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Rebates for installing solar panels in the NT

Homeowners installing solar panels in the Northern Territory are entitled to the Federal Government's STC 'rebate'. This financial incentive comes in the form of Small-Scale Technology Certificates, commonly referred to as STCs. When you install a solar power system, a certain number of STCs are created based on the size and the location of your solar installation. Each STC carries a monetary value, and the total value of these certificates equates to your 'solar rebate.'

Your chosen solar company will handle the application for the rebate on your behalf and apply the value of this rebate as a discount at the point of sale. You can read more in-depth about the STC rebate in our recent blog post on the subject. To make life easy, we have calculated the value of the STC rebate you are entitled to in the NT below:

System Size	Federal Government Rebate (STC's)	State Government Rebate
2 kW	$1188	Home & Business Battery Scheme
3 kW	$1800	Home & Business Battery Scheme
4 kW	$2412	Home & Business Battery Scheme
5 kW	$3024	Home & Business Battery Scheme
6.6 kW	$3996	Home & Business Battery Scheme
10 kW	$6048	Home & Business Battery Scheme

*Please note that the STC rebate calculations are based on solar panels installed in Darwin, NT (Zone 2) using an STC price of $36.00.

In addition to the Federal Government STC rebate, you may be eligible for the Home & Business Battery Scheme (HBSS) offered by the NT Government:

Home & Business Battery Scheme - The Northern Territory Government has announced a new Household and Business Battery Scheme (HBBS) that offers a $6,000 grant to households and businesses for the purchase and installation of solar PV systems with eligible batteries and inverters, or for those who already have solar, for batteries and inverters. The battery storage unit must be at least 7kWh in size and is aimed at reducing the amount of power that needs to be purchased from the grid.

Please read our blog article on the Home & Business Battery Scheme for full details of the grant, including eligibility and how to secure your solar battery grant.

An initial allocation of $800,000 will fund grants for about 130 batteries.

Applications for the $6,000 grants under the scheme will open on Tuesday 14 April 2020.

Solar feed-in tariff rates in the NT

Solar feed-in tariffs (FITs) are the amount you get paid by your energy retailer for the excess energy your solar system exports back into the grid. During the day, it’s typical for your solar power system to generate more power than is being used in your home. This excess means that if you have a grid-connected solar system, the energy you don't use feeds back into the grid, and your energy retailer will pay you a fixed amount per kWh of energy that you send to them.

Prior to April 2020. you had the luxury of taking advantage of the one-for-one feed-in tariff that is available. This feed-in tariff meant that Jacana Energy buys the solar electricity that you export back to the grid at the same rate as you pay for electricity. This one-for-one feed-in tariff is great as it enables homeowners to use electricity whenever they choose throughout the day or night as the solar power system will offset the electricity bill by the same amount regardless of whether the power is exported to the grid or consumed.

The Home & Business Battery Scheme (mentioned in the solar rebates section above), is going to be funded by the introduction of a reduced standard FIT. A new standard feed in tariff (FIT) rate of 8.3 cents per kWh will be offered by Jacana Energy and will apply to all new businesses and households with behind-the-meter solar installations of up to 30kW in size.

New Jacana solar customers will now receive a standard FIT of 8.3c/kWh excluding GST for each kW of electricity exported back to the grid.

Existing solar customers will not be impacted but would be transferred to the new standard FIT if they move premises, upgrade their existing system after the cut‑off date or take advantage of the Territory Government’s HBBS to purchase a home or business battery.

Energy Retailer	Min rate (per kWh)	Max rate (per kWh)
Jacana Energy	8.3c	23.7c

*The feed-in tariff rates you are entitled to vary depending on whether your solar power system was installed before 14th April, 2020 (on the premium one-for-one FIT) or after this date on the new standard FIT. Feed-in tariff rates displayed are correct as at April 2020.

Simple guide to sizing your solar system in the NT

Choosing the right system size depends on many factors, including how much power you use during daylight hours, your roof orientation, whether shading will be an issue, and how much roof space you have at your home or business. In general, if you can afford to pay your power bills, then you can afford to invest in solar because the system will pay for itself in energy savings. As a rough guide, you can compare the average daily power usage on your power bill to the average daily output of common system sizes we have calculated in the table below:

System Size	Avg daily output	Return on Investment
2 kW	8.8 kWh	3 - 5 years
3 kW	13.2 kWh	3 - 5 years
4 kW	17.6 kWh	3 - 5 years
5 kW	22.0 kWh	3 - 5 years
6.6 kW	29.0 kWh	3 - 5 years
10 kW	44.0 kWh	3 - 5 years

*Please note that the location used for above the daily output calculations is Darwin, NT - based on the Clean Energy Council GC Design Guidelines. For reference, a 10kW installation in the Alice Springs will produce 50.0kWh of energy per day!

Finding the best solar panels for your home in the the NT!

In order to provide the best possible service to homeowners in the NT, we have taken PowerWater's solar power customer information, along with the Clean Energy Council's recommendations and combined them with over 10 years solar industry experience to create our solar buying tips guide. We will send you our exclusive 2020 Solar Buying Tips Guide when your request your obligation free quotes!

We have proudly helped thousands of homeowners compare solar quotes in the Northern Territory over the past five years. There are now 16,257 homeowners in the NT enjoying the benefits of solar power in their homes!