Direct answer
Often yes on rural and large residential blocks — and not automatically in every suburb. “Allowed” is a local planning / overlay question plus a network question. The array still needs electrical compliance and a designed foundation. Ask council and the DNSP before you pay a deposit.
A five-acre block outside Bendigo is not a battle-axe block in inner Brisbane. Vegetation overlays, bushfire-prone land, flood mapping, and heritage controls exist outside the solar brochure.
When ground mount is the honest design
- The roof is shaded, fragile, full of services, or facing the wrong way.
- You want a cleaner northerly plane than the house offers — common when the dwelling was sited for a view, not for winter sun.
- Agricultural or shed loads sit away from the dwelling (pumps, workshops, cold rooms).
- A flat commercial deck cannot take the weight or the penetrations.
Ground mounts can use driven piles, concrete footings, or ballast on a prepared surface. Which one is correct is an engineering answer. We will not invent pile depths or concrete volumes.
Planning and neighbours
Setbacks, height, glare, and visual amenity come up in suburban applications. Rural zones are not a national exemption. Bushfire-prone land can change material and access rules. Flood overlays can change footing design. Ask the council planner, not a Facebook group.
If the array is near a boundary, talk to the neighbour before the first hole. That is courtesy and, sometimes, a condition.
Electrical and the network
A ground array is still a generating system. It needs the same CEC-listed products, accredited people, and DNSP application as a rooftop job — plus cable runs that may cross a yard, a driveway, or a paddock. Trenching, conduit, and isolation points belong in the scope. See installers and how solar works.
Export limits still apply. A large rural array can trip a conversation the suburban 6.6 kW job never had. See export limits and, for bigger sites, commercial solar.
Heritage note
The 2013 “Ground Mounting System” catalogue page is rewritten here. We do not sell frames. Siblings: pole mount for smaller elevated arrays, packages, and the hub.
Overlays that sit outside the brochure
Bushfire-prone land, flood mapping, vegetation, and heritage controls change what “rural” means. A five-acre block is not an exemption. Ask the council planner. Ask the DNSP. Then ask the designer for a footing method they will sign.
Cable runs across a yard or a paddock are part of the electrical job. Trenching, conduit, and isolation points belong in the scope. See how solar works and installers.
Glare, neighbours, and setbacks
Suburban ground arrays raise amenity questions. Talk to the neighbour before the first hole. Setbacks and height can be conditions. We will not invent a setback for your zone.
If you only need a small elevated array, compare pole mount. If the site is a business, see commercial. Parent: hub.
Australian site notes
Ask council and the DNSP before the deposit. Overlays sit outside the brochure. Trenching is electrical scope. A five-acre block is not a national exemption.
Put the method in words on the quote. Then use the installer checklist and the mounting hub. We will not invent a load rating, a hook spacing, or a ballast density for your street. Last reviewed 25 September 2026, general information only.
Quote language you can copy
Council and DNSP before the deposit. Overlays sit outside the brochure. Trenching is scope. Compare pole mounts if you only need a small elevated array.
Then return to the hub and put the method in the installer table. General information only — not a span table.
Confirm planning and connection before the deposit. Last reviewed 25 September 2026.