Direct answer
There is no honest live sticker price on this site. A residential quote is a designed job for a particular roof, switchboard, and network. Two neighbours in the same street in Parramatta or Geelong can both be sold a “6.6 kW” letterhead and still be looking at different inverters, different scaffold, and different STC treatments. Anyone publishing a single 2026 dollar-per-watt as the Australian price is selling a headline, not a method.
We show you what to line up and what assumptions to write down. For current market indices, use a dated industry survey, then verify against your written quotes. We will not invent a payback year, a household kWh saving, or a “typical Perth 6.6 kW costs $X.”
Assumptions table (read this before any “average”)
The table at the top of this page is the contract we will not break. In prose, the same rules are:
- Price is collected, not invented. Two or more written quotes, same week.
- STCs are usually assigned to the installer. Demand gross / STC benefit / net payable.
- System size is the nameplate kilowatts of the modules. Match it to usage and roof, not a neighbour in Townsville or Hobart.
- Inverter architecture follows the roof and any battery plan. Name the model.
- Battery is an optional second product. Keep it as a separate line.
- Access — scaffolding, steep pitch, three-storey, regional travel from the depot — is often missing from a “from” price.
- Electrical — switchboard, meter, consumer mains, off-peak controls — is required work, not a surprise extra, if the site needs it.
- Network — an export limit is unknown until the Distribution Network Service Provider (DNSP) answers. Ask what the quote assumed.
- Payback is not calculated here. It needs your tariff file and your usage shape.
If a webpage skips that list and prints a payback year, treat it as advertising.
What size solar system do I need for my bill?
Start from annual kilowatt-hours (the bill or the retailer portal), when you use power (day versus evening), usable roof after setbacks and shade, and any likely export limit. A designer should model self-consumption, not only annual generation.
A household in Darwin that runs air-conditioning through a long wet-season afternoon is not the same sizing problem as a household in Hobart that is empty on winter weekdays and home after 6 pm. The bill total can look similar; the shape is not.
Rules of thumb that fail:
- “Just get the biggest that fits.” You may dump cheap exports into a low feed-in tariff and trip a network cap.
- “Match the neighbour.” Different occupancy, pool, electric vehicle, and controlled-load hot water.
- “Size for the feed-in tariff.” FiTs are retail offers. They move when the plan ends.
A 6.6 kW array became a common residential starting point because of historic inverter and connection patterns in several states — it is not a recommendation for your meter. Oversizing to chase a lunchtime export credit is a weaker reason than covering the loads you actually run while the sun is up.
Walk the how solar works chain before you pick a kilowatt number. East-west versus a clear north plane changes the shape of generation more than a brochure “system size.”
Cost drivers, in the order they usually bite
- Module count and wattage. The obvious line. Still not the whole job. See solar panels.
- Roof type and storeys. Tile hooks, tin clamps, tilt frames, and scaffold change labour hours. A metal roof in a new estate on the Sunshine Coast is a different day from a two-storey terracotta roof in inner Melbourne. See mounting systems.
- Inverter architecture. String versus hybrid versus microinverter. Module-level electronics cost more hardware time. See inverters.
- Battery usable kilowatt-hours. A second product with its own install space and electrical work. See batteries.
- Electrical upgrades. An old switchboard in a 1970s brick veneer is not “optional” if the rules require it.
- STC assignment. The discount is a certificate transfer, not free money. See rebates and STCs.
- Travel, split arrays, animal mesh, and crane time. Unglamorous. Often missing from a homepage “from.”
Regional travel matters in Australia because the crew may be driving from a capital-city depot to a town hours away. That is labour and accommodation, not a moral failing of the quote. Ask for it in writing.
How to compare without a fake average
Use the installer checklist. Convert each quote into the same columns:
| Column | Why it exists |
|---|---|
| Nameplate kW and panel count | So “6.6 kW” means the same thing |
| Panel model (CEC-listed) | Not “tier-1 equivalent” |
| Inverter model and architecture | String, hybrid, or micro |
| Battery usable kWh (if any) | Separate product |
| Mounting description | Tin clamp, tile hook, tilt, ballast |
| Scaffold / travel / board upgrades | Inclusions, not vibes |
| STC treatment | Gross, benefit, net |
| Warranty holders | Product vs workmanship |
The cheaper net price with thinner paper is not a saving. A quote that is $1,800 lower because it dropped scaffolding or swapped to an unlisted module is a different job.
Industry price publications
Firms such as industry analysts and quote marketplaces periodically publish solar price indices. Those series can be useful context if they show a date, a sample, and whether the figure is STC-inclusive. They are still not your quote. We will not reprint a figure here that we cannot keep live, and we will not pretend a national average applies equally to a cyclone-region house near Cairns and a suburban villa in Adelaide.
What this page will not do
We will not invent a household saving, a “solar pays for itself in X years,” or a live STC dollar value. Those numbers need your tariff, your usage file, the remaining deeming period, and a site design. Use this page to interrogate a quote. Use a CEC-accredited designer for the model. Confirm current Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme settings with the Clean Energy Regulator.
Related reading: STC versus state rebates, how to compare two quotes, and east-west versus north.
A worked sizing conversation (still no sticker)
Imagine two bills that both say “about 20 kilowatt-hours a day” on the quarterly average. House A in Townsville runs cooling through the wet-season afternoon. House B in Hobart is empty on winter weekdays and home after dark. House A may self-consume a large share of a north-west array. House B may export at noon and import at 7 pm unless a battery or an east-west layout changes the shape. Same average kWh; different design. That is why “get 6.6 kW like the neighbour” fails.
Write down annual kWh, the weekday shape, the roof after setbacks, and any export limit you already know. Hand that to a CEC-accredited designer. We will not turn it into a live price.
Regional and access loadings
A crew driving from a capital-city depot to a town three hours away is pricing travel and, sometimes, accommodation. A two-storey terracotta roof in inner Melbourne is pricing scaffold and tile-safe practice. A metal ranch in a new estate on the Sunshine Coast may price neither. Those are not moral differences. They are why a national index is context, not a quote.
Split arrays on a hip roof add time. Animal mesh adds time. A switchboard upgrade in a 1970s brick veneer adds time and parts. Ask. Then put two quotes in the same columns.
After you have numbers
Do not average them with a blog. Check STC treatment against rebates. Check mounting words against the hub. Check warranties against the essay. Then decide whether finance is even in the conversation — the FAQ on $0-upfront deals is the warning label.
Not financial advice. Confirm numbers on a written quote and current SRES settings with the Clean Energy Regulator. Last reviewed 25 September 2026.