The short answer
What the feed-in tariff really pays you in 2026
For years the feed-in tariff was the number every solar buyer chased: the cents a retailer pays you for power you send back to the grid. In 2026 it has quietly collapsed. Victoria and New South Wales no longer set a minimum, midday rates have fallen toward zero, and networks are starting to charge for exports at the busiest solar times. Yet retailers still advertise eye-catching feed-in rates because they sell solar plans. This page explains what the feed-in tariff really pays by state, why a high headline number can cost you more overall, and what actually decides the value of your solar.
Here is the core takeaway in one line: the feed-in tariff has collapsed to a marketing number, so the value of your solar now lives in self-consumption, not export. A kilowatt-hour you use yourself offsets your full usage rate, around 30 c, while the same kilowatt-hour exported earns roughly 5 c, and with two-way export pricing it can occasionally cost you. That six-to-one gap reframes everything: it means a high advertised feed-in rate is usually funded by a higher usage rate, so it can leave you worse off overall. It means capped feed-in deals (a high rate on the first few kilowatt-hours a day, then a drop) and time-varying rates (high in the evening when you export least) are designed to look generous on paper. The right question is not "who pays the most per export?" but "which plan is cheapest once I count what I actually import?"
Reframe the assumption: the feed-in tariff feels like the headline because it is the one number with a dollar sign next to it on the ad. But you import far more power than you export once self-consumption is decent, so the usage rate decides your bill. The plan with the best feed-in rate is rarely the cheapest plan overall. Chase the lowest total bill, and treat exports as a small bonus.
Interactive explainer
What is your solar export actually worth?
Pick your state and your export volume to see what your feed-in credit really earns, then compare it against the same energy used at home. The two-plan check below shows why the higher feed-in rate often loses.
Your state and solar export
Default feed-in rate is a 2026 guide for your state. Adjust every slider to match your own plan. Nothing is stored.
Your export earnings vs the missed self-consumption
$/year exported
The two-plan trap: same household, two offers
Plan A: high feed-in
10 c feed-in, 33 c usage
$ net/year
Plan B: low feed-in
3 c feed-in, 27 c usage
$ net/year
Illustrative only. Net annual cost is your import at the usage rate, minus your export at the feed-in rate, for your chosen volumes. Plan A uses 10 c feed-in with a 33 c usage rate; Plan B uses 3 c feed-in with a 27 c usage rate. Real plans add daily supply charges and discounts, so always compare the full bill. Sources: IPART, ESC, QCA, Synergy DEBS, AER DMO 2025-26.
The numbers, by state
Solar feed-in tariff rates by state in 2026
Most states have moved to market-based feed-in tariffs, so the rate depends on your retailer and often the time of day. The table below is a 2026 guide to typical rates and the structural rule in each state. Where there is retail competition you can compare plans; in Western Australia and the Northern Territory the buyback is set by the state scheme.
| State | Typical feed-in | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | 6 c/kWh | No mandated minimum. IPART benchmark is guidance only, roughly 4.8 to 7.3 c/kWh. Retailers set their own rate. |
| VIC | 3 c/kWh | No mandated minimum since 1 July 2025. Often near 0 c midday; some plans pay 6.5 to 10 c in the evening peak. |
| QLD | 8.66 c/kWh | Regional Queensland (Ergon) is a flat 8.66 c/kWh. South-east Queensland is market-based and retailer-set. |
| SA | 5 c/kWh | Market-based, roughly 4 to 10 c/kWh depending on the retailer and time of day. |
| ACT | 6 c/kWh | Market-based and retailer-set. Compare plans, as the feed-in rate varies widely. |
| WA | 10 c/kWh | Synergy DEBS pays 2 c/kWh off-peak and 10 c/kWh for exports from 3 to 9pm. The windows are the lever. No retail switching. |
| NT | 9.13 c/kWh | The buyback is set by the regulated scheme (Power and Water), not chosen. No retail switching. |
Rates shown are typical or headline figures used as a guide. Some plans are capped (a high rate only on the first few kilowatt-hours a day) or time-varying (higher in the evening peak). Read the plan's fine print before judging it on the headline number.
How the feed-in tariff is really priced
Expert analysis: the machinery behind the rate
How the feed-in tariff is funded, and why that caps it
A retailer does not get free money to pay you for exports. It buys your surplus at the wholesale value of power at that moment, then sells it on. Around midday that wholesale value has collapsed, because rooftop solar floods the grid exactly when your panels are exporting. So the feed-in tariff a retailer can offer is anchored to a number that is often near zero, sometimes negative. When a retailer advertises a high feed-in rate, it is paying the difference out of its own margin, which it recovers through your usage rate or a smaller discount. That is the structural reason a generous feed-in headline almost never comes for free.
