For a household using 27 kWh a day, about $837 a quarter at Victoria's 30c a unit, the calculator puts 10–13kW solar at $6,270 to $11,270 after rebates, and 10–13kW solar + ~15kWh battery at $9,640 to $20,640. This page also covers West Wodonga.
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 with air conditioning, out on weekdays, using 27 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. Wodonga's postcode is in Zone 3 of the federal small-scale scheme, which carries a rating about 17% higher than Melbourne's Zone 4[1]. The panel discount on this page is priced for that zone; the sun hours are still the calculator's Victoria-wide figure.
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.
Wodonga is a Victorian city with a New South Wales city across the river, and for solar that border matters more than anything else. Albury is on a different network, under different state programs, with a different rebate picture. A Wodonga quote has to be a Victorian quote.
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. Wodonga is on AusNet's network[2], so AusNet's rules are the ones a quote here should be designed to. Look for AusNet Services on your bill, near the meter details.
How exports work on AusNet. AusNet's connection policy from 1 July 2026, approved by the Australian Energy Regulator, lets a household system be assessed instantly online for up to 10kW of inverter capacity and 5kW of export per phase, or 3.5kW per phase on a single-wire earth return line, the kind that runs out to a lot of rural properties. Flexible export conditions apply to new connections, so the limit can move with what the local network can take, and an inverter that cannot stay connected to AusNet over the internet falls back to a low static limit[3].
What that means in practice: the limit is set for your address when your installer applies, before anything goes on the roof. Ask to see it before you sign, and ask whether the inverter will stay online for flexible exports. 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 Wodonga had 20,259 people and a median age of 39. 37.4% of occupied homes were rented, well above the Victorian figure of 28.5%, and 30.1% were owned outright.[4]
More renters means more households where the roof is someone else's decision. For owners, the town's hot summers make the afternoon and evening cooling load the thing to size around.
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.
Albury is in New South Wales, where the distributor is Essential Energy, which covers country and regional NSW[5]. Wodonga is on AusNet. The export rules, the connection process and the state programs are different on each side of the river.
The Solar Victoria rebate needs a Victorian address, and a quote for a Wodonga house should be designed to AusNet's export rules, not Essential Energy's. If an installer works both sides of the border, ask them to confirm which network and which rebates they have priced.
More than a third of Wodonga homes were rented at the 2021 Census. The Solar Victoria rebate has a rental stream: the rental provider applies, the renter can agree to share the interest-free loan repayment, and the cost cannot be recovered through the rent or the bond[6]. It is worth raising with your landlord, particularly on a house with a big summer cooling bill.
These are examples, not an average for Wodonga. 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 | $170–$500 | Nothing to pay back |
| Solar panels only | 10–13kW solar | $6,270 to $11,270 | $700–$1,040 | 7–10+ years |
| Solar plus a 10kWh battery | 10–13kW solar + 10kWh battery | $7,400 to $18,000 | $1,380–$2,050 | 5–10 years |
| Solar plus a 15kWh batteryPays back fastest | 10–13kW solar + ~15kWh battery | $9,640 to $20,640 | $1,720–$2,450 | 5–9 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 $170 to $500 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 only | 6.6kW solar | $4,560 to $6,560 | $390–$580 | 9–10+ years |
| Solar plus a 10kWh batteryPays back fastest | 6.6kW solar + 10kWh battery | $6,140 to $14,040 | $1,070–$1,460 | 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.
"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. One local difference: this postcode is in Zone 3, where the same system earns about 17% more STCs than in Melbourne[1], and the figure above already counts it.
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][6].
Victoria's own battery support has closed, so the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program is the one that applies[8]. 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[9]. 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[10]. 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, 27 kWh a day, the calculator puts 10–13kW solar at $6,270 to $11,270 after Victorian rebates, and 10–13kW solar + ~15kWh battery at $9,640 to $20,640. 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.
AusNet. It is on AusNet's network, so AusNet sets the export limit for your address when your installer applies, not your retailer. Its policy from 1 July 2026 assesses household systems online for up to 5kW of export per phase, or 3.5kW on rural single-wire lines, with flexible export conditions on new connections. Ask your installer for the approved limit before you sign.
No. The Solar Victoria rebate is for Victorian addresses. Albury is in New South Wales, on Essential Energy's network, with its own state programs. A Wodonga address is Victorian, on AusNet's network, and eligible households can apply for the Solar Victoria rebate.
For the federal rebate, yes. The 3690 postcode is in Zone 3, while Melbourne's CBD is in Zone 4, so the same system earns about 17% more STCs here. The prices on this page already include that larger discount.
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.