What solar panels cost, by system size
Australian solar is priced per kilowatt of panel capacity, fully installed. Bigger systems cost more in total and less per kilowatt, because the scaffolding, the switchboard work, the inverter and the network paperwork barely change between a small array and a large one. The federal rebate then scales with size too, which is why the gap between a small system and a mid-sized one is smaller than it first looks.
| System size | Panels | Installed, before rebate | Federal STC rebate | After rebate | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 kW | 11 | $4,800–$6,500 | −$1,357 | $3,443–$5,143 | 4–5 years |
| 6 kW | 14 | $5,700–$7,800 | −$1,636 | $4,064–$6,164 | 4–5 years |
| 6.6 kW | 15 | $6,300–$8,600 | −$1,796 | $4,504–$6,804 | 3–4 years |
| 8 kW | 18 | $7,600–$10,400 | −$2,195 | $5,405–$8,205 | 3–4 years |
| 10 kW | 23 | $9,500–$13,000 | −$2,753 | $6,747–$10,247 | 3.5–5 years |
| 13.2 kW | 30 | $12,500–$17,200 | −$3,631 | $8,869–$13,569 | 3.5–5 years |
| 15 kW | 34 | $14,300–$19,500 | −$4,110 | $10,190–$15,390 | 3.5–5 years |
| 20 kW | 45 | $19,000–$26,000 | −$5,506 | $13,494–$20,494 | 3.5–5 years |
Retail installed pricing, national planning ranges, verified 13 July 2026. Rebate column is the federal small-scale technology certificate value in STC zone 3 (rating 1.382), computed at 5 deeming years for a 2026 install and the current certificate price of $39.90. Your own zone changes the figure; the state table below has all eight. Systems up to 100 kW claim STCs under the small-scale scheme. Panel counts assume a mainstream 440 W residential panel.
Two things move a quote off these ranges more than anything else: a tile roof or a two-storey install (scaffolding and labour), and a switchboard that needs upgrading before the inverter can be connected. The city-by-city and brand-by-brand breakdown is on solar panel installation cost, and each size has its own page with generation figures and battery pairing on system sizes.
The federal rebate shrinks every January as the deeming period shortens. On a 6.6 kW system it falls by $360 on 1 January 2027, from $1,796 to $1,436, for an identical install. The mechanism, and the full schedule to 2030, is on the federal STC rebate page.
Solar rebates by state
There is one national solar rebate and it applies everywhere: the federal small-scale technology certificate scheme, claimed by your installer and passed through as a point-of-sale discount. Its value varies only by how much sun your postcode gets, through the STC zone rating. Beyond that, state programs are thin for panels in 2026 and much more generous for batteries.
| State | STC zone | Federal STCs on 6.6 kW | State solar rebate | State battery incentive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIC | 4 | $1,556 | Up to $1,400 | None active |
| NT | 2 | $1,995 | None active | None active |
| NSW | 3 | $1,796 | None active | Up to $1,500 |
| QLD | 3 | $1,796 | None active | None active |
| SA | 3 | $1,796 | None active | None active |
| WA | 3 | $1,796 | None active | Up to $1,300 |
| ACT | 3 | $1,796 | None active | None active |
| TAS | 4 | $1,556 | None active | None active |
Federal figures computed per state from its own STC zone rating at $39.90 per certificate, verified 13 July 2026. The battery column values each state's incentive at a 13.5 kWh battery and counts only rebates a general household can claim, so restricted and priority-group programs are excluded; follow the state link for those. Every state also has loans, concession-card programs and renter schemes that are not in this table.
Northern Territory attracts the largest federal STC rebate on the same 6.6 kW system ($1,995) because it sits in STC zone 2, the sunniest band. The table above is ordered by the federal STC rebate plus any state top-up, which is a different ranking. Only VIC still adds a point-of-sale rebate on panels, and it is income-tested. On the battery side, NSW and WA stack something on top of the federal program.
