If you add a battery in WA with the state rebate, you will join a virtual power plant (VPP). This article explains what a VPP is, how Synergy's VPP product works for Perth homes, what it means for your battery day to day, and what to check before you sign.
This article is part of our guide to Solar Battery Rebates in WA: Federal and State Schemes Explained.
Install before 31 December 2026 to lock in this year's rebates.
From 1 January 2027 the federal battery rebate drops by about 16% (STC factor 6.8 → 5.7) and the solar panel rebate by about 20% (deeming period 5 → 4 years). It falls again in July 2027. The WA $1,300 rebate is limited to 100,000 households and is paid until the allocation runs out. Installation slots before Christmas fill fast, so lock in a date now.
A VPP links many home batteries so they can be managed together like one power station. On most days your battery simply stores your solar and runs your home. On the few days the grid is under strain, usually hot summer or cold winter evenings, the VPP operator can have the batteries in the program discharge to the grid at the same time, and you are paid for the energy your battery exports.
For Perth and the South West, which are on an isolated grid (the South West Interconnected System), this helps cover the evening peak and makes more use of daytime solar.
To get the WA rebate (up to $1,300 for Synergy customers, up to $3,800 for Horizon Power customers, based on 10 kWh of usable capacity) or the scheme's no-interest loan (up to $10,000 over up to 10 years, for households with combined income under $210,000), you must sign up to a VPP product from your retailer. The battery must be VPP-capable and on the retailer's supported list, and the installer must be accredited and on the Plenti Vendor Directory. The scheme is paid until its 100,000 planned rebates are used.
The federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program gives an upfront discount paid as STCs on the battery's usable capacity, and the two can be combined. For installs between 1 May and 31 December 2026 the factor is 6.8 STCs per usable kWh, at the full rate up to 14 kWh, 60% from 14 to 28 kWh and 15% from 28 to 50 kWh. Rebates step down on 1 January 2027, when the factor falls to 5.7.
For Synergy customers, the VPP product is Synergy's Battery Rewards. According to Synergy's Battery Rewards page (checked 27 October 2026):
Read Synergy's full Battery Rewards terms before you sign. Horizon Power customers join Horizon Power's own VPP product, with its own terms.
On ordinary days nothing changes: the battery charges from your solar and runs your home in the evening. On an event day the battery is held charged in the afternoon and then discharges to the grid during the event, so it may have less left for your own evening use that night. With at most 30 events a year, most of the year is unaffected.
Backup in a blackout is a separate feature. If you want the battery to run your home during an outage, make sure the system has a backup output and that it is wired for the circuits you need.
A Perth home has 6.6 kW of solar and a 10 kWh battery, on Synergy's Home Plan (A1) and in Battery Rewards. The figures are illustrative.
The everyday self-consumption is where most of the value is; the VPP payments are a smaller extra.
Yes. Signing up to a VPP product from your retailer is a condition of the WA Residential Battery Scheme rebate and loan.
Only during events. Synergy's Battery Rewards has no more than 30 events a year, and you cannot opt out of individual events during the two-year term. The rest of the time the battery runs for your home as usual.
Under Battery Rewards, 70 cents per kWh exported during events, plus energy offset credits. With a 10 kWh battery and up to 30 events a year, that is likely to be tens to low hundreds of dollars a year, on top of the everyday savings.
No. Backup is a separate feature of the battery and inverter, and needs to be installed and wired for it.
In WA, joining your retailer's VPP is the price of the state battery rebate, and for most homes it is a small one: a limited number of event days a year, paid at 70 cents per kWh under Synergy's Battery Rewards. Combined with the federal discount, the rebate takes thousands off a battery until the federal rate steps down on 1 January 2027.
Disclaimer: General information only, not financial advice. VPP terms, rebates and tariffs change; check Synergy's or Horizon Power's current VPP terms and the official sources below before you sign.
Sun Direct Power installs solar and batteries across Perth and WA, and we are an approved Plenti vendor for the WA Residential Battery Scheme. On every package the rebates are taken off the quote, not paid back later:
Systems start from $7,114 after rebates. See all our packages or get a fixed quote for your home.
Facts checked 27 October 2026.
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