For a household using 29 kWh a day, about $892 a quarter at NSW's 30c a unit, the calculator puts 10–13kW solar at $7,670 to $12,670 after rebates, and 10–13kW solar + 10kWh battery at $8,800 to $19,400. This page also covers Skennars Head.
I am an advisor, not an installer and not a lead broker. You pay nothing at any point.
See what my home should costA family in a coastal house, someone home some days, using 29 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 NSW rates and rebates, and sun hours are its figure for New South Wales.
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 New South Wales.
| Household uses | Their quarterly bill | System | After rebates | Saves a year | Pays for itself |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 kWh | $373 | 5–6.6kW solar | $5,470 to $7,500 | $490–$730 | 9–10+ years |
| 15 kWh | $510 | 6.6kW solar | $6,250 to $8,250 | $650–$970 | 8–10 years |
| 22 kWh | $701 | 10–13kW solar | $8,000 to $13,000 | $1,020–$1,530 | 6–10 years |
| 30 kWh | $919 | 10–13kW solar | $8,000 to $13,000 | $1,230–$1,850 | 5–8 years |
The bill column is what that household actually pays in New South Wales at 30c 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 3.4c 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.
Lennox Head is a coastal village of family houses, most of them owner-occupied, on the headland between Ballina and Byron. It is younger and more family-heavy than Ballina, with more four-bedroom houses and more mortgages, and the same salt and the same Essential Energy rules.
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. Lennox Head is on Essential Energy's network, which covers country and regional New South Wales[1], so Essential's rules are the ones a quote here should be designed to. Look for Essential Energy on your bill.
Flexible exports from late 2026. Essential Energy says it will offer flexible export limits of up to 10kW per phase for new and upgraded systems from late 2026, alongside the NSW emergency backstop rollout. They are optional; the alternative is a low fixed limit, and until flexible limits arrive, systems have a fixed limit set at connection[2]. The approved limit for your address is in the connection offer your installer gets back.
What that means in practice: ask for that connection offer before you sign, and ask whether the inverter can take a flexible limit. Power the house uses, or a battery stores for the evening, is worth the full import price; exported power earns only a few cents, so size the array to what the house uses.
At the 2021 Census, 73.5% of occupied homes in Lennox Head were separate houses, 43.4% had four or more bedrooms and 35.6% were owned with a mortgage. Only 23.6% were rented, against 32.6% across New South Wales.[3]
Owner-occupied family houses by the sea.
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.
Racking is designed to the wind loading standard, AS/NZS 1170.2, and an exposed coastal block is a bigger load than a sheltered street. Ask how the racking was specified for your site, how panels near the roof edges were handled, and what the rails and fixings are made of. Ask for salt mist rated panels and the warranties' coastal terms in writing.
The NSW Home Energy Saver loan is interest-free, up to $15,000 over up to ten years, for owners with a combined taxable household income up to $210,000, and covers solar and batteries[4]. On Essential Energy's network, ask whether the inverter can take the flexible export limits Essential plans to offer from late 2026[2].
These are examples, not an average for Lennox Head. They are picked to show how the answer moves for the kinds of household the census shows are common here. Clean roof, no shading, NSW 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 | $180–$540 | Nothing to pay back |
| Solar panels only | 10–13kW solar | $7,670 to $12,670 | $1,200–$1,810 | 5–8 years |
| Solar plus a 10kWh batteryPays back fastest | 10–13kW solar + 10kWh battery | $8,800 to $19,400 | $1,820–$2,680 | 4–8 years |
| Solar plus a 15kWh battery | 10–13kW solar + ~15kWh battery | $11,040 to $22,040 | $2,130–$2,970 | 5–8 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. Solar plus a 15kWh battery takes more off the bill, about $327 a year more, for more capital up front. If keeping the lights on through an outage matters to you, that is the trade you are actually being offered, and it is a reasonable one.
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 $180 to $540 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–$310 | Nothing to pay back |
| Solar panels onlyPays back fastest | 6.6kW solar | $5,960 to $7,960 | $780–$1,160 | 6–8 years |
| Solar plus a 10kWh battery | 6.6kW solar + 10kWh battery | $7,540 to $15,440 | $1,290–$1,660 | 5–10 years |
Solar panels only. It pays back fastest of the options open to you, which is the only measure here that accounts for what the thing actually costs. Solar plus a 10kWh battery takes more off the bill, about $544 a year more, for more capital up front. If keeping the lights on through an outage matters to you, that is the trade you are actually being offered, and it is a reasonable one.
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 $310 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 upfront state rebate on solar panels in New South Wales. There is the Home Energy Saver loan: interest-free, up to $15,000, repaid over up to ten years, for property owners, including landlords, with a combined taxable household income up to $210,000. Rooftop solar and batteries are both eligible, and the loans are delivered by Brighte and Plenti[4]. A separate discount of up to $4,000, for households earning up to $80,000 a year or holding an eligible concession card, has been announced but was not yet open on 26 October 2026[5]. The calculator leaves the loan out of every price, because it is repaid.
The federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program applies in NSW. 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[6]. NSW's own battery discount under the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme is now only available through approved programs or on government sites, and NSW points battery owners to a separate incentive for joining a virtual power plant[7].
IPART's benchmark for a flat feed-in tariff in 2026-27 is 3.4 to 6.5c a unit, down from 4.8 to 7.3c the year before, and retailers do not have to pay it[8]. The calculator assumes 3.4c a unit, the bottom of that range, which is why every example on this page is decided by how much power the house uses itself.
The full breakdown, with dates, is in NSW solar rebates explained.
Already holding a quote? This is how I read one, line by line.
For the first example household on this page, 29 kWh a day, the calculator puts 10–13kW solar at $7,670 to $12,670 after NSW rebates, and 10–13kW solar + 10kWh battery at $8,800 to $19,400. 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.
Essential Energy. It is on Essential Energy's network, which covers country and regional NSW, so Essential sets your export limit, not your retailer. Essential says flexible export limits of up to 10kW per phase will be offered for new and upgraded systems from late 2026, as an option alongside a low fixed limit. Ask your installer for the approved limit in the connection offer before you sign.
You need mounting designed for your site. Racking is designed to AS/NZS 1170.2, and an exposed coastal block carries a higher wind load than a sheltered street. Near the water, also ask for corrosion-resistant rails and fixings and salt mist rated panels.
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 NSW 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.