Feed-in tariffs
Solar feed-in tariffs for Melbourne homes (2026)
A Melbourne home’s solar feed-in tariff is whatever its electricity retailer sets: Victoria has had no minimum since 1 July 2025, the rate can be as low as 0c per kWh, and the retailer must tell you before it changes it. The last minimum, for 2024–25, was 3.3c per kWh.
To find the best feed-in tariff in Melbourne, compare whole plans on Victorian Energy Compare, the free government tool, and use as much of your solar as you can yourself: the Victorian Default Offer’s 4 pm to 9 pm rate on Melbourne’s networks is 37.57c to 47.64c per kWh, far more than an export earns. Feed-in credits pay you back over time; the solar rebates cut the price up front.
Updated
How solar feed-in tariffs work
A feed-in tariff (FiT), sometimes called a solar buyback rate, is what your retailer pays for each kWh of solar your home exports to the grid. It appears as a credit on your electricity bill. Your panels power the home first; only the solar you don’t use at that moment is exported and earns that rate.
Victorian retailers offer solar power feed-in tariffs in two forms, according to the Victorian Government:
- Single rate: the same rate whatever time you export.
- Time-varying: different rates at different times of day. Exports in the late afternoon and evening, when solar is scarce, are worth more than exports at midday.
Time-varying feed-in tariffs
A time-varying feed-in tariff prices your exports by what power is worth on the grid at that hour. At midday, when rooftops across Victoria are all exporting, there is more solar than the grid needs. By the evening peak the sun has gone and power is scarce. The Essential Services Commission’s last minimums show the shape: for 2024–25 its time-varying minimums ran from 2.1c to 8.4c per kWh, and its 2025–26 decision, which never applied, ranged from 6.57c in the evening peak down to 0c during the day.
- It can pay more if your home exports later in the day: panels that face west, or a battery that sends stored solar to the grid in the evening.
- It can pay less if most of your exports happen around midday, when a north-facing system makes the most and the daytime rate is lowest.
- Read the time bands, not just the top rate. The higher rate may cover only a few hours, and Victorian Energy Compare lists each band under an offer’s “Feed-in tariff options”.
Why Victoria no longer has a minimum feed-in tariff
The Essential Services Commission used to set a minimum feed-in tariff in Victoria every year, and retailers had to pay at least that much. After an amendment to the Electricity Industry Act 2000 in May 2025, it no longer sets one. The 2024–25 minimums applied until 30 June 2025, and from 1 July 2025 retailers set their own rates. The 2025–26 minimums the commission had already decided on never applied.
| Year | Flat minimum | Time-varying minimums | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 | 3.3c | 2.1c to 8.4c | Applied until 30 June 2025 (source) |
| 2025–26 | 0.04c | 0c to 6.57c | Decided in February 2025, never applied (source) |
| From 1 July 2025 | None | None | Retailers set their own rates, no lower than 0c |
Retailers must still:
- Give you a credit for the solar you export, so a feed-in tariff can’t be below zero.
- Tell you before they change your feed-in tariff.
Why the rates fell: rooftop solar in Victoria grew 76 per cent from 2019, so daytime exports are worth less. The Premium Feed-in Tariff for early solar owners also ended, on 1 November 2024.
After the premium and minimum feed-in tariffs: what to do now
- Find your rate. Your bill shows the solar you exported, according to the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria, and your plan’s details give the feed-in rate it is credited at. Your retailer must tell you before it changes the rate.
- Had the premium rate? It ended on 1 November 2024, and your retailer’s ordinary rate replaced it, so the plan that suited you then may not suit you now.
- Compare whole plans, not feed-in rates alone: how to compare.
- Use more of your own solar in the day, or store it: export or store.
- Adding panels or a battery? The change goes back to your network for approval where it needs one, and any new export limit depends on the room left when you apply: export limits.
How to find the best solar electricity plan in Victoria
Looking for the best solar feed-in tariff in Vic, or the best electricity plan for solar and battery owners? Rates change often and differ between plans, so we don’t publish a table that would go out of date. The Victorian Government’s own Victorian Energy Compare compares every generally available electricity plan for your address, including its solar feed-in tariff, for free. It picks offers by your location, and whether you have solar or a controlled load, then estimates a yearly cost for each from your yearly use, priced at each offer’s usage and daily supply charges, less any discounts you qualify for. For a solar home, that estimate includes the credit for the solar you export.
