Rebates offered by state and federal government bodies are changing rapidly to reflect the fast moving nature of the renewable energy industry. The longest standing subsidy payment available is known as the “STC Program”. This stands for “Small-scale Technology Certificate”.

These certificates can be created by an accredited renewables installer upon completion of a new system, and the quantity of STC’s created is directly related to the size of the renewable system. These certificates are then exchanged for cash at the current STC market rate, where the pricing for each unit can be likened to the action of a share market, rising and falling relative to demand.

STC’s can be allocated to the owner, or more commonly, are assigned to the accredited installer who will deduct the rebate price from the upfront cost of the system.

The current price of STC’s can be viewed here GreenMarkets

This rebate calculator is a handy guide, and can be viewed here SolarQuotes

Tariffs, or more specifically “feed-in tariffs”, are payments from your electricity supplier, to pay you for energy that your renewable system supplies to the grid.

Feed in tariffs are paid by your electricity supplier for energy that you export to the grid.  NSW doesn’t currently have any government subsidised feed-in tariffs.  Sadly, gone are the days where NSW residents received payments of $0.40 or more per kWh that they exported to the grid.  These days payments generally range between $0.00 and $0.15 per kWh exported.

Due to the low price of feed-in tariffs, and the higher cost of electricity prices, the best way to gain value from your renewable installation is to actively “self-consume”.  This means, you should consume as much of your own renewable electricity as possible, minimising the amount that is sent back to the grid.  This will maximise the savings you make on electricity bills, and will allow your system to pay itself off faster.

Monaro Energy can assist with maximising your self-consumption.  Have a look at our Energy Efficiency page for more information.