The short version
Most of the discount on a residential solar or battery system in Victoria comes from two federal schemes. Both are delivered as a point-of-sale discount rather than a cash payment — the installer claims the certificates and takes the value off your price before you pay anything.
That is why a quote should always state the rebate amount separately. If it only shows a single figure, you cannot tell whether the discount has been applied or quietly kept.
What applies to you
- Installing solar — federal STCs apply.
- Installing a battery — the federal battery discount applies.
- Installing both — both apply to the same job.
- Exporting to the grid — your retailer pays a feed-in tariff. Not a rebate, but it changes the economics.
A warning about rebate advertising
Solar advertising leans heavily on rebate language, and some of it is misleading. Two patterns worth recognising:
- “Government rebate ending soon” — the federal scheme steps down once a year on a published schedule. It is not about to disappear next week, and urgency framing is a sales tactic.
- “Free solar” — no scheme covers the whole cost of a system. It usually means a very small system, finance dressed up as a giveaway, or the lowest-grade equipment available.
Federal solar rebate (STCs)
The certificate scheme that takes several thousand dollars off a solar system at the point of sale.
Read →Federal battery discount
The national battery incentive, how it is calculated, and what the capacity cap means.
Read →Victorian programs
What Solar Victoria offers and how state support interacts with the federal schemes.
Read →Feed-in tariffs
What you are paid for exporting, and what that means for how a system should be designed.
Read →