NEM Sub-5MW Solar and Storage - June 2026

Summary

Mid-winter, with solar at its seasonal floor: the solar-only sites exported just 336–644 MWh. It was nonetheless South Australia's best month of the twelve, its solar-only site earning A$44,200 at an achieved A$81/MWh — 52% of its entire annual revenue from one month's generation. That concentration is the story: SA's bare solar farm is loss-making in six months of the year, worst of all in December at −A$49,300 as daytime spot prices turn negative, so a handful of winter months carry the whole annual result. Storage lifts that comprehensively — A$192,000 with a 5 MW / 2-hour battery and A$214,800 with the 4-hour unit, achieving A$333 and A$357/MWh respectively, better than four times the unfirmed solar price. Unlike the FCAS-driven months of winter 2025, June's frequency markets were quiet (SA's 2-hour battery earned A$1,932 of FCAS, against A$225,890 in July 2025 and A$435,775 in August), so the month was won on energy arbitrage alone and the 4-hour battery out-earned the 2-hour at every site — the usual ordering, restored. Network charges ran A$1,300–7,500, taking A$5,306 from the VIC 4-hour case.