BSTC (battery STC)

Written and checked by the Energy Merchants desk · Reviewed 3 October 2026

BSTC is the shorthand some in the industry use for a battery small-scale technology certificate, in other words the STC that an eligible battery creates under the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, which started on 1 July 2025. The regulator does not treat it as a separate certificate type. It is an STC, which trades alongside solar STCs.

What makes it different

A solar STC is calculated from panel capacity, zone and deeming period. A battery STC is calculated from usable capacity, the factor in force on the installation date and the tier. The formula is usable kWh x factor, with the tiers applying: 100% for the first 14 kWh, 60% to 28 kWh and 15% to 50 kWh. See STC factor and battery STC tiers.

Eligibility

The battery must have 5 to 100 kWh usable capacity, with up to 50 kWh eligible. It must be CEC-approved, VPP-capable and installed by an accredited installer. One battery per property is allowed, and it works with new or existing solar. New photo and evidence rules applied from 1 March 2026. See VPP.

Worked example

A 10 kWh usable battery installed at the 6.8 factor creates 68 STCs. At the roughly $38 to $40 spot range at the time of writing, that is about $2,600 to $2,700 of certificate value, usually passed to the customer as a point-of-sale discount. See point of sale discount.

In practice

Installers claim and sell BSTCs the same way as solar STCs: create, validate, register, transfer, settle. The evidence set is different, so use the battery submission guide.

Common confusion

BSTC is not an official category and you will not see it as a registry label. Search the registry for STCs. And it is not the same as the state battery incentives, which are separate and in some cases closed. See battery STCs.

See the installer guide and the glossary.