Solar Feed In Tariff Comparison Australia
Comparing solar feed-in tariffs is a must-do for any Aussie with panels on their roof. Why? Because the credit you get for sending surplus power back to the grid can swing wildly from one retailer to the next. It’s about digging deeper than the headline cents-per-kilowatt-hour rate to see how daily charges, usage rates, and different tariff structures really stack up on your bill.
So, What Exactly Are Solar Feed-In Tariffs?
A solar feed-in tariff (FiT) is simply the payment you get from your electricity company for any extra solar energy your system produces and exports to the grid. For a long time, this was the central piece of the puzzle when calculating your return on investment, but the game has changed a lot.
The glory days of massive, government-backed FiTs—sometimes hitting a whopping 60 cents per kWh—are well and truly over. Today’s rates are driven by the market and are much more modest. They reflect the wholesale cost of electricity, which is often at its lowest in the middle of the day when solar generation is peaking. This big shift means using as much of your own solar power as possible is now the number one way to save money.
The Key Ingredients for a Fair Comparison
To do a proper feed-in tariff comparison, you have to look past that single cents per kWh figure. A handful of other factors are at play, and they can completely change the final numbers on your bill.
Here are the details you need to scrutinise:
- Time-of-Use Tariffs: Some retailers dangle higher rates during the evening peak and offer less during the day. Getting your head around how time-of-use electricity rates work is vital, especially if you can shift your energy export to those more valuable times.
- Government Minimums vs. Retailer Offers: While some states mandate a minimum FiT, retailers are free to offer more. The reality? Many just stick to the lowest rate they’re allowed to, which makes shopping around absolutely critical.
- Export Charges and Limits: A new trend is emerging where you can be charged for exporting power when the grid is overloaded. On top of that, some plans will cap the amount of energy you can export at their advertised higher rate.
If you only chase the highest advertised FiT, you can easily miss a plan with cripplingly high daily supply charges or energy usage rates. That can completely wipe out the benefit of a good export rate. A holistic view isn’t just a good idea; it’s non-negotiable.
Flat Rate vs. Time-Varying Tariffs
Getting to grips with the two main FiT structures is the first real step in finding a plan that actually fits your household.
| Tariff Type | How It Works | Best For Households That… |
|---|---|---|
| Flat-Rate Tariff | You get a single, fixed rate for every kWh you export, no matter the time of day. | …export most of their solar during the day and want simplicity and predictability in their bills. |
| Time-Varying Tariff | The rate you’re paid changes with the time of day. You get higher payments during peak demand (evenings) and lower rates during off-peak times (daytime). | …have west-facing panels or a battery, giving them the power to export more energy during those lucrative evening peak hours. |
Your Postcode Dictates the Rules of the Game
Comparing feed-in tariffs in Australia isn’t a simple national exercise. The rates and rules you’ll find depend entirely on your postcode, because each state and territory government sets its own playbook. This creates a patchwork of different opportunities and challenges across the country.
A solar plan that’s brilliant for a homeowner in Perth might be a terrible choice for someone in Sydney. Policies in New South Wales can be worlds away from those in Western Australia or Queensland. Some states mandate a minimum tariff that retailers have to offer, while others have thrown the market wide open, leaving prices entirely up to the energy companies.
Victoria: A Case Study in Deregulation
Victoria is the perfect example of how quickly the policy landscape can shift, putting the onus back on homeowners. The state’s feed-in tariff structure has changed dramatically, moving away from government-set minimums.
As of 1 July 2024, the Essential Services Commission (ESC) no longer mandates a minimum single rate, forcing retailers to set their own offers. While they can’t charge you for exporting, this shift has seen returns plummet from the heady days of 60 cents per kWh a decade ago. With the average tariff now sitting under 5 cents per kWh, the financial incentive has moved firmly towards self-consumption, not exporting.
This evolution highlights a critical truth for all Australian solar owners. As governments step back, energy retailers gain more control, and that means greater unpredictability for you.
The era of set-and-forget solar plans is over. With states like Victoria deregulating feed-in tariffs, the responsibility now falls squarely on you to actively compare retailer offers to avoid being stuck on a plan with near-zero export payments.
Why Your Location Is Your Starting Point
Before you even glance at a retailer’s plan, you need to understand the local rules of the game. Your state’s specific regulations are the first and most critical step in any meaningful feed-in tariff comparison.
