Shift, don’t export
Daytime solar at 6 c exported is pocket change. The same kWh at 32 c after dark is the bill.
Cheaper Home Batteries · 2026
Add storage to the array you already have — or size it with the panels.
First 14 kWh at the full federal discount, then it tapers. Payback is slower than panels. Backup and the night bill at 32 c are the real reasons. We install what we quote.
Already have solar
Add a battery to what is on the roof
Night usage at 32 c, export at 6 c. The May 2026 discount is fattest on the first 14 kWh. Payback is slower than panels — we say that on the page.
Existing array
Battery
$940/yr
About 9.9 kWh shifted off the night bill. Package after federal battery discount $11,890–$17,690 including a likely hybrid inverter swap. Payback 13–19 years. Backup: essentials ~22 hours if we isolate the right circuits.
Rebate on this pack $3,610. Sitting on it does not make the certificate bigger.
Batteries
Cheaper Home Batteries, after May 2026
First 14 kWh at full rate, then 60%, then 15%. Not a flat $370 anymore.
$3,914
103 STCs · about $245/kWh effective · indicative out-of-pocket $11,286–$16,086
Rebate per kWh is highest at ≤14 kWh. Bigger than 28 kWh is mostly backup, not subsidy.
Use this in the quote builder2026 clock
Install this year vs wait
PV deeming drops from 5 years to 4 on 1 Jan 2027. Battery STC factor 6.8 → 5.7. Hardware may still get cheaper — this clock is only the certificate side.
- PV STCs now
- $2,736
- PV if you wait to 2027
- $2,166
- Battery discount now
- $3,610
- Certificates left on the table
- $1,178
122 days to 1 Jan 2027. SEC500 ends 31 Dec 2026.
What a battery actually does at 6 c feed-in
First 14 kWh
That is the full May 2026 discount band. Past 28 kWh you are buying backup, not subsidy.
The inverter fork
A string inverter cannot charge a normal battery from the panels. Hybrid swap or AC-coupled — we confirm on site.
Kit we actually hang
GoodWe ESA. Lynx F G2. BYD. Sigenergy.
Real product, real garage. Rear penetrations — you do not see the cable. We pick the stack from the board, the inverter that’s already there, and how you use the house after dark.
Kit we actually hang
EHB + Lynx F G2 · 22.4 kWh
Hybrid high on the wall. Stack on the floor, hard against the plaster, about a metre and a half across. Clenergy RUNNUR tray out the side of the inverter. Seven 3.2 kWh modules plus the PCU. First 14 kWh at the full federal discount.
GoodWe ESA
All-in-one. Inverter and battery in one cabinet. Clean install on a garage wall.
GoodWe Lynx F G2
22.4 kWh stack: seven 3.2 kWh modules plus the PCU. Pairs with a GoodWe hybrid.
BYD Battery-Box HVM
Stackable high-voltage modules. 8–22 kWh in one tower, more in parallel.
Sigenergy SigenStor
Modular 5-in-1. Battery, inverter, backup and EV DC in one stack.
Handover pack
You leave with a CoES, not a handshake.
Insurers, conveyancers and landlords ask for this. It is a product, not a favour — on every completed job.
- Certificate of Electrical Safety
- Photos of the finished board and array
- Product warranties on the kit
- Lifetime workmanship on our labour
- Monitoring app login, if you want it
- The same phone number you already have