The NSW Battery PRDS Incentive is Now Available
The NSW Battery PRDS Incentive is Now Available
Posted 6 Jan
As 2025 comes to light, homes and businesses in NSW have access to a range of rebates and subsidies that allow for discounted installations of solar and battery solutions. Let’s explore the current rebates and how they will be affected with the new year.
There's good news! There are available rebates and incentives on Solar, Battery, Virtual Power Plants, and more. All these can be
combined to maximise your savings and help you get the most out of your energy.
|
NSW Scheme |
Status |
Type |
| Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme |
Open (finishes 2030) |
Solar |
| Peak Demand Reduction Scheme |
Open |
Battery & VPP |
| Solar for Low-Income Households |
Closed |
Solar |
| Feed-in-Tariffs |
Open |
Solar & Battery |
What most people don't realise is that there have been, and still are valuable solar rebates and incentive that are designed to help people like you get discounted solar systems to help you further invest in the energy you produce.
Below are a list of recent rebates and incentives for solar energy throughout New South Wales.
(Open)
As the primary subsidy (technically not a rebate) for solar power in NSW, the Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) is an incentive that encourages investments of both homes and businesses to install rooftop solar up to 100 kW that is less than 250 MWh per year, as well as solar water heaters and air sourced heat pumps.
Whilst the SRES is still available, its benefits are slowly diminishing, ending in 2030. But that’s lot of time? Whilst another 5 years is still a large amount of time, the STC buy-back prices reduce by 7% each year until 2030. This means that the amount you can save from investing in a system reduces every year. This also does not include a rebate for battery storage.
Eligibility requirements for the Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme include to:
LGCs or Large-Scale Generation Certificates, are a financial incentive for the generation of renewable energy from a power station under the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target.
Whilst STCs and LGCs are similar is some aspects, they differ in a few ways. Unlike STCs, LGCs are not determined by the kW size, but are calculated by the amount of renewable energy generated. An LGC is equal to 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of renewable electricity produced.
(Closed)
The more well-known solar rebates like the Solar Swap and Low-income household rebates are no longer available. The Low-Income Household rebate allowed eligible homes to get a free 3 kW solar system installed to help reduce electricity bills.
This was designed to allow homes to save on their electricity bills up to $600 a year, and was funded under a fixed term in the NSW Government’s COVID-19 economic stimulus package.
The Solar Swap rebate has also ended, which allowed households who were eligible for the Low-Income rebate to exchange their rebate for a free 3 kW solar system.
(Open)
A feed-in-tariff is essentially a reward provided by your energy provider for feeding your excess solar energy back into the grid.
Properties with solar and battery storage can take advantage of solar feed-in-tariffs where solar owners get credits by sending excess solar energy back in to the grid. Depending on the plan you’re on, your provider will pay you a different amount for every kWh you put into the grid.
Whilst this has been reduced recently, it still contributes to a large portion of reducing most home’s bills. According to Wattever.com.au, there are different types of plans where you can earn variable rates depending on the amount you’ve exported, and flat rate earnings.
Homes and businesses can now get discounts on their solar battery storage with energy storage rebates and
subsidies designed to incentivise you to invest in your energy. Here are the available battery storage schemes.
(Open)
The Peak Demand Reduction Scheme started in November 2024 and is available for 2025 with no end date. This subsidy (also not
really a rebate) allows homes and businesses to save on their first battery. It’s important to note that this isn’t a rebate as the
subsidy acts a discount off the overall cost.
Eligible batteries will need to meet the following requirements. They will need to be:
Using these requirements, popular batteries like Tesla Powerwall 2, Powerwall 3, Sungrow SBH & SBR, and BYD Battery-Box batteries are eligible.
Depending on the chosen battery, the specified capacity will determine how much of a discount you receive for your investment.
In the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme, they include a rebate for properties that connect to a Virtual Power Plant with their solar and battery system. By connected your solar and battery to a Virtual Power Plant, you can save up to $400 depending on the capacity, which can also be claimed twice with a least 3 years between claims.
Similar to the discount on your first battery, the discount is dependent on how large your battery is. The larger the capacity, the larger the incentive.
If you’re looking for ways to save on electricity and system costs, there are other strategies that you can use to save extra on your energy bills. These ways include analysing your energy consumption habits to better improve efficiency in your usage, finding the right tariff for your lifestyle, and how solar can be greatly utilised in your energy.
As time goes on, old rebates and subsidies slowly die out, and new one's come in to replace them. Right now there is a great opportunity for the majority of households to take advantage of not only single rebates, but combinations, all designed to boost the desire to invest in their own energy.
We help a lot of households find their optimal solar solutions, and walk them through every step in how the subsidy works, as well as transparent quotes and pricing.
Our goal is to deliver tailored and quality renewable and electrical solutions that result in a positive customer experience.
Use this form, and we'll get in contact with you about solar and battery incentives in Newcastle & the Hunter region.
The Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) is part of a larger goal of helping increase adoption of renewable energy systems like solar energy. How does the SRES work?
Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) are virtual tokens which are created when you install a solar system to your property. The STCs essentially represent the environmental benefits of your system. The number of STCs depend on your solar system's size and the location.
These STCs are then usually assigned to us as a part of the subsidy process, in which fluctuates in value over time. As of this article the live STC price is $38.30.
Each zone is segmented based on their solar irradiation levels which affects the incentive value.
As 2025 comes to light, homes and businesses in NSW have access to a range of rebates and subsidies that allow for discounted installations of solar and battery solutions.
Explore various ways where homes and businesses can reduce electricity bills and maximise solar generation in Newcastle and the Hunter, NSW for 2025.
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