Start by asking these key questions about your state:
- Is there a mandatory minimum FiT? This sets the absolute floor for what you can expect.
- Are there different rates for regional vs. metro areas? Some schemes vary rates depending on where you live.
- Are there specific eligibility rules? Your system size or installation date might change which schemes you can access.
Answering these questions first narrows your options and gives you the context needed to properly evaluate what retailers are offering. Without this foundation, you’re just comparing apples and oranges, making it impossible to find the best deal for your home.
Comparing Different Feed-In Tariff Structures
To really compare feed-in tariffs, you have to look past the headline cents-per-kilowatt-hour figure. Retailers structure their payments in different ways, and the best fit for your home comes down to one thing: when you actually use and export power. Get this right, and you’ll squeeze much more value out of your solar investment.
The two main flavours are flat-rate and time-varying tariffs. A flat-rate tariff is dead simple. You get the same fixed rate for every kilowatt-hour (kWh) you send back to the grid, no matter the time of day. It’s predictable and generally suits households that export most of their solar energy right in the middle of the day.
A time-varying tariff, on the other hand, is designed to be cleverer. It pays different rates depending on when you export. The idea is to reward you for sending power back during peak demand—usually late afternoon and early evening—with a much higher rate. The catch? The rate you get in the middle of the day, when your panels are pumping out the most energy, can be painfully low.
The Rise of Time-Varying Rates
Time-varying structures are becoming the new normal as the grid learns to cope with the massive amount of solar being generated at midday. A classic example is Western Australia’s Distributed Energy Buyback Scheme (DEBS). It pays a premium for power exported between 3 pm and 9 pm but next to nothing at other times.
This is where your location really starts to dictate the deals you’ll see. The rules in VIC, NSW, and WA create completely different markets for solar owners.
As the infographic shows, what’s on offer is fundamentally shaped by state-level policies.
Take Western Australia. For the 2025–26 period, it has some of the lowest average solar feed-in tariffs in the country. The DEBS scheme offers a tiny 2 cents per kWh for daytime exports, precisely when generation is at its peak. You only get the higher 10 cents per kWh rate in that narrow 3 pm–9 pm window. For most homes, this works out to an average effective rate below 3 cents per kWh—a huge drop from older schemes and a clear signal that the government wants you to use your own solar power, not export it.
Feed-In Tariff Structures At A Glance
Understanding these structures is the key to picking the right plan. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you’ll encounter.
| Tariff Structure | How It Works | Best For Households That… | Potential Pitfall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat-Rate | A single, fixed rate per kWh is paid for all exported energy, regardless of the time of day. | Export consistently throughout the day or have predictable, high midday export patterns. | The rate is often lower than the peak rates offered on time-varying plans, missing out on high-value export windows. |
| Time-Varying | Different rates are paid depending on the time of export, with higher rates during peak demand (e.g., afternoon/evening). | Can shift energy usage (e.g., with a battery) to export mainly during high-paying peak periods. | The off-peak/solar-soak rate can be extremely low, punishing households that export heavily during the day. |
| Tiered-Rate | The rate changes after a certain export threshold is met (e.g., a higher rate for the first 5 kWh per day, then a lower rate). | Have relatively low daily export volumes that consistently fall within the highest-paying tier. | The lower-tier rate is often minimal, providing very little benefit for larger solar systems that export a lot. |
Ultimately, the best structure isn’t about the highest number on paper; it’s about which one aligns with your home’s unique energy rhythm.
Calculating Your Effective Rate
Because of all this complexity, the advertised “headline rate” is often just marketing noise. The only way to do a proper feed-in tariff comparison is to figure out your effective rate—the true average you get based on your real-world export habits.
To find your effective rate, pull out your last electricity bill and see how many kWh you exported in each time-of-use window. Multiply the kWh for each period by its corresponding tariff rate. Add those figures together, then divide the total by the total kWh you exported. That’s your number.
This calculation is critical because a great feed-in tariff is useless if it’s tied to an expensive usage plan. A retailer can lure you in with a high FiT, only to sting you with punishing daily supply charges or peak usage rates that wipe out any solar savings. Make sure you’re looking at the whole package by checking out our guide on how to run a full electricity rate comparison.
Your Step-By-Step Tariff Comparison Framework
A proper feed-in tariff comparison goes way beyond just picking the highest number you see advertised. To find a plan that genuinely gets the most out of your solar investment, you need a methodical approach that looks at the complete picture.
