Several searches ask the same thing for different years: what is the factor in 2028, 2029 and 2030, and what will the rebate be. The schedule answers all of them.
The schedule
The factor now steps every six months. As published at the time of writing:
| Commissioning period | Factor |
|---|---|
| May to December 2026 | 6.8 |
| January to June 2027 | 5.7 |
| July to December 2027 | 5.2 |
| January to June 2028 | 4.6 |
| July to December 2028 | 4.1 |
| January to June 2029 | 3.6 |
| July to December 2029 | 3.1 |
| January to June 2030 | 2.6 |
| July to December 2030 | 2.1 |
The program is reviewed at least annually, and the settings have been changed before: the budget was expanded from $2.3bn to $7.2bn (as reported), and the step cadence and tiers were revised in 2026. Check the DCCEEW and Clean Energy Regulator pages for the current schedule.
What a battery would earn
These figures use the tiers (first 14 kWh at 100%, 14 to 28 kWh at 60%, 28 to 50 kWh at 15%), round down, and ignore any change to the tiers.
| Period | Factor | 10 kWh | 14 kWh | 28 kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (May to Dec) | 6.8 | 68 | 95 | 152 |
| 2028, first half | 4.6 | 46 | 64 | 103 |
| 2028, second half | 4.1 | 41 | 57 | 92 |
| 2029, first half | 3.6 | 36 | 50 | 81 |
| 2029, second half | 3.1 | 31 | 43 | 70 |
| 2030, first half | 2.6 | 26 | 36 | 59 |
| 2030, second half | 2.1 | 21 | 29 | 47 |
At $38 to $40 per certificate, a 14 kWh battery would carry a discount of about $2,400 to $2,600 in early 2028, around $1,900 to $2,000 in 2029’s first half and around $1,100 to $1,200 in late 2030. The certificate price itself can move; STCs are capped by the $40 clearing house ceiling, so the price risk is mostly on the downside.
Why the numbers matter now
Those figures describe how fast the discount shrinks. By late 2030 a 14 kWh battery earns less than a third of what it earns today, and the scheme ends. See the program end date and the 2027 factor. The payoff from waiting for battery prices to fall has to beat that decline.
What this means for installers
Build quotes that carry an expiry tied to the next factor date, and tell customers when the next step falls. For commissioning near a boundary, record the actual date. Settlement of battery certificates, at a rate published daily and locked on lodgement of a complete claim, is described on /pricing/; to set up, see /start-trading/.
What this means for you
The best-value window is the earliest one that suits your household. Use the battery STC calculator for your own size, and see the battery STCs pillar. For how the cut works through 2027, read the January 2027 cut.