Who actually pays Victorians the most for solar

A Victorian solar owner scrolls past an ad promising a big feed-in rate and assumes the maths is simple. Bigger number, bigger cheque. Solar exports rarely work out that neatly.

The retailer waving the highest feed-in figure is often not the one that pays a solar household the most across a year. Working out who does starts with how the tariff works, and why the biggest advertised rate can mislead.

How a solar feed-in tariff actually works

A feed-in tariff is what a retailer credits you for each unit of solar power your panels export to the grid. It appears on your bill in cents per kilowatt hour, and the higher the rate, the more each exported unit earns. Victoria now leaves those rates to the retailers themselves, so the figure on offer varies from one to the next.

Why the highest advertised rate rarely pays most

A big feed-in rate can sit next to higher usage charges or a steeper daily supply charge. Those charges eat into the export credits every time you draw power back after dark. The loudest number can quietly cost you more.

The real answer shifts by retailer and by state, so a side-by-side comparison beats guesswork. GoSwitch, a free Melbourne-based energy comparison service, weighs the whole plan across retailers. Its solar feed-in tariff mapping by state also shows how export rates differ around the country.

Why Victorian feed-in tariffs aren't what they were

Victorian feed-in rates have dropped a long way from their peak. The last mandated flat minimum, in 2024-25, was 3.3 cents per kilowatt hour. The floor then went entirely, and retailers can now set any rate they like, provided it does not fall below zero.

The reason sits in the state's own rooftops. The amount of rooftop solar in Victoria has grown 76 per cent since 2019, according to the Essential Services Commission. All that midday supply has pushed down the daytime value of exported power.

The commission now points households toward using more of their own solar during the day, rather than leaning on export credits to carry the savings.

How solar owners find the retailer that pays most

Finding the best payer means comparing entire plans across several retailers at once. GoSwitch lets you compare solar plans from the major providers, including EnergyAustralia, Origin and AGL, at no cost and with no obligation to switch. The comparison runs on a postcode and a few details from a recent bill, so it takes minutes.

One thing sets it apart from purely automated tools. After the online comparison, a specialist follows up to talk through the shortlist for your household and where the real savings sit. Few free tools include that step, which is one reason it holds an Excellent rating on Trustpilot from more than 14,000 reviews.

What a solar home needs from its plan

The feed-in rate is one line on a bill that carries several. Usage rates, the daily supply charge and any off-peak window all shape what a solar household pays. Comparing energy plans on every one of those charges is what reveals the true cost.

A strong export rate loses its shine if the usage charges around it run high. A home with a battery or an electric car shifts the sums again, because stored power changes what the home exports and when.

Getting Melbourne solar to pay for itself

The retailer that pays a solar household the most is the one whose whole plan fits that household. The headline feed-in rate rarely settles it. Knowing which retailer that is comes down to comparing the full offer rather than trusting the biggest number on the ad.

Running that comparison is free through GoSwitch, whichever retailer you are with now. For a Victorian solar owner, ten minutes spent on it can be worth more than the extra cents on an advertised feed-in rate.