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Written by
Shaun McGowanHere you’ll find everything you need to know about powering your home with solar electricity, including:
Once you’ve covered the basics, read our in-depth guides to explore the most important components of any residential solar energy system in greater detail.
If you’re ready to get a quote for a solar installation and start exploring a world of clean, green energy, visit our helpful Solar Rebate page to see the latest available energy rebates in your state to see how you can save further on your residential solar power system.
There are three core elements to a complete residential solar energy system:
You can learn more about each of these components in the guides to help you decide on what type of solar setup is most suitable for your home.
Through our partners, we offer two leading solar energy storage solutions for Australian homes:
You can read more about each of these products, including our comparison overview and their specifications, on the individual product pages.
Before you go ahead with installing solar to reduce your energy bills, it’s worth taking a look at the available solar rebates in your state.
The Australian Federal Solar Rebate is essentially a discount on your solar installation. This can be a great way to reduce the cost of your solar installation if you’re working on a budget or planning to upgrade an existing system.
The federal solar rebate is slowly being phased out into 2031, with the potential rebate amount reduced slightly each year until that date.
The requirements are:
Simple! Visit our Australian Solar Rebates (state-by-state latest) page to see how much you could save when installing solar.
The cost of solar installations are cheaper than ever, and the available rebates only further these savings.
In 2022, the only real limitations to a solar installation are your budget, how many solar panels you can fit on your property, and the amount your local electricity network (DNSP – Distributed Network Service Provider) allows you to install.
For the average home, most experts will agree that the minimum you should consider buying is 6.6 kW of panels (approx. 18 in total) with a 5 kW inverter. This is a solid starting point.
You should only really need to consider going larger than a 6.6 kW installation if:
While prices will vary depending on the product brands you choose, here’s what you can expect to roughly pay for a standard solar installation:
These estimates include the average cost of the products and the solar installation itself, and you may find solar quotes higher or lower than the above estimates based on your specific needs.
The main way home solar power saves you money is by offsetting your grid electricity usage:
If your system generates any kWh that you don’t use, it’s sent back into the grid, and your retailer pays you a feed-in tariff. Nice!
Exactly how much money solar power will save you depends on a few things:
On average, it will take around five years for a standard solar energy system to provide payback costs equal to installation.
Here are some payback calculation examples for a 6.6 kW system:
With most solar products guaranteed to last decades before they need replacing, by the time you need to revisit any installations or upgrades, you’ll have earned the money to afford them through your existing system.
Yes, although who you choose to get finance with will largely depend on your personal circumstances.
While entire websites are devoted to comparing and analysing financial products, one quick word of warning is to avoid any ‘installer finance’ that can often turn out to include high fees or higher interest repayments.
Similar to buying a car, don’t just grab your finance from the dealership - take your time to compare your options, speak to a financial adviser, and make an informed decision about your future.
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Shaun
McGowan
Shaun McGowan
Shaun is the founder of Money.com.au and is determined to help people pay as little as possible for financial products. Through education and building world class technology. Previously Shaun co-founded CarLoans.com.au and Lend.