Solar battery rebate - Updated August 29th 2025
The end of our participation with the WA battery rebate and loan...for us.
A week ago I wrote on this page that Solar4Ever was pulling out of offering the $1,300 WA battery rebate.
The reasons why we we did so are explained below.
Suzanne and I have been overwhelmed by the kindness, support and generosity shown to us by our clients.
Almost everyone agreed with our position that the WA rebate is a very poor 'deal' for everyone.
Our offers of compensation to our clients were almost universally rejected either in full or in part.
We are humbled. Thank you.
Why the WA battery rebate is a bad deal for you.
It's not so much that there is a 2 year obligation to join a VPP.
It's that hidden away in the fine print is an enduring right for Synergy to control your system forever.
Rather than explain it in detail here, please read this Facebook post.
It's good to see that Tim Cahill, someone I know well, has raised this with the Ombudsmen.
Why the WA battery rebate is a bad deal for us.
It's pretty much the same as for you.
A lasting obligation that we ensure your installation remains 'Synergy connected'.
If it were just for the 2 year VPP, we would have been ok with that, but it is not.
Heavy-handed wording makes it clear in every communication we get from them...
"It is a requirement that you..."
How can we control whether you remain connected to Synergy forever?
How can we control whether a manufacturer releases a firmware update years later that disables the connection?
The way the WA rebate has been devised is designed to meet Western Power and Synergy's needs, not yours or ours.
The rebate is paid to the retailer, not the end user.
Clever, because that way they can control us.
We have to do what they say as it's a binding business to business contract.
Why the WA battery rebate is a bad deal for installers.
At the end of a hard solar and battery install, they have to do a test to make sure the installation connects to Synergy.
It's called the 'Installer Test Tool Kit'.
If the install has been done correctly, if the firmware versions are right, it should work.
Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't, and when it doesn't, it's up to the installer to troubleshoot it.
Understandably, they are saying 'no'.
They aren't paid extra for hours trying and failing to fix someone else's errors.
If our installers say no, then it falls back on us.
Non-compliant, so no rebate paid to us even though we've deducted it already from your quote and invoice.
The Federal battery subsidy is not without it's own issues.
Even this subsidy has raised some problems for all of us and means higher costs for some people.
The battery subsidy operates under the same legislation as the solar panel subsidy.
It's how the Government managed to get it up and running so quickly.
But ease of implementation turned out to be a double-edged sword.
Solar installers are only permitted to do 2 x STC jobs per day.
Each job must be uploaded with geo-located time and date stamped selfies taken throughout the install.
A sensible precaution to stop cowboys from claiming STCs for jobs they never attended.
No solar installer could ever do more than 2 x solar panel installs per day, so it made sense.
The battery subsidy treats the battery install as an STC claim.
So a solar and battery install counts as a full days work, namely 2 x STC claims.
That also means that 2 x complete new battery installs are a full day's work.
Also fine as each typically takes about 4 hours.
But what about just adding a battery to an already installed stack?
Also an STC claim, so two of those for the day and you cannot work any more.
Or adding a few more panels when installing a battery...that's 2 x STC claims.
The upshot of this is that the very in-demand installers won't do a battery add-on for the previous $440.
Now they want $1,200.
They won't add a few extra panels when you add a battery either unless you forgo the STCs on those panels.
Greed? Not really. It's simply being pragmatic because of the 2 jobs per day rule.
What needs to happen, and needs to happen FAST is for the Federal Government to change the legislation.
A simple change like...
"A battery installation does not count towards the 2 x STC claims per day limit."
To anyone considering getting into the solar industry, Suzanne and I recommend that you try everything else first.
Solar4Ever have been selling and installing solar in Perth, WA since 2011.
or email
This review was written by Andrew MacKeith, Solar4Ever service manager since 2011.
A week ago I wrote on this page that Solar4Ever was pulling out of offering the $1,300 WA battery rebate.
The reasons why we we did so are explained below.
Suzanne and I have been overwhelmed by the kindness, support and generosity shown to us by our clients.
Almost everyone agreed with our position that the WA rebate is a very poor 'deal' for everyone.
Our offers of compensation to our clients were almost universally rejected either in full or in part.
We are humbled. Thank you.
Why the WA battery rebate is a bad deal for you.
It's not so much that there is a 2 year obligation to join a VPP.
It's that hidden away in the fine print is an enduring right for Synergy to control your system forever.
Rather than explain it in detail here, please read this Facebook post.
It's good to see that Tim Cahill, someone I know well, has raised this with the Ombudsmen.
Why the WA battery rebate is a bad deal for us.
It's pretty much the same as for you.
A lasting obligation that we ensure your installation remains 'Synergy connected'.
If it were just for the 2 year VPP, we would have been ok with that, but it is not.
Heavy-handed wording makes it clear in every communication we get from them...
"It is a requirement that you..."
How can we control whether you remain connected to Synergy forever?
How can we control whether a manufacturer releases a firmware update years later that disables the connection?
The way the WA rebate has been devised is designed to meet Western Power and Synergy's needs, not yours or ours.
The rebate is paid to the retailer, not the end user.
Clever, because that way they can control us.
We have to do what they say as it's a binding business to business contract.
Why the WA battery rebate is a bad deal for installers.
At the end of a hard solar and battery install, they have to do a test to make sure the installation connects to Synergy.
It's called the 'Installer Test Tool Kit'.
If the install has been done correctly, if the firmware versions are right, it should work.
Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't, and when it doesn't, it's up to the installer to troubleshoot it.
Understandably, they are saying 'no'.
They aren't paid extra for hours trying and failing to fix someone else's errors.
If our installers say no, then it falls back on us.
Non-compliant, so no rebate paid to us even though we've deducted it already from your quote and invoice.
The Federal battery subsidy is not without it's own issues.
Even this subsidy has raised some problems for all of us and means higher costs for some people.
The battery subsidy operates under the same legislation as the solar panel subsidy.
It's how the Government managed to get it up and running so quickly.
But ease of implementation turned out to be a double-edged sword.
Solar installers are only permitted to do 2 x STC jobs per day.
Each job must be uploaded with geo-located time and date stamped selfies taken throughout the install.
A sensible precaution to stop cowboys from claiming STCs for jobs they never attended.
No solar installer could ever do more than 2 x solar panel installs per day, so it made sense.
The battery subsidy treats the battery install as an STC claim.
So a solar and battery install counts as a full days work, namely 2 x STC claims.
That also means that 2 x complete new battery installs are a full day's work.
Also fine as each typically takes about 4 hours.
But what about just adding a battery to an already installed stack?
Also an STC claim, so two of those for the day and you cannot work any more.
Or adding a few more panels when installing a battery...that's 2 x STC claims.
The upshot of this is that the very in-demand installers won't do a battery add-on for the previous $440.
Now they want $1,200.
They won't add a few extra panels when you add a battery either unless you forgo the STCs on those panels.
Greed? Not really. It's simply being pragmatic because of the 2 jobs per day rule.
What needs to happen, and needs to happen FAST is for the Federal Government to change the legislation.
A simple change like...
"A battery installation does not count towards the 2 x STC claims per day limit."
To anyone considering getting into the solar industry, Suzanne and I recommend that you try everything else first.
Solar4Ever have been selling and installing solar in Perth, WA since 2011.
or email
This review was written by Andrew MacKeith, Solar4Ever service manager since 2011.