Victorian solar jobs often involve two tracks at once: the federal STC claim and, for eligible households, the Solar Victoria rebate. They are separate programs run by separate bodies, and they have different requirements.
What stays the same
The STC claim is unchanged. You need an accredited installer and designer where required, approved products, a signed assignment form, photo evidence and a correct zone and deeming calculation. Melbourne, Geelong, Hobart and Launceston are zone 4, so Victorian systems usually use the zone 4 rating of 1.382. The 2026 deeming period is 5 years. Use the STC calculator.
What Solar Victoria adds
The state rebate is a point-of-sale discount for eligible households, with a household income cap that fell to $150,000 on 1 July 2026. See the rebate changes of 1 July 2026, the income limit answer and the rebate amount.
To deliver rebate jobs, installers need to be approved by Solar Victoria and agree to its terms, which include maintaining accreditation, product and quality standards and the program’s customer process. Our guide to Solar Victoria installer approval covers it. Read the current installer terms on the Solar Victoria site before signing, because conditions are updated between program years.
The portal and the STC claim
The Solar Victoria portal is where the rebate application and installation details are submitted. It is not where STCs are created. A common mistake is assuming that once the state portal accepts a job, the STC side is done. It is not. Lodge the STC claim on its own timeline, and keep the two sets of records consistent: same address, same equipment serials, same installation date.
Batteries
The Victorian Solar Battery Loan closed to new applications in 2025, and no state battery rebate has replaced it at the time of writing. Victorian battery jobs run on the federal discount: 6.8 at the time of writing, stepping down to 5.7 on 1 January 2027. See stacking federal and state battery offers, the battery STCs pillar and the Victoria rebate page.
From the desk: Mismatched details between the state application and the STC claim cause more delays than anything else. Check serial numbers and dates line up before you submit either one.
What this means for installers
Run two checklists, submit two claims, and show the STC discount and the state rebate as separate invoice lines. Settlement is quicker when the file is complete; see how long STC payment should take and pricing. The STC trading pillar and how it works explain our side, and VEEC trading is relevant if the job also creates VEECs.