If you are searching for a year-by-year battery rebate table to 2030, the first thing to know is that the schedule is not by year any more. It steps every six months, and the numbers published by the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) cover the near term with certainty and the far term only as a direction. This page gives you the verified steps, the arithmetic for common battery sizes, and an honest account of what is not yet fixed.
The Cheaper Home Batteries Program, from 1 July 2025, gives STCs for batteries with 5 to 100 kWh of usable capacity, with up to 50 kWh eligible. The battery must be CEC-approved and VPP-capable, installed by an accredited installer, one per property, on a new or existing solar system.
The factor schedule
| Installation period | Factor |
|---|---|
| July to December 2025 | 9.3 |
| January to April 2026 | 8.4 |
| May to December 2026 | 6.8 |
| January to June 2027 | 5.7 |
| July to December 2027 | 5.2 |
| 2028 to 2030 | Continues down, in six-month steps |
We have not printed 2028 to 2030 figures, because we have not verified them. The CER sets the factor in line with falling battery costs, aiming to keep the discount at about the same share of the upfront price. If you read an exact number for 2029 in a blog, treat it as a guess.
The date that counts is the installation date, which in practice is the date the certificate of compliance is issued. The date on your quote or contract does not move the factor.
What the factor means in STCs and dollars
The count is usable kWh multiplied by the factor, with tiers: 100 per cent for the first 14 kWh, 60 per cent for 14 to 28 kWh, 15 per cent for 28 to 50 kWh. Certificates round down to whole numbers. The dollar values below use $38 per STC, inside the roughly $38 to $40 range at the time of writing and under the $40 clearing house ceiling.
| Usable kWh | At 6.8 (to Dec 2026) | At 5.7 (Jan to Jun 2027) | At 5.2 (Jul to Dec 2027) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 34 STCs, $1,292 | 28 STCs, $1,064 | 26 STCs, $988 |
| 10 | 68 STCs, $2,584 | 57 STCs, $2,166 | 52 STCs, $1,976 |
| 14 | 95 STCs, $3,610 | 79 STCs, $3,002 | 72 STCs, $2,736 |
| 20 | 119 STCs, $4,522 | 100 STCs, $3,800 | 91 STCs, $3,458 |
| 28 | 152 STCs, $5,776 | 127 STCs, $4,826 | 116 STCs, $4,408 |
Reading across the 14 kWh row: from 6.8 to 5.7 the discount falls by about $608, and by another $266 on 1 July 2027. Total drop across the two steps is about $874, or around 24 per cent of today’s figure. Use the battery STC calculator for your own size, and our answers on the STC factor and the January 2027 drop for short versions.
The tier effect: why bigger is not proportionally better
The tiers mean the 20th kilowatt hour earns far less than the 5th. Compare two batteries at 6.8:
- A 14 kWh battery makes 95 STCs, so about 6.8 STCs per kWh.
- A 28 kWh battery makes 152 STCs, about 5.4 per kWh.
- A 50 kWh battery makes 174 STCs, about 3.5 per kWh.
The tiers push the discount towards the household-sized battery. Our answer on the 14, 28 and 50 kWh tiers explains the maths in more detail. For a household, the useful question is not “which size earns the most STCs”, but “which size matches my evening load”. For an installer, it matters because it changes how you present a bigger system.
What the schedule means for buyers
The cost of waiting is real but modest. For a 10 kWh battery the discount falls by about $418 at the 1 January step and $190 more on 1 July. Weigh that against everything else: your usage, your solar, hardware prices, and any VPP or state incentive. Our piece on whether to wait for battery prices to fall works through that trade, and should you buy a battery before 2027 covers the year-end deadline.
What the schedule means for installers
Three practical points.
Quote with a date. Show customers the factor that applies if the install lands before and after each step. A quote valid “for 14 days” means little if the factor changes in the middle.
Watch the install date, not the sale date. Delays in stock or network approval can push a job over a step. Build a buffer into the last month before each change.
Keep your STC float in proportion. A lower factor means a smaller discount, so a smaller receivable per job, but the same number of jobs. Your cash flow improves slightly even as the customer’s discount shrinks. See battery installer cash flow.
What we do not know
Two things are open at the time of writing. The exact factors for 2028 to 2030 are not verified here. And the STC price itself moves: it has been roughly $38 to $40, but a lower price reduces the dollar discount even where the certificate count holds. The program budget has been expanded from $2.3 billion to $7.2 billion, as reported, which supports the program continuing, but the factor path is separate from the budget.
Three households, three timings
Numbers on their own can mislead, so here are three assumed households and how the schedule hits each.
A family with a 6.6 kW solar system and a 12 kWh evening load. They buy a 13 kWh battery. At 6.8 that is 88 STCs, about $3,344. Installed in February 2027 at 5.7, it is 74 STCs, about $2,812. The difference of roughly $530 is real money, but it is smaller than the gap between two installer quotes on the same battery, so they should compare quotes first and treat the deadline as a tie-breaker.
A couple with a 4 kW system and low usage. A 5 kWh battery at 6.8 is 34 STCs, $1,292. At 5.7 it is 28, $1,064, a difference of $228. At that scale the discount is a modest sum and the case for the battery rests on bills and backup, not on the date.
A larger home with a 20 kWh battery. At 6.8, 119 STCs, $4,522. At 5.7, 100, $3,800. At 5.2, 91, $3,458. Waiting a full year from now costs about $1,064. Here the schedule matters more, and so does asking whether the extra capacity earns its place, because kilowatt hours above 14 earn only 60 per cent of the factor.
How to check a quote against the schedule
When a quote shows an STC discount, you can check it in three steps. Take the usable kWh from the datasheet, not the nameplate. Apply the factor for the installation period and the tiers. Round down, and multiply by the current STC price. If the discount on the quote is much higher than your sum, ask why: the installer may be using a different STC price, or assuming a factor that has already stepped down. Our guide on how to read an STC discount on a quote covers the same check for solar.
Be careful with “usable” capacity. The program uses usable kWh, and some products list a larger total capacity with a smaller usable figure. A 13.5 kWh nameplate with 13 kWh usable earns on 13, not 13.5. The CER’s published list of approved batteries and the manufacturer’s datasheet are the sources. See the CEC eligible battery list answer for where to look.
What to do next
- Pick your size and run it through the battery STC calculator for each period.
- Read the battery STC pillar for evidence rules, and the Cheaper Home Batteries installer guide.
- Check today’s STC rate at pricing, because the dollar value matters as much as the factor.
- Installers: start trading your battery certificates, or read how it works.