Getting paid properly for peak exports
The limitation is worth stating up front, because it is the thing most coverage skips. Neither of the two new rules sets a minimum buyback rate. Retailers still choose the cents. What the rules require is that a plan of a certain shape exists, not that it pays well.
That said, the shape matters, and it changes the case for a battery.
The two rules
- 01
From 1 April 2026
Distributors must pay solar exporters for supply at peak times.
- 02
From 1 July 2026
Retailers with more than 5% of the market must offer at least one plan that rewards exporting at peak.
Why the same unit is worth so much less at noon
| Midday, ten to three | Evening, five to nine | |
|---|---|---|
| Solar output | Every system in the country generating at once | Near zero |
| National demand | Lower | Surging |
| Wholesale price in 2020 | Around 12 to 14 cents | — |
| Wholesale price in 2026 | Frequently under 5 cents | Regularly 25 to 40 cents in winter |
Why exported solar is worth so little at midday
Every new solar system in the country generates into the same window, roughly ten in the morning to three in the afternoon. There is now enough of it that the wholesale value of power in that window has collapsed.
So a buyback rate is not a number your retailer picks out of goodwill. It is a wholesale signal with a retail margin on top. A retailer paying 5 cents at noon is not being stingy. A retailer paying 17 cents flat is bundling a margin into a plan they hope you stay on.
A battery lets you take generation that is worth five cents and either use it yourself in the evening, displacing power you would have bought at thirty-something, or export it into a peak window worth several times the midday rate.
This is a real change to battery economics, and it is why the plans emerging under these rules matter more than the headline rate. We are not going to tell you a battery now pays for itself, because for many households it still does not. But the arithmetic has moved.
Ask us whether your inverter can export at peak
Do not lock a long finance term against a flat buyback rate you have not checked.
What to do about it before you sign anything
- 1
Do not lock a long finance term against a flat buyback rate you have not checked
- 2
Do ask whether your intended inverter and battery can be scheduled to export at peak
- 3
Do compare plans by total annual cost rather than by advertised export cents
Common questions
General information about electricity market rules. Not financial advice. Buyback rates and plan availability are set by retailers, not by Solar.co.nz, and change without notice. Figures are indicative and current as at the date shown.
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