Why midday rates fell: the duck curve and the solar glut
Australia leads the world in rooftop solar, and the result is a daily pattern engineers call the duck curve. In the middle of the day, millions of homes export at once, demand from the grid drops, and the value of that energy sinks. By early evening the sun fades, everyone switches things on, and demand spikes when solar can no longer help. The feed-in tariff tracks that curve, which is why the credit for a midday export has fallen toward zero while a few retailers now pay a premium for the evening exports a battery can provide.
Two-way export pricing: the so-called sun tax
The regulator has gone a step further. Under a rule made by the Australian Energy Market Commission, networks can charge for solar exports above a free daily threshold during the busy midday window, while paying a reward for exports in the evening peak. This two-way pricing is rolling out across the National Electricity Market. It is not a tax on owning solar, it is a price signal to stop dumping power into a saturated grid at lunchtime. The practical effect for you is the same in either direction: midday export is worth even less, and the value of using your own power, or storing it for the evening, climbs.
Why a high feed-in plan often hides a higher usage rate
This is the part that costs people money. Because the feed-in credit comes out of the retailer's margin, a plan with a standout feed-in rate is usually balanced by a higher usage rate, a higher daily supply charge or a smaller pay-on-time discount. For most homes that is a losing trade, because you import far more kilowatt-hours than you export once self-consumption is decent. A plan that pays 12 c on a few exported kilowatt-hours but charges 35 c on every imported one can cost hundreds of dollars more a year than a plan with a modest feed-in rate and a low usage rate. The headline you are drawn to is funded by the rate that does the real damage on your bill.
What this costs real households
How the feed-in chase backfires
The mechanism above is not theory. It is exactly how well-meaning solar owners end up worse off.
They switch for the headline feed-in rate
A household moves to the plan advertising the highest feed-in tariff in their state. The export credit rises by a few dollars a month, but the usage rate rose too, and since they import three times what they export, the new plan costs more overall. They optimised the small number and ignored the big one.
They get caught by a capped feed-in deal
A plan advertises a generous feed-in rate, but only on the first few kilowatt-hours exported each day. A solar home exports far more than that around noon, so most of the surplus is paid at a much lower rate the ad never highlighted. The effective feed-in rate ends up close to the market average.
They miss the time-varying window
In Western Australia, DEBS pays 2 c off-peak but 10 c for exports between 3 and 9pm. A household with a battery leaves it set to charge and discharge on the old default schedule, so it exports at midday for almost nothing instead of in the evening for five times as much. A timer change would have been worth real money with no extra hardware.
They never lift self-consumption
The panels work, but the dishwasher, pool pump and laundry still run at night. Self-consumption sits at 20%, so 80% of generation is exported for cents while the household keeps buying evening power at 30 c. A few timers and a changed routine would have turned those cheap exports into expensive savings.
The insider insight
The feed-in tariff is heading to zero, and that is the point
Here is what the comparison ads never say. The feed-in tariff is not a benefit that retailers are slowly withdrawing to be mean. It is a price signal, and it is doing exactly what it is meant to do: telling Australia to stop sending more power into the grid at midday and to start using or storing it instead. With two-way export pricing rolling out, the midday export credit is heading toward zero and, for exports above a free threshold, occasionally below it. Reading that as bad news is the mistake. It simply moves all the value of solar onto the same lever it was always on: how much of your own generation you use.
The non-obvious truth: for most homes the feed-in tariff is close to irrelevant to the result, because you export far less than you think once self-consumption is decent. So the smart play is to ignore the feed-in headline almost entirely. Compare plans on the total bill with your real import. Then spend on the things that lift self-consumption, a hot-water timer, a pool schedule, daytime appliance runs, an EV charger or a battery, because each one converts a 5 c export into a 30 c saving. That single swap is worth more than any feed-in rate you could chase.
The practical consequence: stop treating the feed-in tariff as income and start treating it as a tiebreaker. Between two otherwise equal plans, take the better feed-in rate. But never let it pull you onto a plan with a worse usage rate, because that is the trap it is designed to spring.
Grounded in the analysis
What you should actually do
Specific moves that follow from how feed-in tariffs are priced, not generic advice.
