For a household using 7 kWh a day, about $278 a quarter at Queensland's 28c a unit, the calculator puts 5–6.6kW solar at $5,220 to $7,250 after rebates, and No system at $0.
I am an advisor, not an installer and not a lead broker. You pay nothing at any point.
See what my home should costA retired person in a beachside unit, home most days, using 7 kWh a day.
A ballpark for one example household, not a quote. The low end of each range is what a competitive installer charges; the high end is a poor quote for the same equipment. Prices are from the same calculator the free assessment uses, with Queensland rates and rebates, and sun hours are its figure for Queensland.
Four real households, run through the same calculator this site uses for an individual report. Panels only, no battery, clean roof, someone home some of the time. Prices are after every rebate that applies in Queensland.
| Household uses | Their quarterly bill | System | After rebates | Saves a year | Pays for itself |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 kWh | $355 | 5–6.6kW solar | $5,270 to $7,300 | $430–$640 | 10+ years |
| 15 kWh | $482 | 6.6kW solar | $6,050 to $8,050 | $580–$870 | 8–10+ years |
| 22 kWh | $661 | 10–13kW solar | $7,800 to $12,800 | $910–$1,360 | 7–10+ years |
| 30 kWh | $865 | 10–13kW solar | $7,800 to $12,800 | $1,110–$1,660 | 6–9 years |
The bill column is what that household actually pays in Queensland at 28c a unit, which is why the same house has a different bill in every state. Savings depend on how much of the generation gets used on site rather than exported, and at 2.5c a unit for exports that is the number that decides the answer. A household out all day saves less than the figures above; one home most days saves more. Every figure is produced by the calculator, not written down, so it moves when the published rates move.
Caloundra's beachfront is units, retirees and holiday lets: nearly half the homes are apartments, nearly four in ten residents are over 65, and more than a quarter of dwellings were empty on Census night. For most people here, solar is a building decision, not a household one.
Your retailer sells you the power. Your distributor owns the poles and wires, and it is the distributor that decides how much solar you may send back to the grid. Caloundra is on Energex's network, which covers Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and surrounds[1], so Energex's rules are the ones a quote here should be designed to.
Static or dynamic. Energex's connection policy for 2025 to 2030, approved by the Australian Energy Regulator, offers dynamic connections, where the export limit moves with what the local network can take, and says Energex will not impose a zero export limit on a site with a suitable dynamic response system[2]. Separately, any new or replacement system of 10kVA or more must have a generation signalling device, which lets the network switch it off briefly in a statewide energy emergency, only at the market operator's direction; as of May 2026 it had never been used[3].
Time-of-use is becoming the default. The same 2025 decision approved Energex moving small customers onto default time-of-use network tariffs, with a peak window and a cheaper "solar soak" window[4]. Your retailer decides how that shows up on your plan, but on a plan where evening power costs more, what a battery saves goes up. Exports earn only a few cents, so size the array to what the house uses, not to the size of the roof.
At the 2021 Census the median Caloundra resident was 58, and 38.2% were 65 or older, against 17% across Queensland. 48.1% of occupied homes were flats or apartments and only 23.6% separate houses. 26.6% of private dwellings were empty on Census night, against 9.3% statewide.[5]
Small households, shared roofs and holiday units.
Things worth knowing before an installer walks the roof:
All of that describes the area, not your house. Two homes on the same street can be completely different jobs. Put your address in and the assessment works off the actual property rather than a town average.
In a townhouse or unit complex, the roof is usually common property, so the body corporate decides what goes on it. A townhouse with its own meter can qualify for the landlord rebate if it is rented[6], but a unit inside an embedded network, where the building buys power and on-sells it, is a different arrangement entirely. Find out how your complex is metered before anyone quotes.
A building where many units are holiday lets has a different load from one lived in all year. A system for the common areas, the lifts, lights and pool, is usually the simplest first step for a mixed building.
Salt spray corrodes cheap rails, clamps and screws, and some manufacturers limit warranty cover close to the sea. Ask for panels rated for salt mist under IEC 61701 at a severity that suits the site, corrosion-resistant racking, an inverter somewhere sheltered, and the coastal terms of each warranty in writing.
