Business solar now gets a better rebate deal than your home
The federal solar rebate still shrinks yearly for homes, but a scheme change now gives mid-size businesses a fixed discount for five years.
What happened
The federal solar rebate scheme now treats households and larger solar installations differently, and the gap between them is set to widen every year from here.
According to Energy Matters, the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) was expanded on 1 October 2026 to let commercial solar systems up to 1 MW qualify for upfront small-scale technology certificates (STCs) for the first time. Previously, anything over 100 kW had to register as a power station and earn certificates gradually as it generated electricity, rather than claiming them upfront.
The outlet reports that the certificate count for any system is worked out as system size (kW) × a postcode-based zone rating × a "deeming period" — the number of years of generation paid for in advance. For households and small systems, that deeming period keeps shrinking: five years for a system installed in 2026, falling to four in 2027, three in 2028, two in 2029 and one in 2030, before reaching zero for systems installed from 2031. Energy Matters calculates that this means a typical home system earns roughly 20% fewer certificates with each year a household delays.
The new mid-scale tier (100 kW to 1 MW) works differently: its deeming period is fixed at five years regardless of when the system goes in, rather than counting down. Energy Matters cites Energy Minister Chris Bowen, who told the National Press Club that "the missing middle is mid-scale solar," pointing to Clean Energy Regulator data showing Australian homes host roughly four times as much rooftop solar capacity as businesses. The government's stated aim is to close that gap, and it estimates the change cuts installation costs for mid-scale systems by about 20%.
None of this changes the rules for a typical household system — there's no fixed deeming period on offer for homes, and the scheme's wind-down to 2030 continues as before.
What it means for your solar quote
For most homeowners, the practical takeaway is the one that's always applied: the longer you wait, the less the federal rebate is worth. Our cost model shows a typical 6 kWp home system running $6,950 – $11,600, averaging around $8,950, already after the STC discount is applied — so a shrinking rebate shows up as a rising quoted price over time, not a separate fee. Our figures include GST, as all household solar quotes should.
If you're weighing panels against a battery at the same time,
| Material | Typical | Usual range | Lifespan |
|---|---|---|---|
| No battery | $7,500 | $5,850 – $9,750 | – |
| 5 kWh battery | $8,950 | $6,950 – $11,600 | – |
| 10 kWh battery | $10,400 | $8,050 – $13,500 | – |
| 13.5 kWh battery | $11,300 | $8,850 – $14,800 | – |
sets out the typical cost and lifespan for different battery sizes. Batteries sit under a separate federal scheme — the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, running since July 2025 — with its own discount that also reduces every six months through to 2030, on the same logic as the solar step-down: earlier installation locks in a bigger discount.
State top-ups still apply on top of the federal scheme where you're eligible. Victoria's Solar Homes program offers a rebate of up to $1,400 on panels, with a household income cap of $150,000 from 1 July 2026. In Western Australia, Synergy customers can get up to $1,300 toward a home battery, and Horizon Power customers up to $3,800 if they join a virtual power plant.
Full details on sizing, options and what drives the price are in our Solar panels.
Other projects the same rebate touches
STCs aren't limited to panels. Heat pump hot water systems are priced after the same federal certificate scheme, and the typical cost of swapping in a heat pump unit runs $3,500 – $5,850, averaging $4,500 once that discount is applied. The same timing logic holds: see our Heat pump hot water for what's driving that price now.
The bottom line
The commercial rebate change doesn't add anything new for households to apply for. What it does confirm is that the clock on the existing household discount keeps ticking down, with no sign of it being extended or flattened the way it has been for mid-scale business systems. If you're comparing panel or battery quotes and want a second opinion on whether the price you've been given is reasonable for your size and postcode, our "is my quote fair" tool is a quick way to check before you sign anything.