Best Solar Feed-in Tariff NSW 2026: Rates Compared

The best solar feed in tariff NSW retailers published in November 2026 was 8c/kWh for solar-only homes (Origin Solar Boost Variable, up to a daily limit) and 29c/kWh for battery exports between 5pm and 9pm (Origin Battery Earner). Uncapped flat rates sit at 2.5c to 3c/kWh, below the 3.4 to 6.5c/kWh benchmark set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). The highest feed-in tariff is rarely the cheapest plan, because usage rates and supply charges move far more money.

Every rate below was read from the retailer’s or regulator’s own page in November 2026. Retailers we could not open are listed under “Not checked”.

Key facts

• IPART’s all-day solar feed-in tariff benchmark for New South Wales is 3.4 to 6.5c/kWh for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, down from 4.8 to 7.3c/kWh in 2025-26.
• New South Wales has no minimum feed-in tariff: IPART states that NSW retailers can choose whether to offer a solar feed-in tariff at all and at what rate.
• Origin Energy’s NSW rates, checked 12 November 2026, were 8c/kWh on Solar Boost Variable until a daily limit is reached, 3c/kWh on other plans, and 29c/kWh from 5pm to 9pm on the Origin Battery Earner plan.
• Ausgrid’s two-way pricing charges 1.23c/kWh for exports above a free threshold of about 200 kWh a month between 10am and 3pm, and credits 3.85c/kWh for exports between 4pm and 9pm, according to Ausgrid’s website in November 2026.
• Ausgrid’s two-way tariff was opt-in from July 2024 and has applied to all export-ready residential and small business customers since July 2025.

Best solar feed-in tariffs in NSW (November 2026)

The highest published solar feed in tariff NSW households can get without a battery is 8c/kWh, and it is capped. The table shows NSW residential feed-in tariffs read from each retailer’s own page on 12 November 2026, sorted by headline rate.

What is the highest solar feed-in tariff in Sydney?

For a Sydney home without a battery, the highest rate we could confirm was Origin Solar Boost Variable at 8c/kWh up to its daily limit. Sydney is split between the Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy networks, and time-of-day rates differ: Red Energy pays 15.4c/kWh on summer weekday evenings in the Endeavour Energy area but 6.7c/kWh in the Ausgrid area.

Every rate above 3c/kWh has a daily cap, an evening-only window or both. Panels produce little after 4pm, so the evening rates are in practice battery rates.

The IPART solar benchmark in NSW

The IPART solar benchmark for 2026-27 is 3.4 to 6.5c/kWh, and it is a guide, not a minimum. IPART estimates what solar exports are worth at wholesale prices so households can judge retailer offers.

The table shows IPART’s all-day benchmark by financial year, from IPART’s solar feed-in tariffs page, checked 12 November 2026.

IPART says the 2026-27 fall reflects lower expected wholesale prices at the times solar exports. The flat 2.5c to 3c/kWh rates in our table sit below the bottom of the benchmark range.

IPART’s time-of-day benchmarks show where the value has gone. In the Ausgrid area, 2026-27 exports are valued at 3.9 to 4c/kWh between 10am and 3pm and 17.2 to 18.7c/kWh between 4pm and 9pm. The evening ranges are 16.9 to 19.9c/kWh for Endeavour Energy (4pm to 8pm) and 26.6 to 33.3c/kWh for Essential Energy (5pm to 8pm).

Why the highest feed-in tariff is not the best plan

The best feed in tariff NSW offers is worth less than a small difference in usage rates. IPART itself warns that plans with higher feed-in tariffs may carry conditions or higher prices.

Worked example 1: an 8c plan against a 3c plan. Assume a Sydney household with a 6.6 kW system that exports 15 kWh a day and buys 12 kWh a day from the grid.

• Best case for the 8c plan: all 15 kWh a day earn 8c instead of 3c, ignoring the daily limit. The extra credit is 15 x 5c x 365 = about A$274 a year.
• The household buys 12 x 365 = 4,380 kWh a year. A$274 divided by 4,380 kWh is 6.25c/kWh.
• So if the 8c plan’s usage rate is 6.25c/kWh higher than the 3c plan’s, the advantage is gone. A daily supply charge 10c higher removes another A$36.50 a year.

With a real daily limit the break-even gap is smaller still.

Worked example 2: a “6.7c” time-of-day tariff against a flat 2.5c. Take Red Energy’s two published Ausgrid structures and a solar-only home exporting 15 kWh a day: 13 kWh between 10am and 3pm, 1 kWh between 4pm and 9pm and 1 kWh at other times.

The tariff with the higher headline rate pays A$16 a year less, because most exports land in the midday step-down. These are illustrations using published feed-in rates only. For the import side, see our guide to peak and off-peak electricity times.

Time-varying feed-in tariffs and export charges

All three NSW networks now have two-way pricing: a small charge for heavy midday exports and a larger reward for evening exports. It is a network tariff billed to the retailer, which decides how to pass it on.

What is the Ausgrid export charge?

The Ausgrid export charge is 1.23c/kWh on exports between 10am and 3pm above a free monthly threshold, and the export reward is 3.85c/kWh between 4pm and 9pm. The free threshold is 192 to 212 kWh depending on the length of the month. Ausgrid’s two-way solar pricing page says the tariff was opt-in from July 2024 and has applied to all export-ready residential and small business customers since July 2025.

A home exporting 15 kWh every day inside that window sends about 5,475 kWh a year, of which about 2,496 kWh is free. The rest at 1.23c is about A$37 a year if passed through in full.

Is there a sun tax in NSW?

“Sun tax” is the nickname for these export charges, and in NSW it is a network charge of roughly 1c to 2c/kWh on midday exports above a free allowance, not a government tax. The table shows each network’s residential two-way tariff as checked in November 2026.