These are examples, not an average for Caloundra. They are picked to show how the answer moves for the kinds of household the census shows are common here. Clean roof, no shading, Queensland rates and rebates, and the battery prices assume it is installed before the federal battery discount steps down on 1 January 2027.
| Option | System | After rebates | Saves a year | Pays for itself |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change plan and cut waste firstPays back fastest | No system | $0 | $60–$170 | Nothing to pay back |
| Solar panels only | 5–6.6kW solar | $5,220 to $7,250 | $410–$620 | 10+ years |
| Solar plus a 10kWh battery | 5–6.6kW solar + 10kWh battery | $6,880 to $14,880 | $640–$840 | 9–10+ years |
On these numbers, none of it pays for itself inside ten years. Every option below still takes more than ten years to return what it costs, mostly because the bill being reduced is not large to begin with. That is not a reason to never do it, but it does mean the free move is the one worth making first, and that a quote should be judged on the price it comes back with rather than on this page.
Before any of it: get onto a competitive retail offer. It costs nothing, it takes an afternoon, and on a bill your size it is worth roughly $60 to $170 a year. Every payback below gets shorter once you are paying less per kWh, so it is worth doing first either way.
| Option | System | After rebates | Saves a year | Pays for itself |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change plan and cut waste firstPays back fastest | No system | $0 | $70–$210 | Nothing to pay back |
| Solar panels only | 5–6.6kW solar | $5,220 to $7,250 | $430–$640 | 9–10+ years |
| Solar plus a 10kWh battery | 5–6.6kW solar + 10kWh battery | $6,880 to $14,880 | $830–$1,090 | 7–10+ years |
On these numbers, none of it pays for itself inside ten years. Every option below still takes more than ten years to return what it costs, mostly because the bill being reduced is not large to begin with. That is not a reason to never do it, but it does mean the free move is the one worth making first, and that a quote should be judged on the price it comes back with rather than on this page.
Before any of it: get onto a competitive retail offer. It costs nothing, it takes an afternoon, and on a bill your size it is worth roughly $70 to $210 a year. Every payback below gets shorter once you are paying less per kWh, so it is worth doing first either way.
"Pays for itself" is the range between a competitive quote and a poor one for the same equipment, and 10+ means not inside ten years. The battery ranges are wide for the same reason. Your own usage, roof and timing will move every figure here, which is what the free assessment works from.
Applied by the installer as a discount on the quote, not something you claim. It scales with system size: on the 5–6.6kW solar in the first example above the calculator counts $1,750. It falls a little each year until the scheme ends in 2030.
There is no Queensland Government rebate on solar panels or batteries for people who live in their own home. There is one for landlords: Supercharged Solar for Renters pays up to $3,500 towards solar on an eligible rental property, open since 12 December 2025[7]. The property must be a house, duplex, townhouse or granny flat rented for $1,000 a week or less and individually metered, the tenant has to consent, and the landlord needs conditional approval before anything is installed[6].
The federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program applies in Queensland. On a 10kWh battery the calculator counts $2,520. The rate is set by the date the battery is installed, not when you order it, and it steps down on 1 January 2027 and every six months after that[8]. Larger batteries earn less per extra kWh: the full rate applies to the first 14kWh.
South-east Queensland's electricity market has been deregulated since July 2016, so retailers set their own feed-in tariffs; the Queensland Competition Authority monitors them but does not set them[9]. The calculator assumes an indicative 2.5c a unit, a little below the last average the QCA published, because offers have been falling and some plans pay nothing[10]. Check your own retailer's rate. Either way, every example on this page is decided by how much power the house uses itself.
The full breakdown, with dates, is in Queensland solar rebates explained.
Already holding a quote? This is how I read one, line by line.
For the first example household on this page, 7 kWh a day, the calculator puts 5–6.6kW solar at $5,220 to $7,250 after Queensland rebates, and No system at $0. The range is the gap between a competitive installer and a poor quote for the same equipment. Your own figure depends on your usage and roof, which is what the free assessment works out.
Energex. It is on Energex's network, which covers Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and surrounds. Energex sets your export limit when your installer applies, not your retailer, and offers dynamic connections where the limit moves with network capacity. Systems of 10kVA or more also need a generation signalling device. Ask your installer what limit has been approved before you sign.
Rarely on its own. A small household uses little power, which the first worked example on this page shows, and a unit roof belongs to the body corporate. A building-level system for the common areas is usually the better starting point.
The installer, and only when a job completes. Never the homeowner. No installer can buy placement, and nothing about you reaches one until you ask me to make the introduction.
About a minute. You get the system size, what it should cost, and what it saves. No one calls you unless you ask.
Start My Free CheckIndependent explainers on the parts of this that actually change the answer.
Prices, savings and paybacks come from this site's calculator, using Queensland rates verified 2026-08. Everything else is from the sources below, read on the date shown. Rules and rebates change, so check the source before you rely on one.