NZ solar buyback rates are changing from 1 July 2026, and if you have solar panels on your roof, it’s worth understanding what’s new. Major New Zealand electricity retailers are now legally required to offer time-of-use plans with time-varying export rates — the most significant regulatory shift for solar owners in years, and one that could meaningfully improve your returns.
What’s actually changing
As of 1 July 2026, all major retailers — those with over 5% market share — are required to offer mandatory time-of-use pricing and time-varying buyback rates. These plans must reward you more for exporting solar power at times of peak grid demand, typically weekday mornings (7–11am) and evenings (5–8pm). Equity Solar Brokers
This builds on a change that came into effect in April, where distribution network companies became required to pay small-scale exporters for their help in meeting peak demand, with rates between roughly 5c and 13c per kWh during those windows. The July rules push retailers to pass that value through to you. Renew Economy
Importantly, the rules don’t mandate a specific minimum rate. Retailers must offer plans that “provide a financial benefit” to customers for export patterns that reduce pressure on the grid — but how generously they interpret that is up to them. RNZ
How it affects you
No battery: Your best opportunity is the morning peak (7–11am), when winter sun often overlaps with high grid demand and export rates are at their highest. The valuable evening peak (5–8pm) falls after most solar generation has wound down, so you’ll miss the top rates unless you have storage. That said, even modest improvements to morning export rates add up over a full year — especially if you’re currently on a flat rate below 12c/kWh.
With a battery: This is where the new rules create genuine opportunity. Storing your midday solar and discharging during the evening peak lets you earn higher export credits while avoiding peak import rates at the same time. If you’ve been on the fence about adding storage, the improving economics under these rules are worth revisiting seriously.
Thinking about going solar: The case is incrementally stronger. The financial fundamentals haven’t changed dramatically — most of your savings still come from self-consumption, not exports — but better peak export rates improve the payback period, particularly for battery-equipped systems.
What we still need to see
A few important things remain unclear as the policy beds in:
Which plans actually comply. Retailers must offer a qualifying plan, but there’s no published list. Powerswitch’s solar rates page (powerswitch.org.nz) will be the most reliable place to compare once plans are live and billing cycles have run.
Whether higher export rates come with higher import rates. Some retailers have historically charged solar customers more per kWh imported to offset better export rates. Any plan switch needs to look at both sides.
How smaller retailers respond. The mandate only covers retailers above 5% market share. Watching whether the smaller players use this to compete aggressively for solar customers will be telling.
What to do now
Check your current buyback rate on your last power bill — look for a line item called “generation credit” or “solar buyback” showing the rate in cents per kWh. Then compare what’s available in your area on Powerswitch after 1 July. If you switch, get both the peak export rate and the import rate in writing — the headline buyback number alone doesn’t tell the full story.
We’ll update this article as retailer plans become clearer. If you’ve switched and want to share what rate you landed on, get in touch.
Last updated: 1 July 2026. Sources: Electricity Authority, RNZ, Powerswitch NZ.