The Australian government's expansion of its nationwide "More Affordable Residential Batteries Scheme" has been met with a swift response from homeowners.
The scheme allows customers to purchase from an approved list of devices and receive a rebate of approximately 30% of the upfront purchase cost through small technology certificates. Launched in July this year, the scheme was a core promise of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Australian Labor Party during the 2025 election. To date, it has supported the installation of 160,000 battery energy systems, adding over 3.6 GWh of energy storage capacity to the grid. More than 21 million small technology certificates have been purchased under the scheme. The Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEEW) is expanding the scheme, expecting to provide a total of approximately AU$7.2 billion in support by 2030, more than double the initial estimate of AU$2.3 billion announced when the scheme was launched six months ago. This equates to an additional 40 GWh of energy storage capacity, equipping approximately two million homes with batteries. The scheme is open to homes, communities, and businesses installing small battery systems ranging from 5 kWh to 100 kWh. The discount is reviewed annually and decreases each year as battery prices fall. DCCEEW stated that the scheme has been "unprecedentedly successful," reducing the cost of acquiring solar storage batteries. Australia has over 4.2 million rooftop solar photovoltaic systems. Energy Minister Chris Bowen stated that the scheme has nearly doubled Australia's residential storage capacity, with half of the households receiving the offer either installing a solar photovoltaic system for the first time or upgrading an existing system.
"Australia is a solar nation – we have more solar installations on our roofs than swimming pools in our backyards, and we want to continue this success by making residential batteries more affordable and grid-friendly for everyone,"
"We want more Australian homes to have access to batteries that are both cost-effective and grid-friendly, meaning more affordable, fast, and safe solar energy available day and night, whenever and wherever it's needed."
The "More Affordable Residential Battery Scheme" has now been incorporated into the government's expanded "Small Renewable Energy Scheme," which creates small technology certificates for solar, wind, hydro, or low-carbon hot water systems. Last October, the program surpassed 100,000 installations, reaching a distributed energy storage capacity of 2 GWh. Bowen pointed out that many new installations occurred in suburban and remote areas where centralized transmission and distribution networks are weak. Carl Binning, Executive General Manager of the Australian Clean Energy Regulator, stated at the "All Energy Australia 2025" conference in November that approximately 8,000 applications for the "More Affordable Residential Battery Scheme" are processed weekly.
Adjustments
DCCEEW has also made some adjustments to the "More Affordable Residential Battery Scheme" to ensure that homes can install scalable battery systems and guarantee continued funding for the program. The adjustments will take effect on May 1, 2026, and are as follows: Small Technology Certificate Factor Adjustment: This factor determines the number of small technology certificates that can be generated per kWh of available energy storage capacity. It will be adjusted to decrease every six months, with the rate of decrease accelerating. Adjustment by System Size: This aims to maintain a discount of approximately 30% for a range of battery systems at each available capacity level. The specific adjustments are as follows: For the portion between 0 kWh and 14 kWh, a 100% small technology certificate factor will apply per kWh; For the portion exceeding 14 kWh but below 28 kWh, a 60% small technology certificate factor will apply per kWh; For the portion exceeding 28 kWh but below 50 kWh, a 15% small technology certificate factor will apply per kWh.
