For a household using 21 kWh a day, about $635 a quarter at Queensland's 28c a unit, the calculator puts 10–13kW solar at $7,670 to $12,670 after rebates, and 10–13kW solar + ~15kWh battery at $11,040 to $22,040.
I am an advisor, not an installer and not a lead broker. You pay nothing at any point.
See what my home should costA young family out at work and childcare on weekdays, using 21 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.
Cannon Hill is young families in houses, with apartments around the shopping centre. The median resident is 34, and many households have small children, which tends to mean someone is home during the day in some families and nobody is home in others. That one difference changes the solar answer more than anything about the roof.
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. Cannon Hill 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 Cannon Hill resident was 34, and only 9.8% were 65 or older, against 17% across Queensland. 65.7% of occupied homes were separate houses and 37.8% were owned with a mortgage.[5]
Young families, mortgages, and very different weekday patterns from house to house.
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.
Two families on the same street, with the same house and the same bill, can get very different value from the same system. The one with someone at home through the day uses its solar as it is made. The one out all day exports most of it for a few cents and buys back power in the evening.
That is why the two worked examples below are built around exactly that difference. On Energex's move to default time-of-use network tariffs[4], the gap between midday power and evening power is set to matter more, not less.
South-east Queensland gets severe summer storms, and hail is the risk a panel quote rarely mentions. Panels certified to IEC 61215 are hail-tested to a set standard, which is the minimum to ask for. Then check that your home insurance covers the panels, the inverter and a battery, and tell your insurer once they are installed.
These are examples, not an average for Cannon Hill. 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 first | No system | $0 | $130–$380 | Nothing to pay back |
| Solar panels only | 10–13kW solar | $7,670 to $12,670 | $740–$1,110 | 8–10+ years |
| Solar plus a 10kWh battery | 10–13kW solar + 10kWh battery | $8,800 to $19,400 | $1,340–$1,960 | 6–10+ years |
| Solar plus a 15kWh batteryPays back fastest | 10–13kW solar + ~15kWh battery | $11,040 to $22,040 | $1,620–$2,200 | 6–10+ years |
Solar plus a 15kWh battery. It pays back fastest of the options open to you, which is the only measure here that accounts for what the thing actually costs.
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 $130 to $380 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 first | No system | $0 | $100–$300 | Nothing to pay back |
| Solar panels only | 6.6kW solar | $5,960 to $7,960 | $740–$1,100 | 7–9 years |
| Solar plus a 10kWh batteryPays back fastest | 6.6kW solar + 10kWh battery | $7,540 to $15,440 | $1,260–$1,630 | 5–10 years |
Solar plus a 10kWh battery. It pays back fastest of the options open to you, which is the only measure here that accounts for what the thing actually costs.
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 $100 to $300 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 10–13kW solar in the first example above the calculator counts $2,330. 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[6]. 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[7].
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, 21 kWh a day, the calculator puts 10–13kW solar at $7,670 to $12,670 after Queensland rebates, and 10–13kW solar + ~15kWh battery at $11,040 to $22,040. 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.
More than almost anything else. Solar used while it is being made saves the full price of power; solar exported earns only a few cents. The two worked examples on this page are the same kind of Cannon Hill household with and without someone home, so the difference is easy to see.
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.