Why sizing them together matters
A battery is only as useful as the surplus solar you have to fill it. If the panels are too small for your usage, there is little left over to charge the battery each day, and it sits half-empty. If the panels are large but the battery is small, you export the surplus cheaply instead of storing it. Buying them as a package lets an installer match the two to your actual usage, so neither is wasted.
This is also why adding a battery to an existing undersized solar system sometimes disappoints: the constraint is the solar, not the battery. A package sidesteps that by sizing both to what your home actually uses.
What the rebate covers, and what it doesn't
The incentives apply to the storage, not the whole package, so it helps to know which part is subsidised.
- The federal Cheaper Home Batteries rebate applies to the battery, at the point of sale, indicatively around $252 per usable kWh and tapering above 14kWh.
- In NSW, a Virtual Power Plant incentive of roughly $40 per usable kWh (capped at 28kWh) can apply on top when you connect an eligible battery to a VPP.
- The solar panels themselves attract the separate small-scale solar (STC) discount, which has applied for years and is handled by the installer.
- Figures float with certificate prices, so treat them as indicative and confirm what applies to your address at quote stage.
Getting a package quoted properly
A good installer builds the quote from your usage: your daily consumption, how much of it is after dark, your roof, and what you want the system to do. The quote should show the panels, the battery, both sets of incentives applied, and any workmanship warranty, so you see the real out-the-door price.
Apollo Energy Group is a NSW-based, SAA-accredited installer (Electrical Licence 400672) that sizes solar and battery together from your real usage and applies the rebates at the point of sale. Refer Labs readers get $500 off the quote through our link, on top of the rebates.