- Open Victorian Energy Compare, enter your postcode and tell it you have solar. It is free and run by the Victorian Government.
- Give it your real usage. After 12 months at the address it can fetch your smart meter data with your NMI (National Metering Identifier, on your bill), your retailer and your postcode; otherwise upload a file from your distributor or retailer, or answer its questionnaire. See smart meters in Victoria.
- Rank plans by the estimated yearly cost, not the export rate. It shows prices with and without conditional discounts, such as pay-on-time discounts: if you might miss one, use the price without it.
- Open “Feed-in tariff options” on each plan you shortlist: a rate can come in blocks (a higher rate for only the first part of your exports) or in time bands that pay more at some hours.
- Check the conditions before you switch: Victorian Energy Compare warns that an offer may have costs that aren’t in its estimate.
Plans for solar and battery owners
A battery means you export less at midday and buy less in the evening. If it is new, last year’s meter data still shows the home without it, so answer the questionnaire or compare again after a year. For time-of-use plans, note the tool’s warning on its time-varying filter: “Only customers already on time-varying network tariffs can switch to other time-varying offers.” Your retailer can tell you which network tariff you are on.
Why the highest feed-in tariff isn’t always the cheapest plan
The supply charge and the rate for every kWh you buy usually matter more than the export rate, because most homes buy more power than they export. Illustration only: a plan paying 5c more per kWh for exports earns about $183 a year more on 10 kWh exported a day; if it charges 3c more for the 15 kWh you buy each day, that costs about $164 a year.
Feed-in tariff vs the Midday Power Saver: can you have both?
Yes. Since 1 October 2026, retailers with 1,000 or more household customers must offer the Midday Power Saver to homes with a smart meter: no usage charge from 11 am to 2 pm, up to 24 kWh a day. It sets what you pay for the power you buy. Its pricing order says nothing about feed-in tariffs, and retailers must still give you a credit for the solar you export, so a feed-in tariff can’t be below zero. The rate is the one your retailer sets for that plan, so ask what feed-in tariff comes with its Midday Power Saver offer before you switch.
Why the free hours are worth less with solar
The free hours fall when your panels make the most power, so a solar home buys little then, and outside them the Midday Power Saver’s maximum rates are about 2.05c to 2.18c per kWh above the Victorian Default Offer’s. The Victorian Government puts it plainly: “Households with rooftop solar already benefit from generating their own electricity during the day.” Both can pay when your midday use outruns your solar, as on winter days, or when a battery fills from the free hours on a dull day for the evening peak. Compare the offer with market plans on Victorian Energy Compare, using your own meter data, before you sign up through your electricity retailer.
Export or store? Feed-in tariffs vs using your own solar
The Victorian Government’s advice is that you save the most by using your own solar. A kWh of solar you use is a kWh you don’t buy, and buying power costs far more than exporting it earns. The solar calculator estimates how your solar splits between the two.
For scale, the Victorian Default Offer (the regulated standing offer for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027) charges 25.96c to 31.98c per kWh on a flat tariff, depending on your network. On its time-of-use tariff the 4 pm to 9 pm peak is 37.57c to 47.64c, and even the cheapest 11 am to 4 pm “solar soak” rate is 16.59c to 17.65c. Many market offers are cheaper than the Victorian Default Offer, but the gap to an export rate of a few cents stays large.
- Shift daytime loads: run the dishwasher, washing machine and hot water on a timer while the sun is up.
- Store it for the evening: a home battery keeps daytime solar for the 4 pm to 9 pm peak. See how to work out a battery’s payback and the federal battery rebate.
- Free midday power: the Midday Power Saver makes grid power free from 11 am to 2 pm, with other rates a little higher. How it sits with solar, how the free electricity hours work and the other Victorian energy rebates.
Solar export charges in Victoria: will you pay to export solar?
