Months after being announced, NSW’s battery ‘rebate’ (which isn’t technically a rebate) is due to launch on November 1st.
If you’re a homeowner looking to claim it, here’s what you need to know.
The ‘Rebate’ That Isn’t A Rebate
The coming battery rebate is part of New South Wales’ Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) and isn’t a rebate – you are not directly getting money back from the government when you buy a battery.
Instead, your installer claims the incentive on your behalf – and passes it on to you as an up-front discount on your quote.
But it’s too bad for the NSW government because I, and everyone else, will call it a ‘rebate’. Sorry bureaucrats! Clarity is more important than semantics in this case.
What Is The Rebate Worth?
The rebate is for battery storage between 2 and 28 kWh. You can use it for multiple batteries, but be careful. If your total battery capacity is over 28 kWh, you’ll get zero rebate.
Its exact value will fluctuate based on the value of ‘Peak-demand Reduction Certificates’ (PRCs), but it’s worth about $160 per kWh at the time of writing.
For example, the 13.5 kWh Tesla Powerwall 3 attracts $2,150 in rebates with a $2 PRC price.
Connecting your battery to a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) will earn you an extra $25 per kWh.
If you sign up for a VPP later, you can claim the VPP portion of the rebate then, but you need at least 6 years remaining on the battery’s warranty.
See how much you could save with my simple NSW battery rebate calculator.
What Batteries Are Eligible?
The NSW government has a set of quite technical criteria a battery must meet to be eligible for the scheme.
We’ve digested it into a row on our battery comparison table to advise whether a given battery is eligible.
What Do You Need To Know When Getting Quotes?
If you want to claim the NSW battery rebate, you need to use a certified installer.
They do all the paperwork on your behalf—all you’ll need to do is sign a ‘nomination form,’ which gives your installer the right to claim your rebate.
But how can you be sure an installer is certified?
If you get quotes for batteries in NSW through our service, we will only refer you to installers who can provide the rebate. Simple as that.
If you’re looking for granular details on how this scheme works – we’ve got it all on our “How To Get NSW’s ‘Solar Battery Rebate'” page.
About Finn Peacock
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Thanks Finn, is there any reason the Sungrow SBR192 is missing off the list?
our bad – we’ll add it now
Hey guys, the form isnt working for me
Hi Anne,
What’s it doing exactly?
I gather us early adopters with a Tesla 2 battery already, receive no benefit.
Hi Team,
Any idea if/when WA will get an upcoming battery rebate something like NSW
I deleted and unsubscribed from an unsolicited email yesterday from an “experienced Installer/engineer” offering to beat the deadline on a WA Battery Rebate of $7,000.
As I already have the maximum PVA and a comfortably sized BYD HVM 13.8kWh battery I did not investigate… but there is at least one person who seems to think there is…
BTW: with my current setup we rarely draw any grid peak power and I did not notice a recent 30 minute grid outage (except that my old office UPS beeped in protest – it was slower switching over than the house unit so is to be retired.
Cheers & thanks Finn & Co for help along the way.
Bob.
Is there any chance us Victorian’s will get a battery rebate scheme in the near future?
Finn, does your battery payback calculator account for demand tariffs? I pay more in demand charges than I do in peak period usage costs and a battery would be typically extremely effective at reducing those charges and probably significantly reducing the payback period.
Very good point Andrew,
I’ll run it past the team and see what they have built into it.
Cheers
No, Andrew, it doesn’t, but we are working on an advanced calculator that may.
If you reach out to [email protected] (Attn: Trevor re: Demand Charges), I’d love to speak with you more about this.
Hi Finn, Anthony,
Any idea about the WA battery rebates? Are they coming in or are they already here?
Regards Scott
Where can i get a full list of approved battery installers who can apply for the Rebate on my behalf
Hi Hans,
I don’t think there’s a comprehensive list available anywhere to be honest.
Click on this link and stick your details in for a quote. There’s a notes section at the end you can specify that you want a NSW battery rebate.
If you already have a battery, but are installing an additional battery(s) and will stay under the total of 28 kWh, does the “rebate” still apply?
I have the same question. One installer I approached advised the rebate would not apply but I can’t locate any official information that clearly states the same. Would be good to get some clarification.
Hi Finn,
I am dubious about the VPP system, do you know how long you are expected to stay connected to get the NSW rebate, if I don’t like it and want to change away from it, is there a minimum time frame that I would have to pay back the VPP incentive?
Hi John,
I don’t think the rules are clear around this but we might ask the NSW government he question and see if they can clarify. It’s been a little disappointing that they had such a long run up to the launch date but the details are still fuzzy.
Thanks for the reply, at this stage I may look to keep away from the VPP as there is just to man unknown and buyer beware situations. Im more than happy to give it a try, but if I start being out of pocket because they deplete my battery and then charge me extremely high peak tariffs it will hardly be worth it. (NSW Mid North Coast under Essential Energy is around 42c peak rate depending in supplier, over 50c with OVO, so certainly need to be careful to make sure the ROI of batteries is maximised by minimising grid draw wherever possible). I will habeve to look into it, but my bill vould easily go up $100 a month if my battery is depleted when I need it, so the VPP rebate would be useless if I can’t exit without cost.
How do they approach adding more battery modules onto an existing battery? E.g. Adding another 3.2kw module to an existing sungrow.
Hi Adam,
Finn has a video on this if you search the website.
Battery state of charge needs to be reasonably similar, there’s a method to follow but they’re very straightforward.