The state pages set out eligibility, income caps and the source document for each program: NSW , VIC , QLD , SA , WA , TAS , ACT , NT . Feed-in tariffs, which decide what your exports are worth, are covered separately under feed-in tariffs by state.
How many solar panels does a house need?
Panel count follows system size, and system size follows your quarterly bill, because the bill is the best available proxy for how much power the house uses in daylight. At the 440 W panel that dominates Australian residential installs in 2026, the arithmetic is simple: a 6.6 kW system is 15 panels and needs about about 33 m² of north-facing roof.
| If your quarterly bill is | System size | Panels | Roof area | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $300 / quarter | 5 kW | 11 | About 25 m² of north-facing roof | 1–2 people |
| $250–$500 / quarter | 6 kW | 14 | About 30 m² of north-facing roof | 2–4 people |
| $300–$600 / quarter | 6.6 kW | 15 | About 33 m² of north-facing roof | 3–4 people |
| $500–$800 / quarter | 8 kW | 18 | About 40 m² of north-facing roof | 4–5 people |
| $700–$1,000 / quarter | 10 kW | 23 | About 50 m² of north-facing roof | 4–6 people |
| $900+ / quarter | 13.2 kW | 30 | About 66 m² of north-facing roof | Large families, all-electric homes, or EV households |
| $1,000+ / quarter | 15 kW | 34 | About 75 m² of north-facing roof | All-electric homes, usually three-phase |
| $1,400+ / quarter | 20 kW | 45 | About 100 m² of north-facing roof | Very large homes, dual occupancies and small business premises |
Panel counts are system size divided by a 440 W panel. Roof area assumes north-facing pitch with no significant shading; split-orientation arrays need more. Add a size if you have, or expect within two years, a pool, ducted air-conditioning, electric hot water or an EV.
Three practical limits sit on top of the bill maths. Your network's export cap, commonly 5 kW per phase, which is why 6.6 kW of panels is paired with a 5 kW inverter. The 133% oversizing allowance that makes that pairing legal. And the roof itself: shading from a neighbour's tree costs more generation than most people expect, because panels are wired in strings.
Solar panel brands
Panel brand matters less than it did, and warranty support matters more. Every mainstream brand sold in Australia now uses similar n-type cell technology at similar efficiency; what separates them is the length of the product warranty, whether the manufacturer has an Australian office to honour it, and how easily your installer can get replacement stock in five years' time.
| Brand | Origin | Warranty | Price tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trina Solar | China | 25-year product · 30-year performance | mid |
| REC | Norway/Singapore | 25-year product · 25-year performance | premium |
| JA Solar | China | 25-year product · 30-year performance | mid |
| Jinko Solar | China | 25-year product · 30-year performance | mid |
| Hanwha Q.Cells | South Korea/Germany | 25-year product · 25-year performance | premium |
| SunPower Maxeon | Singapore/USA | 40-year product · 40-year performance (Maxeon Partner install; 25/25 standard) | premium |
| Aiko | China | 25-year product · 30-year performance | premium |
Warranty terms as published by each manufacturer for their mainstream Australian residential range. Product warranty covers the panel itself; performance warranty covers output, and they are different numbers.
Inverters deserve more attention than panels, because the inverter is the component that fails first and the one with the shortest warranty. The full set, panels, inverters and batteries, is on our brand pages.
Who installs them
The installer decides more about the outcome than the panel brand does: the roof penetrations, the cable runs, the network application and who turns up when something stops working in year four. We publish the public Australian Business Register record for 180 Australian solar companies, so you can see the legal entity behind the trading name, the ABN and how long it has actually traded. No ratings, no reviews, just the register.
- All 180 installer company records, searchable by name and ABN
- Solar installers in Sydney — companies with a registered business address near Sydney
- Solar installers in Melbourne — companies with a registered business address near Melbourne
- Solar installers in Brisbane — companies with a registered business address near Brisbane
- Solar installers in Perth — companies with a registered business address near Perth
- Solar installers in Adelaide — companies with a registered business address near Adelaide
- Solar installers in Canberra — companies with a registered business address near Canberra
- Solar installers in Newcastle — companies with a registered business address near Newcastle
- Solar installers in Gold Coast — companies with a registered business address near Gold Coast
- Solar installers in Central Coast — companies with a registered business address near Central Coast
City directories are only published where at least 3 registered companies match, so a city missing from that list is a gap in the register grouping, not a judgement about its installers. The grouping is a geographic join on registered business addresses; it is not a service-area guarantee.