Only on a two-way network tariff. Since 1 July 2026, all five networks that serve Melbourne offer one: a small network charge on solar exported from 11 am to 4 pm above a free 1 kWh a day, and a credit for exports from 4 pm to 9 pm. It is opt-in on every network and the default on none: a home that installs solar goes onto its network’s new time-of-use tariff instead. In Powercor’s words: “The Victorian Government is strongly opposed to mandatory export charges and therefore we have not considered mandatory export pricing. Instead, we are introducing two-way tariffs which are not mandatory.” Networks could add export charges once the Australian Energy Market Commission removed the ban on them, and the rules require a free export level on any such charge.
Two-way tariffs by Victorian network
| Network (area) | Tariff | Export charge, 11 am to 4 pm | Export credit, 4 pm to 9 pm |
|---|---|---|---|
| CitiPower City and inner suburbs | Residential CER (CRCER), source | 1c per kWh before GST, September to May | 7c per kWh before GST, December to February and June to August |
| Jemena Northern and north-western suburbs | Residential Export (A10E), source | 3c per kWh before GST, every day | 15c per kWh before GST, every day |
| United Energy Southern suburbs and Mornington Peninsula | Consumer Energy Resource (URCER), source | about 1.1c per kWh incl. GST, spring, summer and autumn | about 7.7c per kWh incl. GST, summer and winter |
| AusNet Services Outer northern and eastern suburbs and eastern Victoria | Residential CER (RCER11), source | about 1c per kWh, every day | about 10c per kWh, every day |
| Powercor Western suburbs and western Victoria | Residential CER (PRCER), source | 1c per kWh before GST, September to May | 7c per kWh before GST, December to February and June to August |
A home that exports mostly at midday, such as a large north-facing system with no battery, pays more on one; a home that exports later, from a west-facing roof or a battery, pays less and can earn the credit. Illustration only: 10 kWh exported from 11 am to 4 pm on a sunny summer day is 9 kWh over the allowance: 9c on CitiPower’s tariff, 27c on Jemena’s, before GST.
What reaches your bill is up to your retailer: United Energy says the retailer selects your network tariff, and “The lowest network tariff will not necessarily result in the lowest overall electricity bill.” The Essential Services Commission says retail feed-in tariffs can’t go below 0c, but that rule covers the feed-in rate, so ask how a plan treats midday exports before you agree. To cut your exposure, use or store more midday solar or face some panels west. An export charge is not an export limit: one prices what you send, the other caps it.
Export limits on Victorian networks
A FiT pays only for what your system is allowed to export. Each of Victoria’s five electricity networks sets that limit when it pre-approves your system. The limit depends on the export room left on the local network when you apply: the more homes nearby that already have solar, the less room is left, first come, first served (AusNet, EWOV).
Limits by network: single and three phase
| Network | Single phase inverter | Three phase inverter | Export limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| AusNet Services | Up to 10 kW | Up to 30 kW | 5 kW per phase (15 kW across three phases); 3.5 kW on SWER lines (source) |
| CitiPower | Up to 10 kW | Up to 30 kW | Set at pre-approval; the fixed limit is to fall to 1.5 kW per phase during 2026–31, with flexible exports of up to 10 kW per phase (source) |
| Jemena | Up to 10 kW | Up to 30 kW | 5 kVA per phase (15 kVA across three phases) (source) |
| Powercor | Up to 10 kW | Up to 30 kW | Set at pre-approval; the fixed limit is to fall to 1.5 kW per phase during 2026–31, with flexible exports up to the inverter’s capacity (10 kW maximum) (source) |
| United Energy | Up to 10 kW | Up to 30 kW | Set at pre-approval; the fixed limit is to fall to 1.5 kW per phase during 2026–31, with flexible exports instead (source) |
Not sure which network you are on? Our service areas page lists the distributor for each part of Melbourne. On a three phase home the limits apply to each phase, which is why three phase solar can export more.
The export limit is not the size of your panels. Under the SAA Technical Requirements (version 1.9, February 2026), a system without a battery needs an inverter of at least 75% of the panels’ peak power. So a 6.6 kW array can sit on a 5 kW inverter (the minimum is 4.95 kW), and a 5 kW export limit then lets the whole inverter output reach the grid.
