A battery STC is one small-scale technology certificate, representing a fixed benefit from installing an eligible battery. The Cheaper Home Batteries Program, open since 1 July 2025, creates them for batteries between 5 and 100 kWh of usable capacity, with the first 50 kWh counting towards certificates.
How a battery STC comes into being
The installer fits a CEC-approved, VPP-capable battery, completes the paperwork, and registers the system with the Clean Energy Regulator. The regulator then validates a certificate creation claim. The number of STCs is the usable kWh multiplied by the battery factor, with the factor reduced on the capacity above 14 kWh. For 2026 installs the factor is 6.8; it steps down to 5.7 on 1 January 2027 and 5.2 on 1 July 2027.
Where the money goes
The certificates are sold. The installer usually trades them to a registered certificate trader, who sells them on, and the cash is passed to the customer as a discount at the point of sale. That is why the rebate appears on your quote rather than as a cheque afterwards. The system owner has to assign the STCs to the installer using the STC assignment form for that to happen.
What it is worth
At the time of writing STCs have been trading roughly $38 to $40, with the clearing house ceiling at $40. A 14 kWh battery generates about 95 STCs in 2026, so the value is in the order of $3,600 to $3,800 before the trader margin. See the battery STC price answer for how that gets to the installer, and today’s rates for what we pay.
What this means for installers
You are carrying a priced certificate on every battery job. Know the factor for the install date, hold clean evidence, and pick a trader who tells you when the rate is locked and when cash lands. Our battery STC pillar walks through the whole process, and how it works shows the settlement steps. If you want to see the numbers, read how many STCs per kWh.