An Australian solar feed-in tariff is the bill credit an electricity retailer pays for eligible exported electricity. An export limit is the maximum power the distribution network service provider allows the property to send into the grid. They are separate: the retailer sets the payment plan, while the network controls connection and export conditions.
The highest feed-in tariff is not automatically the best electricity plan. Usage rates, daily supply charges, time-of-use periods, demand charges, and export caps all affect the bill.
Feed-in tariff basics
Solar serves household loads first. Surplus can be exported if the connection agreement permits it. The smart meter records exports, and the retailer applies the plan's feed-in credit.
Most current feed-in tariffs are lower than retail import prices. Directly using one kWh of solar can therefore save more than exporting it and buying one kWh later.
Early-adopter legacy tariffs can operate differently and should be reviewed before changing a system or retailer.
Flat, time-varying, and block tariffs
A flat feed-in tariff pays one rate at all eligible times. Time-varying tariffs change by period, often paying less around midday and more in the evening. Block tariffs may pay one rate for an initial daily export amount and another after it.
Read conditions and caps. A headline rate may apply to only a small quantity or narrow period.
Model actual interval exports rather than multiplying all annual exports by the highest rate.
Retail competition differs by location
Customers in NSW, Victoria, ACT, South Australia, Tasmania, and south-east Queensland generally have retail-plan choice. Western Australia, Northern Territory, and regional Queensland operate under different regulated or limited-choice arrangements.
Use Energy Made Easy where applicable, Victorian Energy Compare in Victoria, and the responsible regulator or government source elsewhere.
Compare the complete estimated bill.
Victoria's minimum changed
Victoria no longer has a regulator-set minimum feed-in tariff from 1 July 2025. Retailers can set their own rates, which cannot be below zero under current state guidance.
This makes plan comparison and self-consumption especially important. Older content quoting a Victorian minimum rate is stale.
Use the Essential Services Commission and Victorian Energy Compare for current information.
Regional Queensland
The Queensland Competition Authority sets a regulated feed-in tariff for regional Queensland each year. South-east Queensland uses competitive retailer offers.
Do not apply the regional regulated rate to an Energex-area market offer or vice versa. Confirm distributor, retailer, and postcode.
Rates are reviewed, so use the current financial-year determination.
Connection limits and export limits
A connection limit can restrict inverter capacity connected to the network. An export limit restricts power sent to the grid and may be lower.
Limits depend on network, phase, location, system type, and local hosting capacity. A larger array can still serve onsite loads behind a lower export cap, but excess generation may be curtailed.
The installer must obtain and implement the network's connection approval.
Static export limits
A static limit remains fixed, such as a maximum kW export at all times. The inverter or separate controller measures site flow and reduces generation when exports would exceed the cap.
Solar used onsite is not export. Flexible daytime loads and batteries can absorb generation that would otherwise be curtailed.
Ask the proposal to estimate annual curtailment under the approved limit.
Dynamic export limits
Dynamic or flexible export arrangements allow the network to vary permitted export according to local conditions. They can provide more export capacity when the grid can accept it and reduce exports during congestion.
The system needs compatible inverter, communications, configuration, and ongoing connectivity. Contract terms should explain fallback behaviour if communications fail.
Read Australia Dynamic Export Limits for the technical and consumer implications.
Batteries and export value
A battery can store midday surplus for evening self-use or, where permitted and worthwhile, later export. It may also reduce curtailment.
Financial value depends on rate spread, losses, usable capacity, reserve, cycling, and VPP control. Energy.gov.au notes that curtailment reduction alone is often a modest saving for many systems.
Do not buy storage solely because an export cap exists without quantifying lost energy.
Retailer changes after solar
Solar connection can trigger a meter or plan change. A premium feed-in offer may also carry higher usage or supply charges.
Compare at least:
- Daily supply charge.
- Flat or time-of-use import rates.
- Demand charges.
- Feed-in tariff periods and caps.
- Controlled-load treatment.
- Discounts and expiry.
- Battery or VPP conditions.
Connection agreement records
Keep the approved inverter capacity, export limit, control method, equipment, settings, and permission records. These matter during retailer changes, faults, inverter replacement, battery additions, and home sales.
Changing equipment can require a new network application.
Savings model checklist
Use interval data to estimate:
- Direct solar self-consumption.
- Export by tariff period.
- Curtailed generation.
- Grid import by tariff period.
- Supply and demand charges.
- Battery charge and discharge losses.
- Legacy tariff effects.
- Alternative electricity plans.
The tariff and network must be modelled together
Feed-in tariffs determine what eligible exports earn. Export limits determine how much can physically leave the property. A credible proposal uses the actual retailer plan and written network approval rather than one national assumption.
Continue through the Australia Home Solar Hub and Solar Self-Consumption and Load Shifting.