This framework breaks it down into five straightforward steps. It’ll walk you from understanding your own power habits right through to checking the fine print on a retailer’s contract.
Step 1: Start With Your Energy Bill
Before you even glance at a new plan, your current electricity bill is your single most important tool. It’s a goldmine of data that tells the story of your home’s energy profile, showing exactly when you draw power from the grid and when you send your solar surplus back.
Pull out your last few quarterly bills and look for patterns in your consumption and export. Do you send a huge, consistent chunk of energy back to the grid during the day? Or is your export tiny because you work from home and soak up most of the solar power yourself? This first piece of analysis is the foundation for everything that follows.
Step 2: Use Comparison Tools Wisely
Online energy comparison websites are a great place to start, but they should never be the only place you look. These tools are fantastic for quickly getting a shortlist of potential retailers based on their advertised feed-in tariffs and general plan structures.
But here’s the thing: many of the best deals or specific conditions are often buried on the retailers’ own websites. Use the comparison sites to build your shortlist, then head directly to each provider’s site to dig into the full details.
Step 3: Scrutinise the Entire Plan
That headline feed-in tariff is often just marketing bait. A high FiT can be completely wiped out by other charges, making the plan far more expensive overall.
When you compare feed-in tariffs, you have to look at the whole package:
- Usage Rates: What are the cents per kWh charges for the power you import, especially during those expensive peak times?
- Daily Supply Charges: This fixed daily cost can vary wildly between retailers and will quickly eat away at any feed-in tariff credits you earn.
- Conditional Discounts: Are there “pay-on-time” or direct debit discounts? You need to understand exactly what you have to do to get them.
A high feed-in tariff paired with an expensive usage rate and a high daily supply charge is a classic bait-and-switch. Your goal is to find the plan with the best net outcome, not just the flashiest export rate.
Step 4: Calculate Your Effective FiT
The “effective” feed-in tariff is the true average rate you’ll actually receive, based on when you export your power. To figure this out, you need to match your export data (from Step 1) with a potential plan’s tariff structure, like time-varying rates.
For example, a plan might offer a juicy 10c/kWh in the evening but a measly 2c/kWh during the day. If your bill shows you export 90% of your energy during the day, your effective rate is going to be much closer to 2c/kWh. This simple bit of maths cuts through the marketing fluff and shows you what a plan is actually worth to you.
Step 5: Read the Fine Print
Finally, before you pull the trigger on a switch, go over the contract terms. You’re looking for any exit fees, lock-in contract lengths, or clauses that let the retailer change your feed-in tariff with hardly any notice.
It’s also worth considering the retailer’s reputation for customer service. A good rate means nothing if you spend hours on the phone trying to sort out billing mistakes down the track.
Putting It All Together: Real-World Scenarios
A theoretical feed-in tariff comparison only gets you so far. The true value of a solar plan only reveals itself when you apply it to the rhythms of a real household. The “best” tariff isn’t some universal number; it’s the one that clicks with your daily life.
To show you what I mean, I’ve mapped out three common household profiles. See how different tariff structures affect their annual bills. You’ll probably see a bit of your own situation in one of them, which should give you a clearer idea of what to hunt for.
The 9-to-5 Family
This is your classic suburban setup: two adults working standard office hours, kids at school during the day. Their house is pretty much empty between 8 am and 4 pm on weekdays. Consequently, their solar system exports almost everything it generates right when the sun is highest.
- Energy Pattern: Very little self-consumption, massive daytime export.
- Best FiT Structure: A plan with a decent flat-rate tariff.
- Why it Works: For this family, a time-varying tariff would be a disaster. They’d be exporting heavily when those rates are at rock bottom, often just 2-3c/kWh. A consistent flat rate, even a modest one, gives them a much more predictable and profitable return for the way they live.
For this household, a good feed-in tariff is important, but you have to balance it against the daily supply and usage charges. A high FiT is useless if the other costs claw all the savings back.
The Work-from-Home Professional
Here we have one or two adults working from home. They’re running laptops, maybe a second monitor, and the air conditioner or heater all day. They soak up a huge chunk of their solar energy the moment it’s produced, meaning very little ever makes it to the grid.