Whichever way you go, check the installer is Clean Energy Council accredited, that the accreditation number belongs to the person who will be on your roof, and that the quote names the panel and inverter models rather than "tier 1 panels".
Payback, and adding a battery later
A 6.6 kW system generates roughly 26 kWh on an average day, 9,570 kWh a year, and pays back in 3–4 years for a household that uses a decent share of it during daylight. Every hour the house is empty pushes that number out, because exported power now earns single-digit cents.
That is exactly the gap a battery closes, and it is why panel and battery pricing have converged into one decision. A 13.5 kWh battery attracts $3,631 from the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program on top of the STC rebate on your panels. Whether it is worth adding depends on your evening usage, not on the brochure.
- Solar payback period, explained — how the calculation actually works, and the assumptions that break it
- Is solar worth it in 2026? — the case for and against, with the current numbers
- How long do solar panels last? — degradation, warranties and what fails first
- Solar batteries in Australia — sizes, prices after rebate and package pricing by state
Common questions about solar panels
Two of these are answered at greater length elsewhere: the 20% rule and how to read a quote are covered in full on solar panel installation cost, and what happens to an ageing system is covered on how long solar panels last.
Is it still worth getting solar panels in Australia?
For a household that uses power during the day, yes, but the reason has moved. A 6.6 kW system generates about 9,570 kWh a year, costs $4,504–$6,804 after the $1,796 federal rebate and typically pays for itself in 3–4 years. What has changed is where the saving comes from: feed-in tariffs have fallen to single-digit cents, so the value now sits in the power you stop buying rather than the power you sell. That is also why the pairing with a battery, or simply shifting the dishwasher and the pool pump into daylight, matters more than it used to. The federal rebate shrinks every January, so waiting costs money on its own: the same system attracts $360 less from 1 January 2027. Verified 13 July 2026.
What is the 20% rule for solar?
It is an American rule of thumb, not an Australian standard, and it usually means sizing the array to generate about 20% more than the household uses so that winter, dust, shade and panel degradation do not leave you short. The limits that actually bind an Australian install are different ones: your network's export cap, commonly 5 kW per phase, and the 133% oversizing allowance that lets panel capacity exceed the inverter's AC rating. We set both out in full, with the numbers, on our solar panel installation cost page rather than repeating them here.
How much should I pay for a 6.6 kW solar system?
Between $6,300 and $8,600 fully installed before rebates, and $4,504–$6,804 after the $1,796 federal rebate in STC zone 3. That is $420–$573 per panel across 15 panels, on a 5 kW inverter. Two checks on any quote: the rebate should be itemised as a point-of-sale discount with a certificate count, not a vague "government rebate applied"; and a total well under the bottom of that range is usually saving money on the inverter, the warranty or the paperwork. Prices verified 13 July 2026.
What happens after 25 years of solar?
The panels keep generating. A 25-year performance warranty is not an expiry date, it is a manufacturer's guarantee that the panels will still produce a stated share of their original output, usually around 80–87%, at the 25-year mark, and they carry on degrading from there at roughly half a percent a year. The component that will not reach 25 years is the inverter: most are warranted for 5 to 10 years and are typically replaced once, around year 10 to 15. Budget for that single replacement rather than for a whole new system, and get the replacement cost quoted at the time rather than assuming today's price. At true end of life, panels and inverters go to an accredited recycler, not to landfill.
Get the price for your roof
Everything above is a national planning range. Your number depends on the roof, the switchboard, the network and which installer covers your postcode. Tell us the address and the bill, and we match you with one installer we have checked against the ABN record. One installer, one quote, no call-centre bidding.