Endeavour Energy figures are from its Network Price List 2026-27, effective 1 July 2026. Essential Energy’s tariff page gives indicative figures only and says the export component started on 1 July 2025. We could not open Essential Energy’s 2026-27 price list. Amber Electric’s summary of it, updated 12 November 2026, lists a 0.8277c/kWh charge and an 11.7212c/kWh reward.

If you have a battery

A battery turns the evening rates in this guide into real money, because it can export between 4pm and 9pm when panels cannot. The highest published NSW rate we found was 29c/kWh on Origin Battery Earner, which needs no virtual power plant connection. On Red Energy’s Ausgrid rates, shifting 5 kWh a day into the evening window lifts the worked example above from about A$121 to about A$189 a year.

A virtual power plant (VPP) is a retailer-run program that controls many home batteries together and pays owners for the energy or access. Our VPP guide compares the NSW programs, and the NSW Government pays a separate incentive for connecting a battery to one, covered in our NSW solar rebate guide.

Two retailers we have reviewed work differently. GloBird Energy’s ZEROHERO plan pays a bonus credit on the first 15 kWh exported between 6pm and 9pm, and Amber Electric pays the live wholesale price, which can be negative at midday. For storage pricing, see what a solar battery costs and our Sydney battery installers list.

How to compare and switch

Compare the estimated yearly cost of the whole plan, not the feed-in rate.

1. Find your network (Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy or Essential Energy) on your bill.
2. Pull 12 months of import and export kWh from your bills.
3. Enter them into the Australian Government’s Energy Made Easy site and sort by estimated annual cost.
4. Read the Basic Plan Information Document for the daily export limit, time windows and system size limit (10 kW on several NSW plans).
5. Ask the retailer which network tariff applies and whether export charges are passed through.
6. Recheck every July, when most feed-in rates change.

If you are still choosing a system, size it around daytime use. Our NSW installer directory and best solar companies in Sydney guide list local installers, and the feed-in tariff tracker compares NSW with other states.

Not checked

We could not open a current NSW rate page for these retailers in November 2026:

• AGL plan rates. AGL’s help page confirms that Standard Retail Contract customers receive no feed-in tariff from 1 July 2026 and that NSW systems must be 10 kW or under. Its plan pages did not load.
• ENGIE, Momentum Energy, Powershop, Energy Locals, OVO Energy, Diamond Energy and Nectr. Pages were blocked, moved or need an address.
• GloBird Energy rates in c/kWh. The ZEROHERO page confirms the structure, but rates sit behind a quote form.
• Energy Made Easy listings. Not sampled, so smaller retailers may pay more than the rates shown.

FAQ

What is the best solar feed-in tariff in NSW?

The best solar feed-in tariff in NSW that we could confirm in November 2026 was 8c/kWh on Origin Solar Boost Variable for solar-only homes, and 29c/kWh from 5pm to 9pm on Origin Battery Earner for homes with a battery. The 8c rate applies only until a daily export limit is reached. Uncapped flat rates were 2.5c to 3c/kWh.

What is the solar feed in tariff NSW minimum?

There is no minimum solar feed-in tariff in NSW. IPART publishes a benchmark range, 3.4 to 6.5c/kWh for 2026-27, but retailers can pay more, less or nothing.

What is the IPART solar benchmark for 2026-27?

The IPART solar benchmark for 2026-27 is 3.4 to 6.5c/kWh for an all-day flat rate, applying from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. The 2025-26 benchmark was 4.8 to 7.3c/kWh.

How much is the Ausgrid export charge?

The Ausgrid export charge is 1.23c/kWh on electricity exported between 10am and 3pm above a free threshold of about 200 kWh a month, as published by Ausgrid in November 2026. Ausgrid also pays a 3.85c/kWh reward for exports between 4pm and 9pm. Both are billed to the retailer.

Is the sun tax in NSW compulsory?

It depends on the network. Ausgrid has applied two-way pricing to all export-ready residential and small business customers since July 2025. Endeavour Energy’s Prosumer tariff is optional in 2026-27, and Essential Energy applies its two-way tariff to new connections and to homes with meter, solar or battery changes, with all smart meter customers moving by 1 July 2028.

Is a higher feed-in tariff worth switching for?

A higher feed-in tariff is only worth switching for if the whole plan costs less over a year. For a home exporting 15 kWh and importing 12 kWh a day, a 5c/kWh higher feed-in rate is cancelled by a usage rate about 6c/kWh higher.

Can I get a time-of-day feed-in tariff in NSW without a battery?

Yes, but it rarely pays without a battery. On Red Energy’s published Ausgrid rates, a solar-only home exporting 15 kWh a day earns about A$121 a year on the time-of-day structure against about A$137 on the flat 2.5c/kWh rate.

Sources

• IPART: Solar feed-in tariffs
• IPART: Time-of-day solar feed-in tariff benchmarks 2026-27 fact sheet
• Ausgrid: Two way solar pricing
• Endeavour Energy: Network Price List, Network Tariffs 2026-2027
• Essential Energy: Electricity pricing and network tariffs
• Amber Electric: Two-way network tariffs in FY27
• Origin Energy: Feed-in tariff rates and Solar Boost plan
• Red Energy: Solar tariffs explained
• EnergyAustralia: Solar tariffs
• Alinta Energy: Energy costs and pricing explained
• AGL: Solar feed-in tariffs
• Energy Made Easy

About this guide

Written by the Solar Cobber editorial team from independent desk research checked in November 2026. No retailer was contacted or paid to be included. Solar Cobber is a free directory that may earn referral or advertising fees from installers, and commercial relationships never affect content. This is general information, not financial advice. Corrections: contact us.