Battery Booster Program (Cheaper Home Batteries)

This is a Labor election promise, and only applicable if Labor wins the upcoming Australian federal election. 

 

Subsidy

• Approximately $350/kWh usable capacity. The exact calculation is based on STCs. You calculate the number of certificates by multiplying the battery usable capacity by 9.3 and rounding down to a whole number. Eg: = battery usable capacity x 9.3 (round down) x STC price
• Other state-based rebates and low-interest loans are still eligible to be claimed according to the CER, however some state authorities may have conditions that don't allow this. Please check with your state-based authority. 
• Can only be claimed once per site 
• The number of certificates will reduce each calendar year, as per the reduction of the SRES deeming years. 

Eligibility criteria

• Battery size: 5kWh-50kWh (systems up to 100kWh are eligible but the payment is only on the first 50kWh. TBC if the eligibility size relates to usable or nominal capacity)
• Date: Commissioned on or after July 1 2025. Can be installed beforehand
• VPP ready. Battery inverter must be capable of participating in a VPP, but doesn't have to actually participate in one. (TBC whether this applies to Off-grid)
• Sites:
  • Residential or Commercial, no means test etc
  • Must have PV installed (existing or new)
  • Grid connected and Off-grid
  • Sites with existing batteries that want to add more are eligible. The subsidy applies to new battery installations. 

See the listing here on products that are expected to be compatible

How to adjust progress payments before July 1

To help with cashflow, for eligible systems which you install now but can't commission until July 1, you might want to add an additional payment term, like in this example: 

• 30% deposit payable due when order is place
• 65% progress payment due when system is installed
• 5% final payment due when system is commissioned (after July 1)

1. On the Pricing page of a quote, scroll down to Payment terms
2. Click Edit Payment Term
3. Click Add a Payment Term
4. Adjust the Percentage amounts, even and Label as needed - below is a suggestion
5. Click Save. 

How it will appear to the customer: 

How to auto calculate subsidy amount

1. Go to More Settings > Inventory and click  + Create Custom Item
2. Select Category: Subsidy
3. Enter name: Battery Booster Program
4. Click create. 

5. Scroll down to Pricing Options and click to edit

6. Select Use formula to compute pricing

7. Enter the following formula - substitute '37' for your preferred STC price. 

        (floor((MIN (usable-battery-kwh,50) * 9.3 )))* 37)

This formula is based on the following logic:

• Cap the usable battery capacity at 50kWh (using the MIN function)
• Calculate the number of certificates: multiply the usable battery capacity by 9.3
• Round down to the nearest who number, because you can't trade fractions of a certificate (using the floor function)
• Multiply the number of certificates by your STC price. In the sample above this is $37, please edit this price as needed. 

8. For now until July 1, to help with cashflow, you may want to make sure that 'Subtract from Total Payable' is NOT selected. Because it defaults to being selected for Subsidies, you'll need to un-tick it. The subsidy will then appear on quotes to customers like this: 

GST on STCs

GST: Note that with this subsidy, as with STCs for PV, the GST for the invoice is calculated on the price of the products and services sold, before the subsidy is applied. 

GST for Commercial Clients

For Commercial clients, please create another separate inventory item, and call it Battery Booster (commercial) and include the GST component in the formula. Exact formula TBA. 

How to communicate the subsidy to customers before July 1. 

To help cashflow, you may want to include a statement in the Quote-specific conditions, which you can find at the bottom of the pricing page. Please adjust the wording to suit your business operations. 

It will appear to the customer on the proposal between the Payment Terms and the Digital Signature, like this: