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1KOMMA5° Australia
Your Guide to Clean Energy Rebates in Australia
The cost of living in Australia is increasing, along with the price of electricity. Due to growing pressure to reduce emissions and live more sustainably the Australian Government has introduced a number of rebates and financial incentive programs to encourage homes and businesses to pick up renewable energy as well as other energy efficient home systems. Taking advantage of these schemes allows your home to become an energy efficient smart home, with better management and predictability in recurring energy costs.
Key Takeaways:
Government Rebates for Renewable Energy: The Australian Government offers various financial incentives to help homes and businesses switch to clean energy, including solar power, to cut down on electricity costs and emissions.
Small-Scale Technology Certificates (STCs): STCs are one of the main rebates for residential and small-scale renewable energy systems, like solar panels. They help offset installation costs, with the rebate value varying based on system size and energy generation.
Commercial Solar Rebates: Businesses can claim up to $50,000 in rebates for installing commercial solar systems. There’s also a tax write-off for solar equipment that allows businesses to deduct installation costs immediately.
Energy Bill Relief: To help combat rising living costs, the government offers energy bill relief credits of up to $300 for households and $325 for small businesses, reducing the financial strain of electricity bills.
Energy-Efficient Appliance Upgrades: The government encourages energy-efficient home upgrades (e.g., LED lighting, air conditioning, hot water systems) with rebates to reduce energy consumption and save on bills.
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Small-Scale Technology Certificates (STCs)
Small-Scale Technology Certificates or STCs for short, are one of the main, most widespread government incentives in Australia for renewable energy. These certificates help Australian homes and businesses to achieve their energy goals and install clean energy solutions. Despite them being so popular and a major incentive to install solar power many are still yet to grasp this concept fully.
What Are STCs?
Small-Scale Technology Certificates are a financial incentive introduced by the government to offset the cost of installing renewable energy solutions for homes and businesses. These certificates can be traded, helping to cover some of the cost of installation.
How Do STCs Work?
STCs can be traded or assigned in order to receive financial benefits such as a discount or a credit on the cost of installation. This is helpful as it reduces the overall out of pocket loss you incur when installing a clean energy system for many who otherwise may not have considered this.
How are STCs Created?
STCs are created once a renewable energy system has been installed, this could be solar or another clean energy solution that helps to power your home sustainably.
Why Do STCs Exist?
The aim of this program is to encourage the uptake of clean energy solutions amongst Australian communities by making solar and other forms of renewable energy generation more accessible to homes and businesses that otherwise may not have considered installing a solar system.
One of the main issues people have with installing solar power and renewables as a whole is the initial purchase price to set up the system leaving them out of pocket as they wait to reap the benefits of energy efficiency. The government acknowledges this roadblock and has developed a program helping to reduce upfront cost of clean energy.
Essentially the Australian Federal Government wants to get people off of the fence about installing solar power and provide accessibility to those who otherwise would never consider these energy solutions.
How Many STCs Am I Entitled To?
It’s hard to give a definitive number on how many STCs your home and solar system will receive. This is largely due to a number of factors that contribute to the amount of STCs a renewable energy installation is worth. The main factor that determines the amount of certificates you're provided with is your energy generation.
As a general rule, the larger the solar system you install (greater output), the greater the rebate you can receive.
What is the STC Price?
The way in which Small-Scale Technology Certificates are priced can be complicated. As a general overview STCs are bought, sold and traded. The price of STCs is often variable due to their dependency on supply and demand in the market.
To reduce the fluctuations in price the federal government introduced a fixed price for STCs through something called the Clearing House. This came into effect in 2010 and delivered a fixed Small-Scale Technology Certificate price of $40.
How Do I Claim My STCs?
There are two ways you can claim and benefit from your Small-Scale Technology Certificates:
Assign Your STCs to a Registered Agent:
Although this may sound confusing it is in fact the most simple and efficient way to reap the benefits of STCs. Your registered agent will usually be your solar retailer. Your chosen solar company will claim these STCs on your behalf and apply their value as an upfront discount to the cost of installation.
Create and Sell the STCs Yourself:
This can be done through the REC Registry or the Clearing House. Although possible this is not recommended as it is a more complex process than assigning them.
