Flip the switch on the grid and keep your solar at home

New shifts in the solar space have made it harder than ever for homes to lower their power bills by exporting solar

While the newly minted Solar Sharer Offer (SSO) is stealing most of the limelight, changes are brewing to solar feed-in tariff (FiT) rates. 

In NSW, QLD and SA, most energy retailers like AGL and Origin have decreased their solar FiTs across the board  — that’s the rate you’re paid (in cents) for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy your solar system exports to the grid.

While this isn’t relevant to non-solar households, over 42% of Australian homes and businesses own a rooftop solar system: that equates to a whopping 4.4 million homes. 

The year-on-year fall in FiTs cannot be understated for solar households. But there’s an alternative. 

Instead of exporting their own solar generation, homes can harness it to power their homes. 

But before we pitch a case for using your own solar, why are FiTs even plummeting in the first place? 

The grid is too well-fed

Originally, generous FiTs (including premium FiTs up to 44c/kWh) were an incentive to drive installations of rooftop solar en masse. 

Unfortunately, the rising volume of exported solar is saturating the grid at times of low demand — that’s because these are the hours when most Aussies are at work or outside their homes. 

This abundance of solar energy, combined with sleepy demand, has caused daytime electricity prices to plummet, sometimes to the negatives in the wholesale market. 

For instance, paying a customer 3c/kWh for every kWh exported to the grid when wholesale prices are -11c/kWh would leave the retailer losing -8c/kWh. 

With this mismatch in the growing supply and weak demand, retailers can’t afford to maintain higher solar FiTs.

Consequently, solar homes relying on FiTs to slash their power bills run the risk of being exposed to bill shock, especially if they aren’t aware of these industry-wide changes. 

The case for using your own solar supply

The simple solution is to stop exporting solar. Instead, use what you produce to keep the lights on. 

In fact, using instead of exporting your solar generation saves you more money almost all the time. 

On average, solar FiTs can range anywhere from 0.04c/kWh to 12c/kWh.

In comparison, the usage rate (the cost per kWh of electricity you use on your energy plan) typically hovers between 28c/kWh and 44c/kWh. 

Note: The example below assumes that the user’s rooftop solar system produces a total of 10kWh of solar energy per day to be exported or used.

Because the cost of grid electricity far exceeds the average solar FiT, you are primed to save much more by using your own solar generation, rather than exporting it. 

What if you’re not at home?

In reality, most Aussies aren’t home to capitalise on the hours when their solar systems are at their most productive. 

The only way to bypass this time restriction is to install a solar battery and an inverter, allowing you to store any solar generated and defer your energy use to the evening. 

At minimum, most homes would only require a battery capacity of 5kWh to 10kWh to store enough solar to offset their nighttime use. 

A solar battery will cost you

The catch here is the cost of buying and installing a solar battery. According to Solar Choice’s battery price index, the average cost of installing a 5kWh solar battery and inverter is $7,742 as of May 2026. 

The good news is that the Labor Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries program could slash up to 30% off the purchase and installation of solar battery systems, provided they are eligible.

However, you’d still have to foot the remaining bill upfront, leaving you thousands of dollars out of pocket. 

You’d also have to consider your battery system’s payback period, which is the time it takes for your usage rate savings to recoup its purchase and installation costs. 

Depending on the size of your solar system and battery, your payback period could range from anywhere between five and 10 years. 

Once the breakeven point is reached, you will start to put ‘real’ savings back into your wallet. 

To export or not to export? 

Purely based on savings, funneling your solar generation into powering your home is more sensible than exporting it. 

But ultimately, the answer will boil down to your financial situation. 

If you’re willing to spend thousands upfront and wait out your battery’s payback period, you could end up saving more in the long-term as FiTs continue their downward trend. 

In the short term, relying on a FiT leaves thousands in your pocket that you would’ve otherwise poured into a solar battery. But expect to save less on your power bills as time goes on. 

Find the right FiT 

At the end of the day, the goal is to save money.

Even if you are unwilling to spend thousands on a solar battery, that shouldn’t stop you from finding the right FiT (pun intended). 

Don’t just settle for what you’re on now. It’s important to look for other energy plans at your address with more generous solar FiTs. 

You can start by comparing a handful of energy plans with solar FiTs from retailers featured on our database. Just be wary that a higher FiT could be masking higher electricity rates. 

It’s always important to review a plan’s rates through the Basic Plan Information Document (BPID) before making a decision.