No, Solar and Battery Rebates Haven't Ended: What's Still Available in 2026
We've had more than a few conversations lately with homeowners who think the window has closed on solar and battery rebates. Someone tells them the government rebate "ended," a headline gets misread, or a mate who looked into solar a year ago repeats outdated information, and suddenly people are walking away from a genuinely good financial decision based on a myth.
So let's set the record straight. Both the solar rebate and the battery rebate are still very much alive and well in 2026, and NSW households now have an extra pathway to help pay for upgrades on top of that. Here's exactly what's still on the table.
The Solar Rebate Hasn't Gone Anywhere
The federal solar rebate, delivered through the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES), is legislated to run until 31 December 2030. It isn't a lump sum payment from the government. Instead, your system earns Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) based on its size and location, and your installer typically applies that value as an upfront discount on your quote. For a typical household system, this still knocks a meaningful amount off the sticker price.
What is true is that the rebate reduces gradually every year as the scheme approaches its 2030 end date, since the number of STCs a system earns is tied to how many years are left in the scheme. That's a slow, predictable decline, not a sudden cut-off. If you've heard that solar rebates have "ended," what's likely happened is someone has confused this gradual step-down with the scheme disappearing altogether. It hasn't, and won't for years yet.
The Battery Rebate Is Also Still Running, and Better Funded Than Ever
This is where most of the confusion comes from. We covered the detail of this in our earlier post, The Battery Rebate Just Changed, What Ballina Homeowners Need to Know, but it's worth restating plainly here: the Cheaper Home Batteries Program has not ended. If anything, it's in a stronger position than when it launched. The federal government expanded its funding from an original $2.3 billion to $7.2 billion to keep the program running through to 2030, specifically because demand for battery storage was so strong that the original budget was on track to run out years early.
What did change, on 1 May 2026, was how the rebate is calculated. The rate per kWh stepped down slightly and a tiered structure was introduced so that oversized systems no longer attract a disproportionate subsidy. For the average household battery in the 10 to 14 kWh range, that's a difference of a few hundred dollars, not the end of the incentive. It's a course-correction, not a shutdown.
NSW Households Also Have the VPP Incentive to Stack On Top
On top of the federal battery rebate, NSW has its own Virtual Power Plant (VPP) incentive, worth up to $550 for a single battery or up to $1,500 for larger systems. This is a separate, state-based payment that stacks directly on top of the federal STC discount, provided your battery is VPP-capable, which is already a requirement of the federal program. Most homeowners don't have to actively join a VPP to qualify for the upfront payment, though doing so can add ongoing income on top.
And Now There's a New Zero-Interest Loan Option Too
As if that wasn't enough good news, the NSW Government has just added another layer of support. From 17 June 2026, the state's new Home Energy Saver program opened, offering eligible households a zero-interest loan of up to $15,000 to help cover the cost of solar, batteries and other energy upgrades, repayable over ten years. Later in 2026, a separate discount of up to $4,000 will also become available for households on lower incomes or holding a concession card, including renters with landlord permission. We covered the full details of that program in our post on the NSW Home Energy Saver program, and it's a genuinely useful tool for spreading the cost of an upgrade without paying interest.
Put simply, a household considering solar and a battery in 2026 can potentially access the federal STC rebate on both, the NSW VPP incentive on the battery, and a zero-interest loan to cover whatever's left. That's more support layered together than at almost any point since these schemes began, not less.
Don't Let a Rumour Cost You Real Money
Have you held off on solar or a battery because you'd heard the rebates were gone? It's an understandable assumption given how much noise there's been around the May changes, but it simply isn't accurate. The rebates are real, they're active right now, and in some cases there's more government support available today than there was twelve months ago.
If you're not sure exactly what you'd qualify for, that's exactly the kind of question we're happy to walk through with you. Get in touch with ModEnergy and we'll give you a clear, honest picture of what a solar or battery upgrade would actually cost after every rebate and incentive you're entitled to, no guesswork required.