Federal and state battery programs and Clean Energy Council approved products
Information for installers, retailers and manufacturers
We will attempt to update this page with information as it becomes available. This page was last updated on 16 June 2025. Please check links to external sources to confirm information.
The Federal Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program launches on 1 July and will require the use of products from the Clean Energy Council approved products lists. Some state battery programs also require products from the lists.
Installers, retailers and manufacturers can find out more about program requirements and how the Clean Energy Council’s product lists support those programs below.
Cheaper Home Batteries Program
The Federal Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program launches on 1 July, offering rebates of around 30 per cent off the up-front cost of battery installations.
The program will be administered under the existing Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) with rebates offered via small-scale technology certificates (STCs).
To be eligible for STCs, solar battery systems installed must be listed on the Clean Energy Council approved product list. View the approved lists here:
- In instances where batteries and inverters are on the approved product list due to false or misleading information, or where they present a risk to the integrity of the scheme, the Clean Energy Regulator will have the authority to deem them as ineligible. Similar requirements will be applied to off-grid batteries, where they differ in substance and make to batteries that are installed on-grid.
- If the existing solar PV system has components that are no longer on the approved products list but were listed at the time of installation and those components (such as the inverter) will be used for battery, the battery installation will be eligible provided the battery meets other Program requirements.
- However, if there are components that have been delisted for safety or other concerns subsequent to the solar installation and those components such as the inverter would have been used for the battery installation, the battery system would not be eligible for STCs under the SRES. See Product suspensions and de-listings for updated information.
- It is also important to note that to be eligible for the program, a battery in an on-grid system needs to be capable of being coordinated through a virtual power plant (VPP) but does not need to be connected to a VPP. To be VPP capable, a battery system must be able to connect to the electricity grid and respond to signals from third party VPP operators (such as a retailer). This will require an ongoing internet connection. Consumers are not required to participate in a VPP. Off-grid battery systems would not be required to be capable of connecting to a VPP.
Manufacturers can apply to have their battery added to the approved products lists here:
More information about the Cheaper Home Batteries Program can be found on the links below:
WA Residential Battery Scheme
By 1 July, the Western Australian Government will offer rebates of up to $1,300 for Synergy customers and up to $3,800 for Horizon Power customers, as well as no interest loans of up to $10,000 through the WA Residential Battery Scheme.
Eligible battery systems
New, additional and replacement battery systems, with minimum 5kWh storage capacity will be eligible.
- The WA Government are working with Western Power to safely enable larger single-phase inverters up to 10kVA to connect to the network from 1 July 2025.
- Industry consultation on Western Power’s updated Basic Embedded Generation Connection Technical Requirements closed on May 30, 2025, with finalised changes to be published.
- Lists of approved equipment for the scheme, once available, will reflect this change.
Battery systems will need to demonstrate virtual power plant readiness, i.e. that the system can connect to the electricity grid and respond to signals. This readiness will also include a requirement for an ongoing internet connection, with regular testing.
- For Synergy customers, systems will need to comply with Western Power’s Basic Embedded Generation Connection Technical Requirements and Synergy’s Functionality Requirements.
- For Horizon Power customers, systems will need to comply with Horizon Power’s Technical Requirements.
Horizon Power and Synergy will each publish a list of supported equipment solutions, based on the Clean Energy Council (CEC) approved product list and the relevant technical requirements in their service areas.
Customers will also need to be grid-connected and participate in a VPP through their electricity retailer, Synergy or Horizon Power Community Wave.
Virtual power plant (VPP) requirements
To be eligible for the WA Battery Scheme, customers will need to participate in a VPP product.
All customers will be able to subscribe to the VPP product offered by their electricity retailer, Synergy or Horizon Power Community Wave.
- Both retailer products are designed to share value with the customers
- These products have been designed to ensure they are fair and reasonable and share the value of orchestration with customers.
As VPPs evolve and mature, VPP products will also evolve and mature. Synergy customers will be able to choose an alternative VPP product, as long as it meets the following criteria:
- the alternative product is offered by the supplier of the customer’s battery and is compatible with the customer’s equipment;
- the alternative product is designed to share the value of orchestration with the customer; and
- the alternative product is backed by genuine value streams in the form of market or service contracts (such as contracts to provide
Non-Co-optimised Essential System Services (NCESS) or Network Support Services (NSS)) through Synergy as the parent aggregator for residential customers.
More information about the WA Residential Battery Scheme can be found here
New South Wales Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS)
From 1 November until 30 July 2025, the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) offers rebates off the up-front installation costs of a battery, and incentives for connecting to a virtual power plant (VPP).
From 1 November until 30 July 2025, the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) offers rebates off the up-front installation costs of a battery, and incentives for connecting to a virtual power plant (VPP). To be eligible, batteries must be on the Clean Energy Council’s list of approved batteries.
From 1 July 2025, rebates for batteries end (as the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program starts) but larger incentives for connecting to a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) become available.
About the Clean Energy Council’s approved products list
The Clean Energy Council maintains lists of approved inverters and power conversion equipment (PCE), PV modules and energy storage devices (lithium-based batteries) that meet Australian and international standards for use in the design and installation of solar and battery storage systems.
The program currently assesses lithium-based batteries only, in line with the Best Practice Battery Guide. The Clean Energy Council is supportive of new and emerging technologies, however, as the guide does not cover these technologies, and without the existence of an Australian Standard for household batteries, we are unable to broaden the Program.