This scenario perfectly illustrates the new mantra of solar savings: self-consumption is king. For this household, the feed-in tariff is almost an afterthought. The real game is finding a plan with the absolute lowest usage rates and daily supply charges.
- Energy Pattern: High self-consumption, minimal daytime export.
- Best FiT Structure: The feed-in tariff is far less critical. The focus must be on the lowest overall cost plan.
- Why it Works: Because they export so little, a high FiT doesn’t really move the needle. Their savings come from not buying power from the grid. A plan with a low FiT but much cheaper usage rates will save them heaps more over a year than a plan with a flashy FiT and expensive import costs.
The EV Owner with a Battery
This household is ahead of the curve, having invested in an electric vehicle (EV) and a home battery. They are a flexible, high-load household that can strategically control their energy. They can charge the battery and EV for free during the day and then pick and choose when to export to the grid.
This profile is perfectly set up to exploit the most sophisticated energy plans out there.
| Feature | Advantage for the EV Owner |
|---|---|
| Time-Varying Tariff | They can absorb all their midday solar, then export stored battery power during the lucrative evening peak (3 pm to 9 pm) to cash in on the highest possible rates. |
| VPP Integration | By joining a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), they can earn extra income by letting their battery help stabilise the grid during crunch times. |
| Smart Charging | They use smart chargers to line up EV charging with periods of excess solar generation or cheap off-peak grid power, shaving even more off their costs. |
This household has turned their solar and battery setup from a simple bill-reduction tool into an active energy asset. For them, a feed-in tariff comparison goes way beyond the sticker price; it involves looking at VPP payments and retailer plans that reward smart energy management. Their choice is more complex, but the potential rewards are far greater.
The Future of Solar Exports and Final Thoughts
The game has changed for Australian solar owners. If there’s one clear signal from the energy market, it’s that the era of simply exporting power for a tidy profit is over. The days of generous feed-in tariffs making the case for solar are well and truly behind us.
The future isn’t about selling power back to the grid; it’s about smartly using every single kilowatt-hour you generate right there at home.
This shift isn’t subtle. Just look at New South Wales. The state regulator, IPART, has pencilled in a benchmark of just 4.8 to 7.3 cents per kWh for 2025–26. That’s a world away from the old 60-cent tariffs that kickstarted the rooftop revolution.
Even more telling, 2025 saw the introduction of export charges during peak solar hours. That’s right—you can now be penalised for sending power to the grid when it’s least needed. It’s a turning point that would have seemed absurd just a few years ago. You can get a deeper sense of this trend on Melbourne Energy Group’s blog.
Embrace Self-Consumption and Storage
With daytime export values hitting rock bottom, the focus has to turn inward. The single most effective way to cut your power bills now is to maximise your self-consumption—using your solar power the moment it’s generated.
It’s as simple as running the dishwasher, the washing machine, or the pool pump in the middle of the day.
The next logical step is a battery. A home battery changes the entire equation. It lets you capture all that cheap, abundant midday solar and save it for the expensive evening peak. This move not only shields you from high import costs but also unlocks more advanced ways to make your system pay.
The core takeaway is this: your solar system’s value is no longer defined by its export rate. It’s now defined by how much it reduces your reliance on the grid and delivers energy independence.
What to Do Next
To stay ahead of the curve, you need a proactive strategy. Comparing feed-in tariffs still has its place, but it’s now just one piece of a much larger puzzle.
Here are the final steps to future-proof your solar investment:
- Review Your Plan Annually: Don’t set and forget. Energy plans, rates, and tariff structures are constantly in flux. Rerunning a comparison at least once a year ensures you’re not leaving money on the table.
- Align Usage with Generation: This is the easiest win. Make a conscious effort to shift your energy use to the middle of the day. This simple habit change delivers immediate and significant savings.
- Consider Smart Energy Solutions: Technology like battery storage and Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) is becoming essential. They allow you to store your own solar for later and earn extra income by helping to keep the grid stable. To see how it all works, read our detailed guide on sodium-ion batteries and VPPs.
By adopting this forward-thinking approach, you can make sure your solar system continues to deliver real value for years to come.
Ready to turn your solar and battery system into an active energy asset? HighFlow Connect helps you earn more from your investment by intelligently trading your stored energy when prices are highest. Join our Virtual Power Plant to unlock extra income, support the grid, and get more from your clean energy. Find out how it works at https://highflowconnect.com.au.