Flexible exports
Instead of a low fixed limit, some networks now offer flexible (dynamic) exports: the limit moves through the day to match the room on the local network. CitiPower and Powercor offer it to homes whose pre-approval comes back with a zero export limit, as an alternative to a fixed zero limit. Since 1 July 2026, United Energy (southern suburbs and Mornington Peninsula) has offered its zero-limit homes the same choice, letting them export up to the inverter’s limit (at most 10 kW) most of the time. On Powercor’s network, flexible exports let eligible homes export up to the inverter’s capacity, to a maximum of 10 kW. AusNet offers flexible connections to eligible homes on constrained parts of its network. Some networks also plan to lower their fixed limits and offer flexible exports instead (see the table).
- What it needs: a compatible inverter and a reliable internet connection.
- Inverters without CSIP-AUS: on CitiPower and Powercor, a device that doesn’t support the CSIP-AUS standard must be installed with a fixed zero export setting.
Export-limited or zero export: does solar still pay?
Usually, yes. Most of solar’s value is the power you don’t buy, and a limit cuts only the exports above it, which earn just the feed-in rate. It costs more when a large system sits on a small limit: around midday the inverter holds back output, and that solar is lost. On a limited site, size the panels to your daytime use, add a battery for what can’t be exported, or choose flexible exports where your network offers them.
Victoria’s emergency backstop: can the network switch off your solar?
Since 1 October 2024, every new, upgraded or replacement rooftop solar system up to 200 kW in Victoria must have the emergency backstop (larger systems have had it since October 2023). In a rare minimum system load event, most likely on mild, sunny weekend days or public holidays, rooftop solar can make more power than the grid can safely take. Only when the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) directs it, and only for as long as it is needed, the network first turns exports down so homes can keep using their own solar. If the grid is still not secure, it can switch solar systems off as a last resort (United Energy). It does not cut the grid supply to your home.
- What it needs: an inverter that talks to the network using the CSIP-AUS standard and an internet connection (Solar Victoria).
- Keep the inverter online. United Energy restricts exports while an inverter is offline, and after a new modem or Wi-Fi password the inverter exports nothing until it is reconnected (United Energy).
- No internet at the site? AusNet lets you apply for an exemption, with exports then fixed at 1 kW (AusNet).
- Expect tests. AusNet tests its backstop at least twice a year; systems pause generation until the test ends (AusNet).
The backstop is not a blackout, and it is not blackout protection either: keeping the lights on when the grid is down is a job for a battery with backup.
How a new solar system is connected to the grid
Between signing up and your first feed-in credit there are six steps. We handle the network paperwork; you see the result on your bill.
- Pre-approval. Your network approves the system and sets its export limit before the install. “Installation can’t start until approval is granted”, says EWOV, and CitiPower and Powercor advise checking it is lodged before you sign a contract.
- Install. A licensed electrician installs the system, sets the inverter to the approved export limit and connects it for the emergency backstop.
- Inspection and safety certificate. A solar system is prescribed electrical work, so an independent Licensed Electrical Inspector must inspect it, and it can’t be switched on until then. You get a copy of the Certificate of Electrical Safety within 4 days.
- Network paperwork. The installer lodges what your network asks for after the install: AusNet Services, an electrical works request and an online post-installation form; CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy, an online solar alteration request; Jemena, an electrical works request, with your retailer given the Embedded Generation Application ID from pre-approval.
- Meter reconfiguration. Your retailer asks the distributor to set your meter to record exports. You need a smart meter for a solar feed-in tariff, and for most homes the change is made remotely. There is a fee for the work, which generally appears on your bill (EWOV, Solar Victoria).
- Feed-in credits start. Your bill shows the power you bought and the solar you exported. Your retail tariff may change too, so compare plans once the meter is set. No credit yet? Why a bill can show none.
Your quote gives your install date and how long the team will be on site.
Feed-in tariffs: your questions
What is a solar feed-in tariff?
It is the rate your electricity retailer pays for each kWh of solar your home sends to the grid, shown as a credit on your bill. It is sometimes called a solar buyback rate. It is paid only on the solar you export, not on the solar you use at home.
