Western Australia Solar Feed-in Tariff Information
Last Updated: 13th Nov 2024
Western Australia has high levels of sunshine and very competitive rooftop solar prices. The bad news is, it also has the lowest solar feed-in tariffs in the nation.
Western Australian solar households in Perth and the south-west region of the state have Synergy as their electricity provider and receive a solar feed-in tariff under the Distributed Energy Buyback Scheme (DEBS).
Currently, in the 2024-25 financial year, a kilowatt-hour (kWh) of surplus solar electricity exported to the grid will only receive the following feed-in tariff:
- From 3pm in the afternoon to 9pm in the evening: 10c
- From 9pm in the evening until 3pm in the afternoon: 2c
For most households, this averages out to under 3c per kWh. When DEBS was first introduced the 9pm to 3pm payment was 3c, but it has been steadily cranked down since then.
While the feed-in tariff for most of the day is still low, still worth going solar in Perth, thanks to stupendous levels of sunshine and the lowest cost rooftop solar in the world.
Those in regional areas of WA have Horizon Power as their electricity provider. Feed-in tariffs can vary according to location, but in larger towns those who get solar will usually receive the same DEBS rate as in the Synergy area, but some remote areas can receive much larger feed-in tariffs that can be as high as…
- From 3pm in the afternoon to 9pm in the evening: 55.99c
- From 9pm in the evening until 3pm in the afternoon: 16.92c
A list of rural locations and feed-in tariffs can be found on this page.
Western Australia’s Older And Higher Feed-In Tariffs
West Australians who applied for rooftop solar panels from the 1st of July 2010 until the 30 of June 2011 could lock in a 40 cent feed-in tariff for 10 years, and those who applied in July 2011 could lock in 20 cents for 10 years.
If a system’s solar inverter size was increased, the high feed-in tariff would be lost. It was possible to increase the panel capacity, but this had to be approved by the electricity retailer and the panel capacity was required to be within 133% of the inverter capacity.
Following that scheme, the the Renewable Energy Buyback Scheme (REBS) was introduced. Just before DEBS kicked off in November 2020 (and it applied to systems installed from August 31, 2020), the solar feed-in tariff under REBS was 7.135 cents per kilowatt-hour in Perth and the south-west region. Horizon REBS solar customers were receiving 7.14 cents to more than 51 cents per kilowatt-hour – but availability was limited depending on location.
Those lucky enough to be on the REBS rates at the time DEBS commenced have been able to keep their higher rates, subject to REBS terms and conditions.
The WA government’s official solar feed in tariff information is here.