Two schemes now land on the same commercial sites. The federal Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme takes cost out of a solar or battery installation up front. The NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme rewards a battery for cutting evening peak demand. They are different mechanisms with different administrators, and both calculators below apply each scheme’s own published method.
The Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme creates small-scale technology certificates on eligible solar and battery installations, and their value comes off the installed price rather than arriving as a payment. From 1 October 2026 it covers solar to 1 MW, up from 100 kW, which brings most commercial roofs inside it.
The Peak Demand Reduction Scheme creates Peak Reduction Certificates for commercial and industrial battery storage under the BESS4 and BESS5 activities. The calculator applies the published certificate method and shows the derivation, including the cases where the battery inverter rather than the battery is the limiting factor.
Both calculators are a scale check rather than an offer, a quote or a ruling on eligibility. Certificates are created by a registered agent at the time of installation, and the price they fetch is set by the market on the day.
They arrive on the same buildings in the same year, which makes them easy to blur together. They are not the same mechanism, and treating them as one number is how a business case gets built on sand.
The federal scheme is priced on the capacity you install and is settled up front, whether or not the system ever performs. The NSW scheme is priced on demand reduction in the evening peak window, which means it is paid for what the battery is expected to do, not simply for existing.
The federal scheme is administered nationally by the Clean Energy Regulator. The NSW scheme runs under the state Peak Demand Reduction Scheme with its own accredited providers, its own eligibility conditions and its own equipment requirements. Qualifying under one says nothing about qualifying under the other.
Sometimes they can sit on the same project and sometimes claiming one affects the other. That depends on the current state rule and on the equipment involved, so we check it project by project rather than adding the two figures together here and flattering the number.
Zool Energy is an energy partner, not an installer. We design, fund, build and operate the system ourselves under one fixed cost per kWh, for 10 to 25 years, and incentives flow into that rate rather than into a certificate process you have to run yourself. Either way, the modelling comes first.
Get your site modelled →Send us your details and we will come back with a modelled position for your site: the system your roof and your load actually support, which incentives apply to that configuration, and what the certificates are worth on it. One answer covering both schemes, rather than two numbers you have to reconcile yourself.
Trouble loading the form? Open it in a new tab. We use your details to respond to this enquiry. Modelling is indicative and based on the information supplied. Any agreement is subject to credit assessment and contract terms.
Sometimes, and it depends on the state rule and on the equipment. The two calculators are kept separate and their figures are deliberately not added together, because doing that would flatter the number. Whether both apply to a specific project is something we check per project.
No. Both schemes create tradeable certificates rather than a payment. The certificates are created by a registered agent and their value comes off the delivered cost of the project. Nothing arrives in your bank account and there is nothing to claim at tax time.
No. They apply each scheme’s published method to the numbers you type in. They have not seen your roof, your load, your switchboard or your product list. Treat them as a scale check, then get the site modelled.
The NSW battery calculator is open, with no form in front of the result. The federal STC calculator asks for an email address before it opens. We use that address to respond to your enquiry, and the figures still appear on screen straight away.