QLD Battery Booster Rebate: The End Is Nigh

Queensland households looking to secure a generous rebate on a home battery will need to get cracking as the initiative is ending very soon. But be cautious.

In a nutshell, rebates of up to $4,000 have been available for eligible Queenslanders to purchase and install household battery systems connected to new or existing rooftop solar power systems since February this year.

A $3,000 rebate is available to eligible applicants with a combined annual household taxable income of $180,000 or less. A higher $4,000 rebate is available for low-income households with an annual income of less than $66,667. Conditional approval is needed before applying, and applicants must use an approved installer and an approved battery system.

SQ Founder Finn published a detailed QLD Battery Booster rebate guide explaining the process shortly after the program launched.

9 Days To Deadline

Originally, the program was to end once the initial allocated funding was exhausted, which was enough for around 2,000 rebates. But the Queensland Government topped up funding with another $6 million in mid-April. So, in total, around 3,500 rebates were to be available and unless something has changed, it’s looking like most of those have already been snapped up.

All good things must come to an end and the Battery Booster program’s end is near. Queenslanders have until 11:59 pm on 8 May 2024 to get quotes¹ and submit an application to the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) for conditional approval. Note that conditional approval doesn’t guarantee final approval.

The program stopped accepting Approved Installer applications on 24 April 2024.

Scam Warning

If you want to grab a rebate, move fast – but carefully. Whether it’s for solar panels, batteries or any other big-ticket item, whenever there are government incentives involved it tends to bring out all sorts of characters on the marketing, supply and installation end.

Business Queensland has warned:

“We are aware of websites created by third parties about the Battery Booster program. Fraudulent, misleading or phishing websites could take advantage of Queenslanders wishing to participate in the program.”

I came across a dedicated site with (now outdated) information that was gathering registrations of interest, with view to supposedly connecting applicants to local installers. The operators of the site don’t identify themselves and the privacy and terms pages were non-existent. But this doesn’t mean anything particularly nefarious was going on. Still, be cautious.

The official QLD Government page for information on the program is here.

Are Home Batteries Now Worth It?

A battery is a big investment and whether installing one in Queensland is worth it will depend on your goals and energy consumption profile. For example, having backup power is invaluable for some. But if we’re just discussing battery payback – again, maybe.

In 2024 and under certain conditions (explained on the page linked to above), simple payback for a 10kWh, $10,000 battery installed in Queensland is around 9.7 years for households on a flat tariff electricity plan and around 7 years for those on a time-of-use tariff.

But everyone’s mileage will vary, and in some cases, greatly – for example if a rebate is involved. To get a better idea of how much you could save in your household’s circumstances, give SQ’s solar and battery calculator a whirl. Remember to factor in the rebate when selecting a battery as that will accelerate payback significantly.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/qld-battery-booster-mb2909/