Solar and Battery Packages in Victoria: What a Good Deal Actually Includes (2026)

A customer once sent me three solar and battery quotes and asked which was cheapest. Fair question. It took me twenty minutes to answer, because the three quotes didn't share a single line item.

One listed the battery's "total capacity". One listed "usable". One just said "20 kWh battery system", which could mean either. One included a switchboard upgrade. One said "subject to site inspection" in eight-point font. The cheapest-looking one turned out to be the most expensive once you added back what it had left out.

So this post is about what a solar and battery package should actually include, how to line up quotes that look nothing alike, and what we charge, so you've got at least one number with nothing hidden in it.

What's in the box

A complete package has five parts. If a quote doesn't name all five, ask.

The panels. Brand, model and wattage of each panel, and how many. "6.6 kW of Tier 1 panels" tells you almost nothing. Tier 1 is a ranking of manufacturers' finances, not of the panel on your roof. If you want the wattage maths, I went through it in solar panel wattage explained.

The inverter, or inverters. This is where packages differ most. Some use one hybrid inverter that runs both the panels and the battery. Others pair a normal solar inverter with a separate battery inverter. Both work. What matters is that the quote names the model and its size in kW, because a 5 kW inverter can only push 5 kW, however big the battery behind it.

The battery. Brand, model and usable capacity. Usable is what you can actually draw out. The federal discount is calculated on usable capacity too, so a quote that only gives you "total" is making your maths harder for no good reason.

Installation. Standard install, cabling, mounting, metering paperwork with your distributor, and commissioning. Watch for what's excluded: two-storey roofs, tile versus tin, three-phase, and the switchboard. Old switchboards are the most common surprise in Melbourne. If your board still has ceramic fuses, budget for it.

Monitoring and warranties. An app that shows production, battery state and grid use. Then the warranties, listed separately: panels, inverter, battery, and the installer's own workmanship warranty. Ours are 25 years on panels, 10 on inverters and batteries, plus workmanship.

How to compare two quotes

Make a little table. Down the side: panel model and count, inverter model and kW, battery model and usable kWh, what's excluded, and the warranties. Across the top: each quote.

Then work out dollars per usable kWh on the battery side. It's crude, but it immediately catches the quote with a cheap price on a smaller battery than you thought you were getting.

Last, check the price is the price. Rebates and the federal battery discount should already be taken off, and the quote should say "including GST" somewhere obvious. If one quote is ex GST and the other isn't, one of them just looked 10% cheaper for free.

Red flags in "best deal" ads

I'll keep this short, because you've seen the ads.

• A free battery. Somebody's paying for it. Usually you, inside the panel price.
• "Save up to $10,000" with no system size. The battery discount shrinks per kWh past 14 kWh usable, so "up to" is doing a lot of work.
• A big rebate line under a price that looks high. Ask what the price was before the rebate.
• Pressure to sign today because the rebate "ends Friday". The battery discount does step down on 1 January, but a good installer will tell you the date and let you decide.
• A deposit that's more than a small slice of the job before anything is installed.

On the last two: the New Energy Tech Consumer Code sets minimum standards for quotes, sales tactics, payments and after-sales support. It's voluntary, but the approved seller list is a quick filter before you invite anyone round.

Do panels and battery together, or add the battery later?

Together is usually cheaper. One site visit, one crew, one lot of switchboard work, and the inverter can be chosen with the battery in mind from day one.

Later is fine too, and it's what our "add a battery" upgrade is for. If you already have solar, we check your existing inverter and switchboard and fit the battery with its own inverter. The thing to avoid is buying solar now with an inverter that can't sensibly take a battery, when you already know you want one next year. Say so at the quote. It changes what we'd put in.

What it costs with us

On our upfront plan:

• 6.6 kW solar + 20 kWh battery: from $8,853.90 including GST ($8,049 ex GST).
• Solar on its own (6.6 kW panels + 5 kW inverter): from $4,455 including GST.
• Add a battery to existing solar (20 kWh battery + 5 kW inverter): from $4,398.90 including GST.

The STC discount on the panels and the federal battery discount are already off those prices. If you qualify for Solar Victoria's solar panel rebate of up to $1,400, that comes off on top, though the eligibility rules (income, property value, owner-occupier, no solar in the last ten years) cut a lot of people out. How the battery discount works and why it drops in January is in our battery rebate post.

Bigger systems, two-storey homes, three-phase power and switchboard upgrades are quoted after we've seen the house. Battery brands we install are Sofar, Fox ESS and GoodWe; the models are on our batteries page.

Is 6.6 kW + 20 kWh right for you?

For a lot of Melbourne households it's a sensible starting point, which is why it's our standard package. Not for everyone.

If the house is empty all day and busy from 5pm, a battery earns its keep. Panels fill it while you're at work, and you run dinner, the heater and the telly off it at night. If someone's home all day running the dishwasher at noon, you're already using your own solar directly, and a 20 kWh battery might spend half its life sitting full.

The quickest way to tell is a year of bills, or at least a winter one and a summer one. Send them through and we'll size it. Sometimes the answer is a smaller battery. Sometimes it's no battery yet.

Either way, you'll get a quote with all five parts on it, named.