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Victoria’s solar battery rebate will see a significant reduction next week; but take a deep breath before racing off to buy a home battery.

Currently the rebate – actually a point of sale discount – is worth up to a maximum of $3,500. From Friday July 1, it will drop a maximum of $2,950.

Solar Victoria has previously stated this decrease was “in line with an anticipated drop in battery prices”. Obviously battery manufacturers including Tesla didn’t get that memo. For example, the price of Tesla Powerwall went up (yet again) last month; from $13,700 including supporting hardware to $14,650. It’s now the most expensive it has ever been and that price doesn’t include installation.

Powerwall pricing has been a real roller-coaster and which way it will go next is anyone’s guess – after all, who can know the mind of Elon Musk? While very popular, thankfully Powerwall isn’t the only solar battery system in town.

While the VIC subsidy won’t be so generous from the beginning of the new financial year, Solar Victoria has said an additional 1,700 solar battery rebates will be available from July 1. This will take the total to 5,200 available for eligible customers in 2022-23.

“Additional rebates mean that more Victorian households will have the chance to switch to cleaner, cheaper energy,” stated the agency earlier this month.

The rebate is accessible to Victorian homeowner-occupiers who already have solar panels with a capacity equal to or greater than 5kW installed – or where such a system is being installed concurrently with a solar battery installation. But unfortunately, having previously received a rebate as an owner-occupier under the Solar Homes Program excludes them from the home battery rebate. Other important eligibility conditions and further information can be found here.

For applicants with quotes already in Solar Victoria’s systems, they should note these quotes will expire on June 30; after which updated quotes will need to be provided taking into account the new rebate value.

Don’t be a potential victim of FOMO even though the deadline looms large. If you’re not familiar with solar batteries and their potential benefits in your circumstances, check out Finn’s comprehensive and easy-to-understand guides to understanding, buying and owning a home battery before signing on a dotted line. It’s a significant purchase you will (or should) be living with for a long time, so best to make it count.

As well as the battery subsidy, there are a bunch of other solar energy related rebates on offer in VIC – the most popular being Victoria’s solar panel rebate that can be accessed in conjunction with the nationally-available subsidy. The good news is the current maximum level ($1,400) for the state subsidy will be maintained during the 2022-23 financial year. Solar power alone provides excellent bang for buck and likely even better returns from July 1 given electricity price increases in Victoria.

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Michael caught the solar power bug after purchasing components to cobble together a small off-grid PV system in 2008. He's been reporting on Australian and international solar energy news ever since.

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