Home battery payback times: they are a’changin’ thanks to the upcoming government rebate. Discover how long simple payback can be achieved in your state/territory as part of determining if installing a solar battery is worth it for you.
Home battery simple payback (how long it takes for electricity bill savings/credits to total the installed cost) within a system’s warranty period could only be achieved under certain circumstances to this point. The federal government battery rebate — officially known as the Cheaper Home Batteries Program — will be a game-changer in many scenarios, but not all.
SolarQuotes’ Ronald Brakels has recently updated a bunch of numbers to see what’s what in this regard.
The following table shows estimated annual savings and simple payback with a 10 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery in each Australian capital city for an installed cost of $8,500 that takes into account the federal rebate only. This is also based on having a solar power system of more than 7 kilowatts (7 kW) and overnight electricity consumption of 7 kWh, which is what approximately 60% of Australian households consume between sunset and sunrise.
Note that these figures were also based on May 2025 electricity prices, and from July 1 this year electricity prices will increase for most Australians, improving battery payback times.
| Annual Savings + Simple Payback Periods: 10kWh Battery @ $8,500 Installed After Federal Battery Rebate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Capitals | Annual Savings | Simple Payback Period |
| Adelaide | $1,350 | 6.3 years |
| Brisbane | $1,100 | 7.7 years |
| Perth | $1,120 | 7.6 years |
| Sydney | $1,030 | 8.3 years |
| Canberra | $700 | 12.1 years |
| Darwin | $620 | 13.7 years |
| Melbourne | $610 | 13.9 years |
| Hobart | $410 | 20.7 years |
Things are looking pretty good in Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Sydney for achieving simple payback just with the federal rebate in well under 10 years, which is usually the warranty period of a solar battery system these days.
Although home batteries won’t provide a sub-10-year payback with typical overnight consumption in the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania in this scenario, they can make sense in the ACT and VIC with above average overnight electricity consumption. While a battery won’t pay for itself at current electricity prices and solar feed-in tariff rates in Tasmania, it can be worthwhile if enough value is placed on backup power — and payback will improve as solar feed-in tariffs drop.
But What About …
The scenario in the table above is simple. What about payback times in situations such as:
- Where state/territory incentives are also available?
- Participating in a Virtual Power Plant (VPP)?
- A household with above average electricity consumption?
- Other factors such as capital costs, battery reserve, degradation and more?
How do these aspects impact simple payback? All this is covered in our freshly updated guide: ‘Are Solar Batteries Worth It?‘.
The Best Home Batteries — And What They Cost
A few months back, we asked the hundreds of installers in the SolarQuotes network what brand’s batteries they would use if they were installing a system on their own houses. Based on the votes received, the best home battery brands in 2025 were:
- First place: Tesla and Sungrow
- Second place: Sigenergy
- Third place: BYD
If you’re wondering about costs of popular solar batteries from these brands, here’s a rough price guide using the Tesla Powerwall 3 as a benchmark for capacity. But note these prices are before the rebate but don’t include installation, and these models all have more capacity than what the simple payback table above is based on:
To get an estimate how much of a discount you could receive on these and other models, try our federal battery rebate calculator. And you can see how various models’ specifications stack up side-by-side in SolarQuotes home battery guide.
If you’d like to find out exactly what it would cost to get one of these home batteries installed at your place (or another brand/model), submit for quotes via the SolarQuotes service. It’s quick and easy to do, and we’ll match your requirements with up to three pre-vetted independent installers who will compete for your business. There’s no obligation and no cost — just honest quotes from installers you can trust.
Among the other handy tools SolarQuotes offers is our Add A Battery Calculator, which uses your smart meter data to accurately calculate savings and payback, and the Solar + Battery Calculator to quickly see estimated savings and payback when you combine a battery with solar power. Both these tools factor in the federal rebate.