Compare the whole plan, not the feed-in
Add up your import at the usage rate and subtract your export at the feed-in rate, then compare total bills. A standout feed-in headline is almost always funded by a higher usage rate, so it can leave you worse off. Use the two-plan check above with your real volumes.
Lift self-consumption so exports stop mattering
Spend on the things that let you use your own power: a hot-water timer, a pool-pump schedule, daytime appliance runs, an EV charger or a battery. Each one turns a 5 c export into a ~30 c saving, which beats any feed-in rate you could chase.
Match the move to your state
In VIC, NSW, SA, QLD or the ACT compare and switch on the total bill. In WA, the lever is timing: DEBS pays 10 c for exports from 3 to 9pm, so shift battery discharge or appliance use into that window. In the NT there is no buyback choice, so focus on self-use.
See what really decides solar payback, or whether a battery pays to capture the value the grid no longer does.
Current figures, last updated 2026-06-15
Australian solar feed-in figures for 2026. Sources: IPART (NSW benchmark), the Essential Services Commission (VIC), the Queensland Competition Authority and Ergon (QLD), Synergy (WA DEBS), the Australian Energy Market Commission (two-way export pricing) and the Australian Energy Regulator (DMO 2025-26 usage rates). Feed-in rates are market-based and change often, so confirm the current figure with your retailer.
The bottom line
Why this matters right now
The era of earning a living from your solar exports is over, and it is not coming back. Australia has too much rooftop solar at midday for the feed-in tariff to be anything but a token, and two-way export pricing will push the midday credit toward zero or below. That is not a reason to regret solar; it is a reason to stop choosing plans the old way. Ignore the feed-in headline, compare plans on the total bill with your real import, and in the competitive states switch to the genuinely cheapest offer. Then put your money into using your own power rather than selling it, because in 2026 a kilowatt-hour saved is worth six of the ones you export. Treat the feed-in tariff as a tiebreaker, never as the prize.
Common questions
A Selectra expert answers your feed-in tariff questions
The feed-in tariff is the rate a retailer credits you for surplus solar you export to the grid, in cents per kilowatt-hour. In 2026 it is low and falling. There is no mandated minimum in Victoria or New South Wales, and many retailers pay close to 0 c for midday exports because the grid is flooded with rooftop solar at lunchtime. Regional Queensland (Ergon) is an exception at a flat 8.66 c/kWh. Treat the feed-in tariff as a small bonus, not as income.
They vary widely because most are now market-based. As a 2026 guide: New South Wales has no minimum (IPART benchmark roughly 4.8 to 7.3 c); Victoria has no minimum and is often near 0 c midday with some evening rates of 6.5 to 10 c; regional Queensland (Ergon) is 8.66 c flat while south-east Queensland is market-based; South Australia is roughly 4 to 10 c; the ACT is market-based; Western Australia (DEBS) pays 2 c off-peak and 10 c from 3 to 9pm; the Northern Territory buyback is set by the regulated scheme. Always confirm the current rate with the retailer.
Usually not on its own. A retailer pays your feed-in credit out of the same margin it earns on your usage, so a high feed-in headline is almost always paired with a higher usage rate or a smaller discount. Because you import far more power than you export once self-consumption is decent, the higher usage rate can wipe out the feed-in gain. Compare the whole plan with your real import and a realistic export volume, not the feed-in number on the ad.
Under a rule made by the Australian Energy Market Commission, networks can introduce two-way tariffs that charge for solar exports above a free daily threshold during the busy midday window, while often paying a reward for exports in the evening peak. The aim is to manage the midday solar glut. It is a real, current structural shift rather than a tax on having solar. The practical effect is that exporting at midday is worth even less, which makes self-consumption matter more than ever.
Simple supply and demand. Australia has the highest rate of rooftop solar in the world, so around the middle of the day the grid is awash with cheap solar power and the wholesale value of that energy falls close to zero, sometimes below it. Retailers price the feed-in tariff off that midday wholesale value, so the credit they can offer has collapsed. Generous early schemes were also funded by governments and have largely closed. The value now sits in the evening peak, when solar output is low.
It depends on your state. In Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and the ACT you can choose your retailer and compare solar plans, but compare the whole bill, not the feed-in headline. In Western Australia (Synergy) and the Northern Territory (Power and Water) there is no retail competition, so the buyback is set by the state scheme. In Western Australia the real lever is timing: DEBS pays far more for exports between 3 and 9pm, so shifting battery discharge or appliance use into that window is worth more than any switch.
