Seems like there is always a price to pay for Government rebates, and whilst well intentioned WA’s rules are proving to be challenging for solar companies.

What’s on offer?

In simple terms, firstly you can access the Federal Cheaper Home Batteries rebate for solar owners, assuming eligibility of course.

But from here it gets more tricky because the State rebate changed following the announcement of the federal rebate and to keep it interesting WA created some new, unique regulations which I will attempt to break down in the simplest way I can.

Firstly, in addition to the Federal battery rebate assuming eligibility you can also access a State Government battery rebate of up to $1300 (potentially more if you operate in Horizon’s network) provided you meet some unique terms and conditions.

The simple version of the terms and conditions are that a)products must be on an approved list b)sites must allow control over both existing and new equipment c)those products must be compliant with CSIP 1.3 and ipso facto d)by being compliant with CSIP 1.3 the site must be whole of site compliant, emergency backstop capable, dynamic control capable AND VPP capable with Synergy or Plico.

Whole of site control

This is the bit that everyone is fixated on because its complicated and very few providers can meet the whole of site compliance requirements. In Victoria they referred to this technique as Legacy system control before partially dumping the requirement.

In WA installer circles this has caused a lot concern that AC coupled batteries will not be eligible, for example – but this is NOT strictly true, as long as the other requirements can be met, most notably, the whole of site control requirement. Simply put, assuming the new products are listed, you CAN add a new AC or DC coupled system BUT if you leave the existing equipment on as well, then you will need a single gateway device to be able to control the whole site.

The trick is of course it its an old inverter or battery and/or doesn’t have a consumption meter attached then you’ll need some equipment to enable that control and there are a few ways it can be done ranging from sophisticated to crude – but it can be done. Synergy, Western Power and the Government are in active discussions with numerous technology providers on how this can potentially be done….

Consequently while it remains very murky, estimates suggest that the vast majority of installers are a)simply replacing old inverters or entire systems which is a bit tragic really or b) asking buyers to be patient while things bed down.

Given what Victoria did, any reasonable person might say “nah WA will dump the Whole of Site rule just like Vic” – but WA is, “a bit a different” and the word on the street is they are very unlikely to back down on this rule. The simple version is WA is a very small grid with very high solar penetration so they really, really need a way to get both existing and new solar and batteries under control.

VPP requirements

The second kicker is the mandatory VPP requirement. Simply put, a VPP allows someone to control batteries (or solar and load in some cases) to add or subtract power from the grid as needed. It can be done for grid stability (WA’s stated objective) and or it can be done to make money for the VPP provider (eg large retailers or fleet owners), and or it can be done to make money for the owner (eg Amber in other States) and just to keep it interesting all these objectives can and are munged together in various offers!

In WA’s case, in return for the State rebate of $1300 owners will need to agree to a maximum of 30 days of “control events” each year and to sign up for a 2 year contract. The customer can also typically earn a few hundred extra dollars each year when energy is traded. You can read about the Synergy VPP here, The Plico VPP here and the Horizon VPP here.

Based on conversations we’ve had not many sand gropers feel like the loss of control is a fair trade off for $1300 and some annual earnings at this stage, but VPPs are on the rise so its expected to grow. In case you didn’t know, Plico already has around 3000 customers on a VPP in WA.

Interest free loans

Eligible owners can also access interest free loans of up to $10,000 to fund approved equipment which is pretty nice, but you must agree to be on the VPP, and meet all CSIP 1.3 rules to access it.

Plenti have been appointed as the agent and as usual there is a bit of a process to go through to get approved and listed with them as an installer.

Rules and Regulations

Attendees at SEIA Perth got a great snapshot of the technical rule changes developed for this program by Western Powers’ Nigel Wilmot. As you would expect there is good news, bad news and complexity.  Western Power goes into excruciating detail in their rule book here and Synergy’s functionality requirements are here.

I’m not even going to try and describe everything they contain because they are both vast and detailed – but WA installers will of course read and absorb and understand it all.

The two small salvations in all of it is that a)in most cases single phase system sizes can be 10kW instead of 5kW (check the rules though!) and b)there is some harmonisation between WA’s regs and other State and Federal regs. Both of these things are beneficial for owners and installers, albeit at a price.

The other important requirement for the State rebate and Loans are that installers must be NETCC Approved which we know will cause many people brains to explode with anger. The NETCC (formerly the Approved Retailer Program) is managed for the Clean Energy Regulator by the Clean Energy Council, following a tender to see if anyone else wanted to step up and take over from the CEC. In principle, the program was designed to offer additional protection for consumers from unscrupulous retail behaviour which is a great thing. Unfortunately, over time it appears to have become a woefully toothless tiger, going by the number of unscrupulous players who are listed and approved much to our mutual disgust and frustration. It also isn’t cheap to apply and comply.

So there you have it. WA’s unique battery rebate in a nutshell, because, who wants regulations to be Nationally consistent anyway. 🙂

As we said at the beginning there is always a price to pay (ouch) for rebates (nice!) so we strongly recommend staying calm, finding your niche and weaving your way through it all.