Your Solar FiT Rate Is Printed on Your Bill. Here's Whether It's Any Good

The feed-in tariff rate your retailer is paying you is on your electricity bill. Right now. In the charges section, next to the solar export credit.

That number, expressed in cents per kilowatt-hour, is what you receive every time your panels push electricity to the grid. It's the rate your retailer decided to pay you when you signed up. It may or may not be what they're currently paying new solar customers. It almost certainly isn't the highest rate available in your market.

Here's how to find your rate, what a good rate looks like in 2026, and how to check whether you'd be better off switching.

How to Find Your Current FiT Rate

Look for one of these sections on your bill:

• "Solar Feed-In Credit" or "FiT Credit", the main solar section
• "Tariff Details" or "Rate Information", the full rate schedule

Within that section, look for a cents-per-kWh figure with a label like:

• "Feed-in tariff: 6.0 c/kWh"
• "Solar export rate: 5.2 c/kWh"
• "FiT credit: 7.0 c/kWh"

Write that number down. It's what you're currently being paid.

What FiT Rates Look Like in 2026

The voluntary FiT market, meaning the rates retailers offer beyond any regulated minimum, varies significantly by state and by retailer. Here's the current landscape.

New South Wales The NSW minimum FiT is set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). Market offers from competitive retailers range from around 4–12 c/kWh. Some retailers offer time-varying FiTs with higher rates during peak demand periods (typically 7–9am and 5–9pm on weekdays) and lower rates during solar generation peak (10am–3pm when the grid is often oversupplied by solar).

Victoria The Victorian government sets a minimum FiT rate (the Solar Homes minimum). Market retailers offer above this minimum, with competitive offers ranging from around 4–10 c/kWh for flat FiTs. Some retailers offer time-varying structures.

Queensland The minimum FiT for south-east Queensland customers is 8 c/kWh (as of 2025). Market offers above the minimum are available from some retailers.

South Australia SA has significant solar penetration and some of the most complex network export conditions in Australia. FiT rates from market retailers range widely, and some network areas have export limits that cap the amount you can send to the grid (and therefore cap the maximum value of a high FiT rate).

Western Australia Synergy is the primary retailer for residential customers. Buyback rates vary by scheme.

Tasmania Aurora Energy is the primary retailer. FiT rates are set by Aurora under the state regulatory structure.

The Rate Your Bill Shows Versus What's Currently Available

Your current FiT rate was set when you signed up for your plan. The voluntary FiT market has changed significantly in recent years. The direction of change has generally been downward, because oversupply at midday has reduced the value of solar export to retailers, but the spread between the lowest and highest available rates at any given time has remained large.

The important comparison isn't your current rate versus the average. It's your current rate versus the best available rate in your postcode right now.

To run that comparison, you need two things: your current rate (from your bill) and the best rate currently available in your market. The second figure requires querying live plan data.

The Full Picture: FiT Rate Isn't Everything

Here's the mistake many solar households make: they switch to a plan with a higher FiT rate without checking whether that plan's usage rate and supply charge are also competitive.

Consider two plans:

Plan A:

• FiT rate: 10 c/kWh
• Usage rate: 35 c/kWh
• Supply charge: $1.20/day

Plan B:

• FiT rate: 6 c/kWh
• Usage rate: 26 c/kWh
• Supply charge: $0.85/day

For a household importing 3,500 kWh per year and exporting 2,500 kWh per year:

Plan A annual cost: (3,500 × $0.35) + (365 × $1.20) - (2,500 × $0.10) = $1,225 + $438 - $250 = $1,413

Plan B annual cost: (3,500 × $0.26) + (365 × $0.85) - (2,500 × $0.06) = $910 + $310 - $150 = $1,070

Plan B is $343 cheaper per year despite a lower FiT rate, because the usage rate and supply charge differences dominate for this household's import/export ratio.

This is why a FiT-rate-only comparison is insufficient. The correct comparison is net annual cost: import charges + supply charges - export credits, calculated using your actual import and export volumes.

What We Do With Your Bill

Upload your bill and we read three sets of figures from the solar sections:

1. Your current FiT rate (c/kWh)
2. Your export volume for the billing period (kWh)
3. Your import consumption and rates (from the usage section)

We then calculate your current net annual cost, which is what you're actually paying once export credits offset your import charges, and run that against every solar-compatible plan available in your postcode.

The comparison shows you your net annual cost on your current plan versus the net annual cost on every alternative. Sorted by saving. Including the plans with the best available FiT rates, the lowest usage rates, and the best combined position.

For many solar households, the saving from switching to an optimised plan, accounting for both sides of the meter, is significantly larger than the difference in FiT rates alone would suggest.

If Your FiT Rate Is Below the Market Best

You have two options.

Call your current retailer. Ask whether they offer a higher FiT rate on any other plan. Some retailers will match or improve your FiT rate to prevent you from leaving. This is worth trying before switching, particularly if your usage rate and supply charge are otherwise competitive.

Switch retailers. If the net cost saving from switching to a competitor is material, the switching process is straightforward. Your supply is not interrupted. Your solar system continues to operate. The new retailer manages the transfer.

The choice between these options depends on the numbers. Upload your bill, see the full net cost comparison, and make the decision with accurate information rather than assumptions.

Feed-in tariff rates vary by state, distributor network, retailer, and plan type. Export limits apply in some network areas and affect the financial value of higher FiT rates. Fix Your Bill uses CDR data and publicly available plan information. Always verify current rates directly with the retailer before switching.