The race to capitalise on Australia's Cheaper Home Batteries Program is well underway, in fact, it's probably been dominating your sales conversations for months - including how this next phase will impact your pipeline.

From May 1, 2026, the way battery rebates are calculated is changing materially, and the window to lock in the current, more generous rates is closing fast. So, what’s changing and how will it impact your customers moving forward?

What Is the Cheaper Home Batteries Program?

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If you missed our earlier deep-dive, we covered the program in full when it launched - read it here.

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The Australian Government's Cheaper Home Batteries Program launched on July 1, 2025, offering households and small businesses a discount of around 30% on the upfront cost of eligible battery systems (5 kWh to 100 kWh). The rebate is delivered through Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) - certificates that can be assigned to reduce the purchase price at point of sale. It’s also important to note, only the first 50 kWh of usable capacity qualifies for STCs, and systems must be VPP-ready (Virtual Power Plant enabled) to be eligible. 

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As we’ve seen, the response from households and businesses was enormous, leading to a major expansion of the program and increase in funding from $2.3 billion to an estimated $7.2 billion over the next four years. 

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However, there are two further significant changes to the program taking effect from May 1, which will impact larger batteries in particular, and thus C&I projects.
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What's Changing on May 1, 2026?

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1. Faster-Declining STC Factors

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Previously, the STC Factor - the multiplier that determines how many certificates a battery earns per kWh of usable capacity - declined once a year. Under the amended rules, it will now decline every six months, in January and July each year, and at a steeper rate than originally planned.

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The STC Factor currently sits at 8.4 (January to April 2026). From May 2026, it drops to approximately 6.8  and will continue stepping down through to 2030. Because the STC Factor is locked in on the installation date (not the quote or contract date), systems installed from May 1 onward will automatically generate fewer STCs and therefore a lower upfront rebate, even if the system is identical to one installed in April.

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2. A Capacity-Based Taper

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The second change is perhaps the more structurally significant one. From May 1, the level of STC support will taper based on how much usable capacity is installed, across three bands:

In plain terms: the rebate per kWh is strongest for the first 14 kWh, then drops for each additional kWh above that. For larger systems, those in the 28–50 kWh range, the marginal STC support per kilowatt-hour reduces sharply.

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As the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) explains, the adjustments are designed to align with declining battery costs and maintain approximately a 30% discount across a range of system sizes, while keeping the program financially sustainable through to 2030.

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Why does this matter to your business?

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The reason the May 1 deadline matters so much is straightforward: any project installed before that date is subject to the current, more generous STC Factor, with no capacity taper applied.

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For larger commercial-leaning systems (particularly those above 14 kWh), the difference can be significant. Under the previous STC rates, incentive calculations overstated rebate values by 23% to 335% compared to what the amended legislation actually provides for. That's not a rounding error,  it's the kind of discrepancy that changes whether a project stacks up financially.

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If your quoting tools haven't been updated to reflect the new rates, you may be presenting clients with incentive figures that don't reflect what they'll actually receive post-May 1. That creates risk, both to deal viability and to trust.

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The other important implication is around system sizing strategy. Under the old structure, bigger batteries generally meant a proportionally larger rebate. Under the new taper, that relationship breaks down. Systems above 28 kWh see sharply reduced support per kWh, which shifts the economics of sizing decisions considerably.

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How Orkestra Helps You Move Faster

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We know you're in a rush to secure the best rebate for your customers before the window closes, so we've made the most important step as easy as possible. Orkestra's Plan tool has already been updated to reflect the amended legislation, meaning you can generate accurate, client-ready STC incentive calculations right now, without having to manually track the new rates or taper rules yourself.

Orkestra does the heavy lifting so you can focus on the sale.

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Specifically, Orkestra Plan now:

• Applies updated STC factors aligned to the amended legislation
• Reflects the twice-yearly decline schedule (January and July each year)
• Automatically applies the capacity-based taper across the three bands, for exact calculations on systems with 5–100 kWh of usable capacity

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Turn it on in three steps:

1. Open the battery section of your scenario in Plan
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate the Incentives panel
3. Toggle the STCs switch to ON

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Plan automatically calculates eligibility based on your project start date and applies the correct STC rates, including the capacity taper where applicable. From there, you've got a compelling, accurate financial picture you can put straight in front of a customer.

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Conclusion

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The Cheaper Home Batteries Program remains a compelling opportunity, the government has expanded funding significantly and the scheme runs through to 2030. But the structure of the rebate is changing, and anyone modelling battery projects needs to be working from accurate, updated numbers.

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With May 1 weeks away, now is the time to:

• Review any pipeline projects with system sizes above 14 kWh to understand the rebate impact under the new taper
• Update your quoting and feasibility tools to reflect amended STC factors (or use Orkestra, which already has)
• Show customers exactly what they stand to lose by waiting - the STC Factor is locked in on installation date, and for systems above 14 kWh, every week of delay is real money left on the table. A clear, accurate financial model showing the before-and-after rebate value is often the most powerful nudge to get a customer over the line

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Orkestra's Plan will help you at every stage. If you're not yet using it to model your battery projects, book a demo and we'll get you set up.

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For further reading on the amended program, visit the DCCEEW Cheaper Home Batteries Program page 

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