What Australia’s Changing Solar & Battery Incentives Mean for Installers
Australian solar and battery incentives are changing, bringing new opportunities and new requirements for installers. In NSW, the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) is expanding battery incentives across strata, commercial and industrial projects, while nationally, changes to the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) will extend STC eligibility to larger commercial solar systems.
OpenSolar has updated its incentive and certificate workflows to support all five NSW BESS activities, automatically calculating expected Peak Reduction Certificates (PRCs) and incentive values across eligible projects. We’ve also enhanced our Bridge Select integration, allowing Pros to submit claims directly with their preferred trader using existing project data.
With Australia’s incentive landscape continuing to evolve at both the state and federal levels, now is a good time for installers to get across the latest changes, prepare for what’s ahead, and see how OpenSolar can help streamline these workflows.
NSW BESS incentives: What’s changing and how OpenSolar supports them
The NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) provides incentives for activities that help reduce electricity demand during peak periods, including the installation and use of battery energy storage systems.
The scheme has expanded its battery activities to cover a broader range of projects, including batteries for apartment buildings and businesses alongside existing household battery and Virtual Power Plant activities.
From 6 September, OpenSolar supports all five BESS activity types. Once the relevant incentive is configured, OpenSolar automatically calculates the expected number of Peak Reduction Certificates (PRCs) and incentive value based on the project information entered.
Installers can also adjust inputs at the individual project level where required. For example, the exact number of dwellings can be specified for a BESS3 apartment project without changing the incentive settings used across other projects.
To set up BESS incentive rules in your account, go to Control > Other > Incentives. For step-by-step instructions, see our Help Centre article.
SRES is set to expand to commercial solar up to 1 MW
The Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) currently supports eligible solar PV systems up to 100 kW, with Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) helping reduce the upfront cost of eligible installations.
The Australian Government has proposed expanding SRES eligibility from 100 kW to 1 MW for solar PV systems installed from 1 October 2026, subject to the required regulations being made.
Under the proposed changes, eligible mid-scale solar systems will be able to create STCs. Currently, systems above 100 kW fall under the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target and can be eligible to create Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) instead.
The key difference for installers and customers is how the certificates are created. STCs provide an upfront incentive based on the system’s expected renewable energy generation over its deeming period, helping reduce the upfront cost of installation. By comparison, LGCs are created progressively based on the system’s actual electricity generation and can provide an ongoing revenue stream over time.
Bringing eligible systems up to 1 MW into the STC framework could therefore make the upfront incentive model available to a much broader range of commercial, industrial, agricultural and community solar projects.
For installers working in the commercial market, it also makes the process around modelling incentives and creating STCs increasingly important as larger systems become eligible.
Simplify STC claims with OpenSolar and Bridge Select
OpenSolar’s updated Bridge Select integration is designed to connect more of that process, allowing project information already captured during the design and sales stages to be carried into STC creation.
From a sold OpenSolar project, installers can initiate an STC claim through Bridge Select without manually re-entering project information such as panel and battery details, system sizes and STC counts.
The integration now supports all traders available through the Bridge Select platform, so Pros can continue working with their existing STC trading partner.
Before starting the claim, key project information can be reviewed in OpenSolar. Once the claim is underway, status updates from Bridge Select are synced back to the OpenSolar project, giving teams visibility of its progress.
The Bridge Select integration includes a 30-day free trial. After the trial, a fee of AUD 2.00 plus GST applies per submission.
To connect, go to Settings > API & Integrations in your Bridge Select account and copy your credentials into OpenSolar. See our Help Centre article for step-by-step setup instructions.
What Australian solar installers should do next
Installers working on NSW battery projects should familiarise themselves with the latest PDRS requirements and understand which BESS activity applies to each project.
For commercial solar installers, the proposed SRES expansion is also worth preparing for now. Final eligibility, design, installation and compliance requirements for systems above 100 kW are still being developed, so installers should check the latest Clean Energy Regulator guidance before relying on STC eligibility for upcoming projects.
OpenSolar’s updated BESS incentive support and Bridge Select integration are available to help manage the incentive and certificate workflows around these projects as the market changes.
