What government incentives and financing options are available for solar?

If you’ve been looking into getting solar recently, then it’s likely that you’ve seen lot’s of ads, information and talk of the Australian government’s “solar panel rebate” or “solar power subsidy”.

There’s a lot of misleading and confusing information out there surrounding the government incentives and finance options available. To help reduce the confusion for buyers, we’ve written this article which explains the government incentive/rebate.

What is the solar rebate?

There’s a lot of confusion surrounding the Australian “solar power rebate”. This is because the “rebate” isn’t actually a rebate, but a scheme created by the Australian Federal Government to provide a discount on solar power products and packages. The official name for this scheme is called the STC scheme, which stands for Small-scale Technology Certificate.

How does the STC Scheme work?

The STC scheme works by providing a subsidy based on the STC price. The STC price can range from $0-$40 and is dependent on the market. The higher the STC price, the bigger the “rebate” will be.

How much is the subsidy?

The scheme is self-regulating and balances the STC price against demand. This means that if the demand for solar systems increases too much, the STC price will decrease, thus reducing the rebate amount.

It’s important to know that no one can predict what the STC price is going to be next week, next month or even next year and it’s set to decrease by one-fifteenth every year until it drops to zero in 2031.

So how much could I save with the solar panel subsidy?

As of November 2019, the STC price is $37. This means that the scheme is worth roughly $630/KW installed and can result in savings of up to $3,150 on a 5kw system. To work out how much could be subsidised, multiply the kWh in the system by $630.

e.g. To work out the potential subsidy on our 6.6KW solar package you would do 6.6KW x $630 = $4,158

It’s important to note that these savings are usually applied at the point of sale, meaning that any advertised price you may see for solar panels and packages have already had the “rebate” or “subsidy” applied.

Of course, savings aren’t limited to the installation of your solar power system, you could also be cutting hundreds of dollars off your power bill each quarter. For more information on how solar will save you money, please read our article: How much will you save with solar?

For more information regarding the STC scheme or to organise a free site visit and quote please give us a call to speak with one of our friendly solar experts today or get a quote online.