Victorian homeowners can now apply for a battery rebate – worth up to $3,500 – at the same time as they install solar panels.
This is excellent news for battery customers. Before 8 October, would-be battery owners had to first get their solar system installed before they could apply for the rebate.
This caused delays in the installation process for a solar+battery system. It also meant customers had to wait longer before they got the rebate.
“We have listened to industry and Victorians. Increasingly, people want to bundle a new solar PV system with a battery or upgrade their solar to maximise the return from their battery.” said Minister for Solar Homes Lily D’Ambrosio.
This rule change eliminates the uncertainty for customers as to whether or not they are eligible for the battery rebate. Now, they apply for the battery rebate as part of the process of ordering a solar+battery system. (Prior to this decision, customers would have to get the solar installed first before applying for the battery rebate).
As a result of this change, customers only commit to their solar+battery installation once they know they’ve been successful with their battery rebate application.
Who’s behind the Battery Rebate?
The battery rebate is available through the Victorian Government’s Solar Homes Program, a hugely successful initiative that’s helped thousands of Victorians access the benefits of solar power and energy storage.
Initially the battery rebate was only available in a limited number of postcodes as the government tested the demand for battery storage. Today, the ‘rebate rollout’ is in full swing and battery rebates are available in all Victorian postcodes.
Eligibility criteria
If you’re thinking about applying for a battery rebate, there are a number of eligibility criteria you need to be aware of. Probably the most important is that you can only receive one of the government’s Solar Homes Rebates. This means that you can’t apply for the solar panels rebate and the battery rebate – you can only get one or the other.
Given that the solar panels rebate is worth $1,400 and the battery rebate is worth $3,500, it’s not a hard decision to make!
Other battery rebate criteria include:
- Your property must be valued at less than $3 million
- Your household taxable income must be less than $180,000 a year
- Your solar panels system must be over 5kW
- You are the owner-occupier of the property
We’ve got lots of experience helping people successfully apply for rebates through the Solar Homes Program. If you’re interested, get in touch and we’ll take you through the process.
You’ll still get a subsidy for your solar panels
Thanks to the Federal Government’s solar subsidy – correctly known as Small-scale Technology Certificates – you will get around 30 percent reduction on your solar panels system. This works as a point-of-sale discount and you’ll get it automatically, providing you purchase a solar system that’s on the eligible product list and from an eligible Solar Retailer.
It’s not means-tested. What’s more, you can get this subsidy on multiple solar power systems – so it’s a terrific financial incentive.
Beat the solar rebate cut
Be aware that the value of the small-scale technology certificates is dropping by around 10 percent on the 1st of January 2022.
To get the subsidy at today’s higher value, you must get your solar power system installed by the end of December.
Get in touch with us today for a free quote if you don’t want to miss out!
