The STC rebate: what it is worth on your system

What the STC rebate is

When you install an eligible solar system, battery, heat pump or solar water heater, you earn the right to create STCs. You can create and sell them yourself, but most owners assign that right to a registered agent, and the retailer takes the value off the price. The agent creates the certificates and sells them to the businesses that have to buy them.

The Clean Energy Regulator is plain that this is not a rebate: it does not pay money to system owners or agents, and its job is to register validly created certificates that agents trade for money. Even so, its own consumer pages file the scheme under "Rebates and incentives", and on your quote it works like one: an amount off the price, taken before you pay. That is why it is called a rebate. The difference matters in practice. Nothing is claimed back from the government later, and no cheque arrives. The discount is what the retailer is willing to pass on, and it only exists if the paperwork is right.

To see how the scheme works for the trade, including who pays for STCs in the end, read What is an STC?

What it is worth on your system

The number of STCs depends on the size of the system, the zone for your postcode and the year of the install. The table shows installs in 2026, when a solar system is paid for 5 years of generation. Zone 3 covers Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, and zone 4 covers Melbourne and Hobart. STC zones lists every postcode.

The dollars are a range: the lowest and highest prices we found trade buyers publishing on 5 November 2026, $36.40 to $39.50 per STC before GST, applied to the number of STCs and rounded to the nearest $10. This is what traders pay the trade for certificates. It is not what a household will see. Your retailer decides how much of the value to pass on and builds it into the quote, so your discount can be higher or lower. Market prices also move daily.

A battery earns STCs on its usable capacity, not by postcode. The first 14 kWh counts in full, 14 to 28 kWh at 60%, 28 to 50 kWh at 15%, and nothing above 50 kWh. The factor per kWh is set by the install date and steps down every six months. The regulator says it is set so the discount comes to around 30% of the upfront cost of a battery.

Solar STCs are system kW x zone rating x deeming years, rounded down. Battery STCs are usable kWh after the taper x the factor, rounded down. Dollar ranges use the trade buy prices of 5 November 2026 before GST, from published prices at Green Energy Trading and Achievers Energy. The nominal capacity is usually the figure on a battery's label, but STCs use usable capacity, so use the usable figure on the Clean Energy Council's approved battery list.

On your quote, and before you sign

The discount is usually a line on the quote or invoice, or built into a lower total. Before you accept, ask the retailer:

• Is the STC discount in the price, and how much is it? A quote that shows the price with and without it is easiest to compare.
• How many STCs does it assume? Check it against the table above or the regulator's calculator for your postcode, size and install date.
• When is it applied? An upfront discount comes off the price on the day. The regulator also describes a delayed cash payment, so ask which you are getting and when it arrives.
• Who is the registered agent? The right can only go to one agent at a time, so the form names the agent that will create your certificates.
• What happens if the claim fails? The regulator does not settle disputes between owners, retailers and agents. They are a matter of your contract, and the regulator says the first step is typically your state's office of fair trading or consumer affairs body. Ask what the contract says.

The STC assignment form is the document that gives the agent the right to create your certificates. The regulator's sample has you state the number of STCs the system is eligible for and the financial incentive you will receive from the retailer, installer or agent. Before you sign, check that:

• your name, the installation address and the installation date are right;
• the system size and the equipment match the quote;
• the number of STCs and the incentive written on it match what you were told;
• you have not assigned the same system to anyone else; and
• a witness signs, and you keep a copy.

Giving false or misleading information on the form can bring penalties under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000, so do not sign anything you do not understand.

Who is eligible

The scheme is open to homeowners and businesses that install an eligible system. For the rebate to be there, the system must meet these tests, set by the regulator:

Solar panels

• Capacity of no more than 1 MW, and for systems up to 100 kW a total annual output under 250 MWh.
• Panels and inverter on the Clean Energy Council's list of approved products, and installed to the Australian and New Zealand standards.
• Installed by a person accredited by Solar Accreditation Australia, who must also hold an unrestricted electrical licence in your state or territory, with limited exceptions.
• Second-hand systems are not eligible, and STCs belong to a property address, not the owner.

Batteries

• New, 5 to 100 kWh nominal capacity, on the Clean Energy Council's approved battery list, installed with a new or existing solar system of no more than 1 MW.
• Capable of taking part in a virtual power plant if it is grid connected or within 1 km of the grid.
• Installed by an accredited installer with a battery endorsement, in one job.
• Only one battery per premises earns STCs, and it should stay at the property for the warranty period or until the end of 2030, whichever is later.

Your retailer should check all of this before the install, because the regulator can fail a claim that is incomplete or ineligible. For a home in Melbourne, see the rebates for Melbourne homes.

It falls every January

The STC scheme ends with 2030, and it winds down rather than stopping. The number of years of generation a solar system is paid for falls by one every 1 January, from 5 years for 2026 installs to 4 for 2027, down to a single year in 2030. A 6.6 kW system in zone 4 earns 39 STCs this year and 31 if the install slips into 2027. If you are choosing between installing in December and January, ask your retailer for both quotes. The STC deeming period sets out each step.

Batteries step down separately, every six months: from 6.8 per kWh in May to Dec 2026 to 5.7 from 1 January 2027. Battery STCs has the factors for every period to 2030.

Heat pumps and solar hot water

Air source heat pumps and solar water heaters earn STCs too, but the count does not come from the size of the unit. It comes from the regulator's register of eligible models, by model and zone, so two units that look alike can earn different numbers. STCs for heat pumps and solar hot water explains how the count works.

State programs are separate

State and territory incentives are not STCs. They are run by each government, have their own rules and closing dates, and change often, so we do not list amounts here. Some can be combined with the STC discount and some cannot. Your state's page has the programs we know of and the safety certificate each state needs:

• Victoria
• New South Wales
• Queensland
• Western Australia
• South Australia
• Tasmania
• the ACT
• the Northern Territory