Pros & Cons of Claiming STCs
Small-Scale Technology Certificates provide a great deal of upsides for our communities, allowing many to access renewable energy and making energy independence an achievable goal, but this isn't to say that there aren’t any downsides to the scheme:
Benefits of Claiming STCs:
Reduced Carbon Footprint: the increased uptake of renewable energy allows our homes and businesses to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Lessening our impact on the environment allows us to move towards our goal of powering our homes and lives with sunlight and wind for free, forever.
Long-Term Solar-Savings: installing a solar system allows you to power your home using a free source of electricity, reducing your power bills in a time when the price of grid energy is increasing. The only issue is the initial set-up cost of doing this, the introduction of STCs lessens this making it more financially feasible to install renewable energy.
Reduction of the Initial Set-Up Cost: solar can be a significant investment, especially if you’re a larger household with higher usage, you’ll need more solar. This initial cost is something that puts a lot of people off installing a PV system, the government aims to reduce the concern around this through financial incentives.
Makes Solar an Achievable Goal: Due to the initial investment required to install a PV system, especially one that is high quality, reliable and safety focussed, clean energy is just not a possibility for some. The Australian government aims to make renewable energy like solar power more affordable and accessible to our communities by lowering the upfront expenses.
Drawbacks of Claiming STCs:
All Good Things Must Come to an End: Like most government schemes and incentives the Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme must come to an end at some point, the STC program is set to end in 2030, the idea behind this is by then we will have hopefully moved closer to our goal of sustainable living and achieved a considerable reduction in carbon emissions.
The Value of the Rebate is Decreasing: the value of Small-Scale Technology Certificates is steadily decreasing and will continue to do so as we move towards the year 2030. This means that today is the best value you will ever receive under the STC program.
Eligibility Criteria for STC Program:
The Federal Government is responsible for introducing this rebate and as such the STC program is nationwide, meaning a lot of more complex location based eligibility criteria don’t apply:
All products installed as part of the system must be approved by the CEC (Clean Energy Council).
The system must be rated no more than 100kW (system must be small-scale).
The inverter, panels and all other solar products must be new, this is to ensure that none of the products already have rebate claims attached to them.
Commercial Solar Rebates
Now we’ve discussed the government incentives for small-scale renewable energy projects. Let's discuss the programs aimed at commercial installations.
There are a number of rebates available for commercial installations which can be a big help in offsetting the initial cost of solar power. There are two main schemes available for commercial solar projects currently, the first is the Federal Commercial Solar Rebate and the second is the Asset Write-Off for Business.
The Federal Commercial Solar Rebate
What is the Federal Commercial Solar Rebate?
The Australian Government is offering a significant financial incentive that aims to discount the upfront cost associated with installing a commercial solar system. As a business looking to install a large-scale solar system the government is offering a rebate of up to $50,000 depending on the size and output of the system.
What is the Aim of the Commercial Solar Rebate?
This rebate aims to make solar more accessible to larger businesses looking to reduce their recurring expenses and become more mindful of their environmental impact. The reduction of the initial investment makes for a faster ROI and allows businesses to maintain cash flow better. Additionally, more environmentally conscious practices improve the overall image of the company in the public eye.
Eligibility Criteria for the Commercial Solar Rebate:
Again as a national incentive the eligibility criteria is less extensive than more state and local based schemes. There are three main requirements a business must meet to be able to benefit from this rebate:
Business Size: this incentive is mainly aimed at medium to small businesses with less available funds and a greater need to maintain cash flow rather than large corporations. As such the system sizes eligible to receive financial assistance are capped at 100kW.
Accredited Installer: In Australia we have a high standard for our electrical work to ensure safety and long-term reliability. Having your solar installed by a Clean Energy Council accredited installation team ensures that the PV system meets all regulations.
Approved Equipment: to ensure the safety and longevity of the solar system, especially when installed at a larger scale, all products used must be listed on the CEC approved products list.
How to Claim the Commercial Solar Rebate:
The process for receiving the rebate is relatively simple and much like many other residential application processes:
Assessment & Design: the energy needs of your business will be assessed by a solar professional from an accredited installer, they will then design a system that meets your needs.
Choose Your Solar Installer: it is important to ensure that your chosen supply is accredited with the CEC and has necessary documentation to help you receive this rebate.
System Installation: Once your new system is installed your installer will complete all necessary paperwork to obtain the incentive.
Rebate Application: Your solar supplier will apply for this rebate on your behalf simplifying the process.
