As you may know, Australian businesses and households installing a solar power system are eligible for government incentives: The Small-scale Renewable Energy certificate or the Large-scale Generation Certificate. Read our article Solar incentives: how do they work?
STCs
The Small-scale Renewable Energy scheme helps reduce the upfront cost of installing solar systems under 100kW. To briefly recap, STCs are calculated based on the expected amount of power the system will generate until 2030. However, this scheme is set to phase out progressively until 2030.
When the incentives started, one STC was issued for every estimated 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity generated over 15 years period– this is called the deeming period. From January 2017, the scheme has started phasing out. The deeming period is reducing by one year every year as per the following:
Let’s take for example a 5 kW solar power system installed in Melbourne today (2018). This system is currently eligible for 77 STCs. With a current market value of approx. $35 per STC, the incentives will cover $2,695 of its cost. A significant reduction!
The same system installed after the 1st of January 2019 would be eligible for only 71 STCs- a value of $2,485 assuming an STC value at $35. If the system is installed in 2025, it would be eligible for 35 STCs only and a value of $1,225.
So basically, the more you wait, the more you pay. And the difference is even more significant with a bigger system.
For example, a 99.9 kW solar power system installed before the 1st of January 2019 is eligible for 1,420 STCs. Estimating an STC value at $35, this represents an incentive of $49,700. This drops to 710 STCs in 2025- the equivalent of $24,850 only!
To calculate the STCs visit https://www.rec-registry.gov.au/
LGCs
The Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) are similar to STCs for systems above 100kW. The main difference is that LGCs are created on a yearly basis, as opposed to STCs created upfront.
LGCs are also will stop in 2030 but can be created until this date.
Other incentives and rebates
Various incentives and rebate are also accessible depending on the states and system sizes. The Victorian Government offer a residential rebate that covers up to 50% of the cost of going solar. Read our article: Solar Homes 50 percent rebate: what you need to know.
Solar feed-in tariffs are also available nationally and Feed-in tariffs are the rates solar panels owners receive for one unit of power (kWh) sent to the gird. Read our blog post here.
Energis can assist you in accessing incentives. For further information, contact us on 13 782 217 or via email on contactus@energis.com.au
