EV rebate so it was fair for those that recently did the right thing without support.
If not, this might still prompt me to add another stack to my Fronius/BYD system. Once Fronius sorts out the ability to share power with something like Localvolts I’ll have a cracking mini power station available.
Good for me I’ll get $3000 discount on a new battery. I can only see this as a government they is long in the tooth and ready to depart. I don’t see that this is a good spend for the taxpayer.
The Princess was dethroned because the unions are worried about her polling. A new candidate means a honeymoon period and a better chance of beating the opposition, assuming the next QLD election isn’t too far off.
I’m not convinced the free money is intended to buy votes, but I agree it’s not good for taxpayers. Useful for any (non-tax paying) pensioners if they can claim it though!
The next Qld election is October 2024, Queensland has 4 year fixed term Governments.
Hi,
Just wondering if the Solar Quotes team has heard any updates about the Government’s Household Energy Upgrades Fund? I understand that it requires the Government to pass legislation before the fund opens. We are interested in taking advantage of the fund to install solar.
Regards
Leanne
I was about to drop my money on a system, now I have no real choice but to wait until they release some details on this, 4000 is a big saving.
I dare say the industry won’t be happy about everyone else doing the same thing and work slowing to a crawl until details are released.
I may even have to wait until next financial year if they are determining eligibility based on last financial year’s taxable income (I pulled money out of my super to fix my house and the government classed it as taxable income)
I had the same nasty surprise when I used some super money to pay off our home. I also found out that it was counted as taxable income.