Solar Asset Write-Off for Business
The other main government incentive making renewable energy a possibility for Australian businesses is the Solar Asset Write-Off. This allows businesses to see returns quicker and ensure that their cash flow is maintained when they choose to invest in clean energy solutions.
What is the Solar Asset Write-Off?
This program comes as a tax incentive for businesses looking to install a solar PV system. The aim of this incentive is to help get business owners off the fence about installing solar by allowing them to immediately deduct the cost of installation from their taxable income. Furthermore under this scheme businesses are able to claim the full deduction in the same financial year as the installation of the solar system.
Eligibility Criteria
There are a few criteria that your company will need to meet in order to receive this incentive:
Asset Value: there may be a value limit on this deduction, these specifications may change over the course of the program - it’s important to stay up to date and aware of the government guidelines.
Business Turnover: the aggregated annual turnover of the business must NOT exceed $10M.
Date of Purchase/Installation of System: most schemes, much like this one will have a time frame. Before you install your system it’s important to check the timeframe of the incentive.
Use for Business Purposes: the solar system must be primarily used for business purposes, this could be powering their offices, other properties or operations.
Small-Business Energy Incentives
Now we’ve discussed the rebates available for larger commercial installations, let’s dive into how the government is helping small businesses to save with renewable energy. The Australian government is supporting businesses to increase their uptake of clean energy systems allowing them to cut energy costs, boost sustainability and free up funds for growth. Energy costs are one of the biggest expenses for business, taking advantage of financial assistance such as this to reduce recurring electricity payments can be extremely beneficial.
Federal Energy Incentives for Small Business
While there are a number of incentives available for commercial installations these programs operate separately from the others, placing more focus on small-businesses allowing them to benefit more.
Eligible Assets:
The government is providing financial incentives to assist businesses in their installation of assets such as:
Energy efficient appliances
Smart energy management systems
And other renewable energy equipment.
How is this Incentive Distributed?
Small businesses installing eligible assets are able to receive a bonus 20% tax deduction on all eligible energy efficient assets and improvements. This incentive is capped at 20% per business.
What Can You Claim Under This Scheme?
This incentive aims to bring clean, renewable energy to more businesses across Australia as well as to make our small businesses more energy efficient and sustainable.
Improvements:
Improvements are classified as upgrades that enhance existing assets to increase energy efficiency. This could include connecting your business to a Virtual Power Plant or adding insulation to an existing property.
Depreciating Assets:
These assets must be installed and used between 1st July 2023 and the 30th June 2024 (the 2023 - 2024 financial year). These could be upgrades to airconditioning units, energy optimisation technology, electric alternatives to conventional, less efficient appliances and more environmentally friendly, efficient lighting.
Federal Energy Bill Relief
Rebates on the installation of renewable energy aren’t the only energy incentives currently available to Australian homes and businesses. The cost of living is a huge pressure for many, with this continuing to rise the government has introduced some financial incentives to help take the wait of our communities.
What is the Federal Energy Bill Relief?
The Australian Federal Government has introduced their Energy Bill Relief Program in response to the rising cost of living for Australians. This incentive is provided to homes and small businesses across the country. This rebate comes as a credit issued across the year at intervals which reduces the cost of your energy bill. This incentive will be provided to 10 million homes and 1 million small businesses across the nation.
What is the Aim of this Incentive?
The ever rising cost of living is an increasing concern amongst Australians. In order to address this concern the Australian government has introduced the Federal Energy Bill Relief as a way of reducing cost of living pressure. The government aims to reduce stress by helping homes and businesses with their recurring costs such as electricity bills, as the cost of energy continues to rise.
The Value of the Federal Energy Bill Relief
The value of this rebate will vary depending on locational factors as well as whether you are claiming this as a household or small business.
Incentive Value for Households:
The amount you are able to receive under this scheme is $300.
Incentive Value for Small Businesses:
The amount you are able to receive under this scheme is $300.
Embedded Networks:
This amount may vary depending on whether or not you are part of an embedded network. An embedded network is a private electricity network such as an apartment block or shopping centre. In these networks you most likely don’t deal with your energy retailer directly and instead communicate through what is called your embedded network operator, if this is the case you and your network operator may need to apply.
Eligibility Criteria for the Federal Energy Bill Relief
The eligibility criteria for receiving energy bill relief credit does differ between households and businesses.
Eligibility Criteria for Housholeds:
The requirements met by homes receiving this rebate are far more simple than for small businesses:
You must have an active electricity account.
