Cheaper Home Batteries Program—What’s Changed and What’s Coming

The Australian Government has published updated guidance on the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, including planned changes to how battery incentives will be calculated in future. Here’s a summary of the key points that matter for installers and customers.

Changes planned from 1 May 2026

The Government has announced its intention to adjust the Small-scale Technology Certificate (STC) settings for battery systems, with a particular impact on larger batteries.

Under the proposed changes:

• The STC factor for larger battery systems will be reduced, meaning fewer STCs per kilowatt-hour as system size increases

• Battery support will be structured across different capacity bands, rather than applying a single factor across all sizes

• The STC factor will decline more frequently over time, reflecting falling battery costs

These changes are intended to keep overall battery discounts broadly consistent while reducing incentives for oversized systems.

Year	Period	Existing STC factor	Proposed STC factor
2026	January – April	8.4	8.4
2026	May – December	8.4	6.8
2027	January - June	7.4	5.7
2027	July - December	7.4	5.2
2028	January - June	6.5	4.6
2028	July - December	6.5	4.1
2029	January - June	5.6	3.6
2029	July - December	5.6	3.1
2030	January - June	4.7	2.6
2030	July - December	4.7	2.1

Proposed STC support by battery size (indicative)

Based on current Government guidance, the redesigned framework is intended to apply different STC factors by capacity band, rather than a flat rate across all battery sizes:

• Up to 14 kWh: 100% STC factor (full incentive rate)

• 14–28 kWh: 60% STC factor

• 28–50 kWh: 15% STC factor

The policy intent is to continue supporting typical household battery sizes while progressively reducing incentives for larger and potentially oversized systems that exceed standard residential needs.

Are the 1 May 2026 rules final?

No. While 1 May 2026 has been announced as the intended start date, the changes are subject to regulations being formally made. Until those regulations are passed:

• Current STC rules remain in effect

• The proposed battery STC changes are not yet law

• Final details may still change

What we’re watching

We’re closely monitoring:

• When the final regulations are released

• How the revised STC factors are ultimately applied across battery sizes

We’ll continue to keep customers informed as more detail becomes available.

Want to model the proposed rates today?

If you’d like to apply the proposed STC factors and rates in your quotes today, we can enable this for your team in Pylon.

This allows you to:

• Model battery pricing using the expected future incentive structure

• Set clearer expectations with customers considering larger battery systems

If this would be useful, get in touch with our team and we can turn it on for you.