What is the best feed-in tariff in Victoria?
There is no single best rate, because retailers set their own and change them, and a higher feed-in tariff often comes with higher usage or supply charges. Compare whole plans for your address and usage on Victorian Energy Compare, the free Victorian Government tool, and check any conditions on the feed-in rate before you switch. Victorian Energy Compare
Why did feed-in tariffs drop in Victoria?
Because there is so much solar in the middle of the day. The Essential Services Commission said rooftop solar in Victoria grew 76 per cent from 2019, which pushed down the value of daytime exports. Its last minimum flat rate, for 2024–25, was 3.3c per kWh, and the 2025–26 rate it decided on, 0.04c, never applied once the minimum was abolished.
Can my retailer change my feed-in tariff?
Yes. Since the minimum ended on 1 July 2025, retailers set their own rates for exported solar, but they must tell you before they change your rate, and they cannot set it below zero. When a notice of a lower rate arrives, compare whole plans again on Victorian Energy Compare: the plan that suited your home may no longer be the cheapest.
Do I still get the premium feed-in tariff?
No. The Victorian Premium Feed-in Tariff scheme for early solar owners ended on 1 November 2024. Homes that had it now get their retailer’s ordinary feed-in tariff, which pays less, so more of their solar’s value now comes from using it at home. If your home had the premium rate, check your current rate and compare plans again.
What is a time-varying feed-in tariff?
A feed-in tariff that pays different rates at different times of day, usually more in the late afternoon and evening, when solar is scarce, than at midday. The Essential Services Commission’s last decision valued exports at 6.57c per kWh in the evening peak and 0c during the day. It suits homes that export later in the day, such as one with a battery that exports in the evening. How a virtual power plant pays
Do I keep a feed-in tariff on the Midday Power Saver?
Yes, you still get a credit for the solar you export. The Midday Power Saver sets what you pay for the power you buy, and its pricing order says nothing about feed-in tariffs. Each retailer sets the feed-in rate for its own offer, so ask which one comes with its Midday Power Saver offer before you switch. Victoria’s free midday power
Will I be charged for exporting solar in Victoria?
Only on a two-way network tariff, which is opt-in. All five Victorian networks have offered one since 1 July 2026; a home that adds solar goes onto time of use by default. On it, the network charges about 1c to 3c per kWh for solar exported from 11 am to 4 pm above 1 kWh a day, and credits exports from 4 pm to 9 pm. Your retailer decides how that reaches your plan; retail feed-in tariffs can’t go below 0c. An export charge doesn’t cap your exports: an export limit does. Solar export charges by network
Can the network turn off my solar exports?
Yes, in limited cases, if your system was installed, upgraded or replaced since 1 October 2024. In a rare minimum system load event, when the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) directs it, the network first turns exports down so you can keep using your own solar, and switches the system off only as a last resort. AusNet also tests its backstop at least twice a year. None of this cuts the grid supply to your home. Day to day, your export limit is what caps your exports.
What feed-in tariffs mean for a Melbourne solar home
A 6.6kW north-facing system in Mount Waverley, Melbourne makes about 9,319 kWh a year (PVGIS), from 34.9 kWh a day in January to 14.4 kWh in June. Solar Victoria says homes with panels alone use around 25% of what they make, so most of a Melbourne summer’s output is exported at whatever your retailer pays. Each kWh you use yourself instead saves 25.96c to 31.98c on the Victorian Default Offer flat tariff, depending on your network.
Your network shapes exports too. In the northern and north-western suburbs, Jemena’s opt-in two-way tariff charges 3c per kWh for midday exports above the free 1 kWh a day and credits 15c from 4 pm to 9 pm; CitiPower, United Energy and Powercor charge 1c and credit 7c, in set seasons (before GST). Your bill or our service areas page shows which network you are on.
Use more of your own solar
We design solar and battery systems around how much of your solar you can use yourself, with every federal rebate your home qualifies for applied.
Talk to us about getting more from your solar
Locally owned, locally installed. Call, email, or send the form and we’ll come out and inspect the property.
- Phone
- 0485 000 015
- Workshop
- 8/41 Ricketts Road,
Mount Waverley, VIC 3149