Eligibility Criteria for Small-Business:
As a small business the criteria you must meet to qualify for this incentive are more complex:
You must have an active electricity account.
Your business must NOT operate from a residential address.
Your business must meet the definition of a small business - this differs state to state and is based on the electricity consumption of the business.
The NSW Solar Hot Water Rebate
Hot water is something we use daily in our lives yet many Australians are still using inefficient methods of heating their water, costing them more and more over time. Hot water uses a considerable amount of electricity so older inefficient hot water systems can significantly increase your energy bill, luckily the government has introduced their solar hot water initiative to help reduce the initial cost of installing a new hot water system.
What is the Solar Hot Water Rebate?
The Aim of this Incentive:
This initiative falls under the NSW Energy Savings Scheme, aimed at helping homes and businesses to upgrade cleaner, energy efficient hot water systems. This incentive acts as a discount to the initial purchase price of the system.
The Value of the Incentive:
There are two categories within this scheme, each have a different value depending on your proposed system:
$400 - $670 when you upgrade from an electric water heater to air source heat pump.
$190 - $300 when you upgrade from a gas water heater to an air source heat pump.
How Does the Solar Hot Water Rebate Work?
This initiative reduces the upfront cost of upgrading and replacing an older traditional water heating system with one that is more energy efficient. Upon installation of the new system certificates are created, these certificates can then be traded or sold for a discount. These will be provided by your chosen installation company.
How Does This Help Australian Homes & Businesses?
Aside from the financial assistance, installing an energy efficient water heating system can bring significant savings with a reduction in your power bill. Additionally this new technology helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and your individual carbon footprint. Older models of hot water heaters use far more energy than new technology, a new heat pump will typically use 75% less electricity than traditional systems.
Eligibility Criteria
The home or business must be located in NSW.
Must have an existing gas or older electric system that is due to be upgraded.
An accredited installer must complete the installation.
The new system must be either a:
Heat pump hot water system
Or a solar hot water system.
Application Process
The application process is relatively simple:
STEP 1: Assess Current System - check if you’re using a gas or older electric system.
STEP 2: Choose Your Replacement - your chosen products must be HEER approved (Home Energy Efficiency Retrofit Scheme).
STEP 3: Installation - your chosen accredited installer will fit the system.
STEP 4: Claim Incentive - this will be applied as a discount by your retailer.
Energy Efficient Appliance Upgrades
Small changes around the home can make a big difference to overall energy efficiency, reduction of carbon footprint and of course savings on your energy bill. In recent years more and more technology has hit the market helping homes to become more energy efficient. Though these upgrades do come at a price, in response the government is providing financial incentives to help offset the initial costs of installation, making it possible for more homes and businesses to make energy efficient upgrades.
Why Upgrade to Energy Efficient Appliances?
Upgrading to more efficient appliances has a number of benefits including:
Reduce energy usage & bills: energy efficient appliances allow you to use less power which in turn leads to reduced costs over time.
Replace old appliances: older appliances are less efficient and use more power to run than newer technologies, upgrading these will not only reduce costs but also in your carbon footprint.
Remove outdated equipment: Upgrading to new equipment allows you to have the old inefficient appliances removed and disposed of safely.
How to Save with Energy Efficient Appliances
Lighting
Believe it not something as simple as your lights can make a huge difference, switching to LED lighting allows you to consume less electricity for longer as these lights have a longer lifespan than traditional lighting.
Air-conditioning
Upgrading your airconditioning system can lead to huge savings. When upgrading your AC system you can receive between $340 - $560 for a 6kW aircon and between $440 - $ 730 when replacing an old or outdated system.
Hot Water System
Your water heating system will usually account for a large portion of your consumption and upgrading this can help you see significant savings. You can receive up to $670 (depending on the type of system) when switching to a more energy efficient alternative.
Pool Pumps
You are eligible to receive between $160 and $270 when you upgrade your current pool pump to a model with better energy efficiency.
How to Claim Your Energy Efficient Incentives
The process for claiming this rebate is much like other energy rebates currently offered:
Choose an accredited supplier: your chosen retailer will assess your property and certify your eligibility to receive the rebate. They will then provide you with a quote that includes any rebate discounts.
Choose your appliances: next determine the products that meet your needs as well as offer energy savings. Looking for the highest efficiency model that fits your situation is a good idea as not only will it provide better energy bill savings long-term but the higher the efficiency of the product, the greater the rebate you will receive.
