Why you get paid so much less than you pay
Most people find out their buyback rate after they have already installed, and it lands badly. You pay in the mid-thirties of cents for a unit of power. You are paid single digits or low teens for the same unit going the other way.
It looks like a rort. It mostly is not. Here is the actual mechanism, and what it means for how you should use your system.
A buyback rate is a wholesale price with a margin on it
Your retailer does not set your buyback rate by deciding how generous to be. They set it against what the power is worth on the wholesale market at the time you export it. And the time you export it is the problem.
The same unit, at two times of day
| Midday, ten to three | Evening, five to nine | |
|---|---|---|
| Solar output | Every system in the country generating at once | Near zero |
| National demand | Lower | Peaks |
| Wholesale price in 2020 | Around 12 to 14 cents | — |
| Wholesale price in 2026 | Frequently under 5 cents | Regularly 25 to 40 cents in winter |
| What a retailer pays you | Roughly what the power is worth at noon | More, if you are on a plan that reflects it |
Every solar system in the country generates into roughly the same window, ten in the morning to three in the afternoon. There is now enough distributed solar in New Zealand that this has visibly moved the wholesale price in that window.
So a retailer paying 5 cents at noon is paying roughly what the power is worth at noon. A retailer paying 17 cents flat is bundling a margin into a plan and hoping you stay on it.
The economics of a residential system are built on the power you stop buying, not on the power you sell. Anyone selling you a system on the strength of its export income is selling you the weakest part of the product.
Sources: Electricity Authority — peak rebates.
Self-consumption. A unit you use yourself is worth what you would have paid for it, currently somewhere in the low to mid thirties of cents. A unit you export is worth your buyback rate. The difference is two to four times, and it is entirely within your control.
Ways to move the ratio, cheapest first
- 1
Hot water on a daytime timer
Free, and often the single largest shiftable load in a house.
- 2
Dishwasher and washing machine during the day
Free.
- 3
Pool pump, dehumidifier, underfloor heating scheduled into daylight
Free.
- 4
Pre-heating or pre-cooling the house before you get home
Free, and often more comfortable anyway.
- 5
EV charging during the day where possible
Depends on your working pattern.
- 6
A battery
Expensive, and it is the last option on this list for a reason. It converts export-value power into retail-value power, which is real, but it has to earn back a large capital cost to do it.
Most of that list costs nothing
We size systems around what you actually consume, so more of your generation is worth retail rather than export.
What is changing
From 1 April 2026, distributors must pay solar exporters for supply at peak times. From 1 July 2026, retailers above 5% market share must offer at least one plan rewarding peak export.
Neither rule sets a minimum rate. What they do is make time-varying export plans available, which matters if you can shift export into the evening. Realistically that means a battery.
Common questions
General information, not financial advice. Buyback rates are set by retailers, not by Solar.co.nz, vary by plan and region, and change without notice. Wholesale and retail price figures are indicative and current as at the date shown.
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