For a household using 15 kWh a day, about $510 a quarter at Victoria's 30c a unit, the calculator puts 6.6kW solar at $4,850 to $6,850 after rebates, and 6.6kW solar + 10kWh battery at $6,430 to $14,330. This page also covers Jan Juc.
I am an advisor, not an installer and not a lead broker. You pay nothing at any point.
See what my home should costA smaller household, home some days, using 15 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 Victorian rates and rebates, and sun hours are its figure for Victoria.
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 Victoria.
| Household uses | Their quarterly bill | System | After rebates | Saves a year | Pays for itself |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 kWh | $373 | 5–6.6kW solar | $4,070 to $6,100 | $350–$530 | 9–10+ years |
| 15 kWh | $510 | 6.6kW solar | $4,850 to $6,850 | $500–$750 | 8–10 years |
| 22 kWh | $701 | 10–13kW solar | $6,600 to $11,600 | $760–$1,140 | 7–10+ years |
| 30 kWh | $919 | 10–13kW solar | $6,600 to $11,600 | $990–$1,480 | 6–9 years |
The bill column is what that household actually pays in Victoria 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 1c 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.
Torquay is two towns in one for solar. One is the newer housing that has spread north and west of the old town, big family homes with big bills. The other is the older coastal town and Jan Juc, with beach houses, homes on exposed sites and a lot of places that are only lived in part of the year. The right system for one is often wrong for the other.
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. Torquay is inside Powercor's distribution area[1], so Powercor's rules are the ones a quote here should be designed to. Look for Powercor Australia on your bill, near the meter details.
The export limit is changing. Powercor's connection policy for 2026 to 2031, approved by the Australian Energy Regulator in April 2026, says it will lower the maximum static export limit to 1.5kW per phase during that period, and that rather than give anyone a zero limit it will offer flexible exports instead: up to 10kW per phase, varying with what the local network can take[2]. From 1 July 2026 flexible exports were first offered to customers whose pre-approval came back at 0kW. They need an inverter that supports CSIP-AUS and a reliable internet connection, and in Powercor's trial participants exported freely more than 90% of the time[3][4].
What that means in practice: the limit is set for your address at pre-approval, and your installer lodges that through Powercor's eConnect portal. Ask to see it before you sign. Power the house uses, or a battery stores for the evening, is worth the full import price. Power that runs into the export limit is simply lost, and even what gets out earns about 1c a unit. So size the array to what the house uses, not to the size of the roof.
At the 2021 Census, 51% of occupied homes in Torquay had four or more bedrooms, against 32.6% across Victoria, and 42.7% were being paid off with a mortgage. On Census night 20.9% of private dwellings were empty, which is the holiday-house share of the town showing up.[5]
That mix is why there is no single Torquay answer. A five-bedroom house in a newer estate and a weekender near the beach are different jobs, even on the same network.
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 in Australia is designed to the wind loading standard, AS/NZS 1170.2, and the design load depends on the site: how exposed it is, how high the roof is, and where on the roof the panels sit. A house on an open block near the coast or on a rise is a different calculation from one sheltered in a street of other houses.
This is not a reason to avoid solar. It is a reason to ask how the racking was specified for your site, and to be wary of a quote that uses the same rail spacing and fixings on every job. Edge and corner zones of a roof take the highest loads, and a good installer will keep panels back from them or fix them more closely.
The larger Torquay households are where a battery is most worth costing properly. A house running 25 or 30 kWh a day, with a heat pump, an induction cooktop or a car on charge, uses a lot of power after the sun goes down, and at 1c a unit for exports the alternative to storing it is giving it away.
Powercor is lowering the maximum static export limit on its network to 1.5kW per phase over the 2026 to 2031 period, which strengthens that case: a big array behind a small export limit wastes less with a battery to fill. The worked examples below show what that is worth in dollars for two Torquay-sized households.[2][6]
These are examples, not an average for Torquay. They are picked to show how the answer moves for the kinds of household the census shows are common here. Clean roof, no shading, Victorian 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 | $100–$310 | Nothing to pay back |
| Solar panels only | 6.6kW solar | $4,850 to $6,850 | $500–$750 | 8–10 years |
| Solar plus a 10kWh batteryPays back fastest | 6.6kW solar + 10kWh battery | $6,430 to $14,330 | $1,170–$1,520 | 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 $310 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 | $180–$550 | Nothing to pay back |
| Solar panels only | 10–13kW solar | $6,600 to $11,600 | $1,270–$1,900 | 5–7 years |
| Solar plus a 10kWh battery | 10–13kW solar + 10kWh battery | $7,730 to $18,330 | $1,950–$2,750 | 4–8 years |
| Solar plus a 15kWh batteryPays back fastest | 10–13kW solar + ~15kWh battery | $9,970 to $20,970 | $2,270–$2,990 | 4–8 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 $180 to $550 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 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.
Up to $1,400, or half the cost after the STC discount if that is less, plus a matching interest-free loan you choose when you apply. Household taxable income under $150,000, property under $3 million, and no solar installed at the address in the last ten years. Owner-occupiers, owners of homes under construction and rental properties can all apply. Rebates are released in batches, so check what is left in the current release before you count on it. From 1 July 2027 household solar support moves into the Victorian Energy Upgrades program[7][8].
Victoria's own battery support has closed, so the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program is the one that applies[9]. 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[10]. Larger batteries earn less per extra kWh: the full rate applies to the first 14kWh.
There has been no minimum feed-in tariff in Victoria since 1 July 2025. Retailers set their own, and it cannot go below zero[6]. The calculator assumes 1c a unit, 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 Victorian solar rebates explained.
Already holding a quote? This is how I read one, line by line.
For the first example household on this page, 15 kWh a day, the calculator puts 6.6kW solar at $4,850 to $6,850 after Victorian rebates, and 6.6kW solar + 10kWh battery at $6,430 to $14,330. 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.
Powercor. It sits inside Powercor's distribution area, so Powercor sets the export limit for your address at pre-approval, not your retailer. Powercor's 2026 to 2031 connection policy lowers the maximum static limit to 1.5kW per phase and offers flexible exports of up to 10kW per phase instead. Ask your installer for the approved limit before you sign.
You need mounting designed for your site, which on an exposed coastal block means a higher wind load than a sheltered suburban street. Racking is designed to AS/NZS 1170.2, and the installer should be able to tell you how they applied it to your roof, including how they handled the edges and corners. Near the water, corrosion-resistant rails and fixings matter as well.
It is worth costing properly, because large households use a lot of power in the evening and exports earn very little. The worked examples on this page show the engine's answer for two household sizes. Whether it holds for your house depends on your actual usage, which is what the free assessment works from.
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 Victorian 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.