Sign nomination form: before your installations commences you must submit your nomination form, this is a way of confirming your participation on the program.
Install your new energy efficient appliances: your installation team will then set up the new system, demonstrate how it works and how to use the appliance and if necessary will then dispose of the old system.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to improve your home's efficiency, live smarter, cut costs or all of the above then now is the time to do so. The government’s range of rebates and incentives can be extremely beneficial in helping you to make these upgrades and live better without breaking the bank.
It’s important to keep in mind that these programs won’t be around forever, so if you're interested in elevating your energy systems then now is the best time to do this.
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about Installing Solar Power
No, in Australia a solar system without integrated battery storage turns off in a blackout. There are two reasons why your solar system turns off when the grid goes down:
Safety: during a power outage, repair crews will be working to fix the grid to get power restored. To avoid endangering them, it is essential that there is no power flowing from solar systems out into the grid.
Technical: the appliances in your home need a steady flow of electricity to work properly. In many cases, appliances can also be damaged if the flow of power isn’t steady and constant. Because a solar system doesn’t produce a steady flow of power, the system needs to be turned off when the grid goes down.
For these two reasons, your solar system must automatically shut down in the event of a blackout, unless you have battery storage with backup.
Battery Storage With Blackout Protection
Tesla Powerwall is the battery we recommend for households that want blackout protection.
As a part of our installation service, we will work with you to nominate circuits that can be powered from your battery in the event of a blackout. Typically this will include things like a modem, lights, small pumps, garage doors and other appliances that are of high priority. Anything that uses a lot of power is typically not backed up in a blackout such as air conditioning and pool pumps.
The final step is to nominate how much capacity you want to leave in your battery in case of a blackout. If you choose 30%, for example, your Powerwall will never discharge more than 70% of the battery’s capacity, ensuring that in a worst-case scenario, you still have 30% of the Powerwall’s capacity to get you through the night. In the morning, the solar system will start generating power again and the Powerwall will recharge from the solar power being generated. For more information about how this works, please speak with a member of the 1KOMMA5° Team.
Online monitoring is about making sure you can see what’s going on with the solar power system and how much power it’s generating and what it’s doing, what its status is and importantly, you need to have that because the last thing you want to do is find out your system’s not working when your power bill arrives in three months’ time, but that’s the first step.
The second step is in relation to how your system is actually performing in relation to our expectations. Because when we sell you a system, we tell you how much power we expect your system to generate day on day, month on month, year on year. So it’s important we benchmark that data and understand what’s going on.
So, our system will give you detail around and graph that detail for you, so you can see how much power your system’s generating.
Then it comes to the exciting stuff and that’s when us data junkies get excited because we’re going to give you data and the access to data, so you can start to profile what your system’s doing when you generate power and how you can use it, because we all want to get the best out of self-consumption.
So whether it’s just solar power or you’re putting in solar power and storage, self-consumption is really important and data is really powerful.
Once you sign up for a 1KOMMA5° Installation, we immediately submit your grid application to the relevant energy distributor. For systems up to 5kWs, this is a formality. For larger systems it can take a few days or more. Once we receive approval, your installation will be managed by our installation coordinator, who will welcome you to 1KOMMA5° and book an installation date for you. This is generally booked within around two weeks and installation dates are available Monday to Friday, weather permitting.
We endeavour to have your system installed within 2-4 weeks unless you request us to hold for whatever reason. Due to our strict safety policy, we do not install solar systems when it rains. In the event of inclement weather, we will rebook your installation as soon as possible. We always work with your requests as we strongly recommend that someone be home on the day of installation.
Most solar panels are all approximately 1.7 meters high by 1 meter wide. If you have a flat roof please allow a minimum of 2 meters per row to allow for additional shading from the panels after they are tilted.
As today’s solar panels are about 265W or higher, you should allow 4 panels per kW. For example, a 4kW system can be installed in 2 rows of 8 panels, allowing 1.7 meters for each row plus a little buffer, and 8 meters long. The panels in a row sit flush and they are just under a meter wide, so allowing one meter per panel works out to be quite accurate.
Our Solar Experts have the ability to draw proposed panel diagrams on the computer such as the one below. Because we use aerial maps that do not take into account the pitch of your roof, our estimates are not exact to the centimetre, but we can get pretty close! If it looks like a tight fit we will send an installer out before the installation day to confirm everything for you.