If you are building or buying a new home in Victoria, it must reach 7 stars and meet a separate Whole of Home rating. Here is what each covers, and where solar, batteries and heat pumps fit.
Two ratings, not one
Seven stars has been mandatory for new homes in Victoria since 1 May 2024, and Victoria adopted NCC 2025 on 1 May 2026 with no changes to residential energy efficiency, so the rules are settled. What catches most people out is that a new home is assessed twice, on two different things.
The star rating, out of 10
The star rating measures one thing: the thermal performance of the building fabric. Floor, walls, windows and roof. It describes how well the house holds its temperature on a cold Bendigo morning before you touch the heater. Rooftop solar cannot change this number, whatever you may have been told.
The Whole of Home rating
The Whole of Home rating is separate, scored from 0 to 100 and up, and it covers your fixed appliances plus any onsite solar generation and battery storage. This is where solar counts, and it is one of the main ways a new home meets this part of the standard.
Where solar fits in a new Bendigo home
Panels convert sunlight into direct current, and an inverter turns that into the power your home runs on. Through the middle of the day your panels usually make more power than your home is using, so anything spare goes out to the grid unless you store it.
On a new build, three things are worth sorting before the roof goes on: which way the main roof planes face, how much of that roof stays unshaded, and whether switchboard and wall space is set aside for a battery. Deciding that at frame stage costs far less than retrofitting it.
What a battery adds
A battery stores your excess generation instead of exporting it, then runs your home on your own power through the evening. That matters more in an all-electric home, where cooking, hot water and heating all land on the same bill.
The federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program takes around 30% off the upfront cost of an eligible battery system from 5kWh to 100kWh nominal capacity. It is delivered as small-scale technology certificates, so there is no income test and nothing for you to apply for. Since 1 May 2026 it is tiered: the full rate applies to the first 14kWh of usable capacity, 60% from 14kWh to 28kWh, and 15% from 28kWh to 50kWh. The rate steps down every six months and the scheme ends in 2030.
The battery must be on the Clean Energy Council approved product list, installed by an accredited installer, and VPP-capable if grid-connected. One system per property. Solar Victoria's interest-free battery loans are closed, so the federal discount is the one that applies now.
Hot water, and the move off gas
From 1 January 2027, all new homes in Victoria must be built all-electric. From 1 March 2027, existing homes replacing a gas hot water system at end of life must fit an efficient electric alternative, such as a heat pump. If you are building now, you are building an all-electric home either way.
A heat pump hot water system is the usual answer, and it counts in the Whole of Home assessment. One catch if you are building: the Solar Victoria hot water rebate is for existing homes only. The solar panel (PV) rebate does cover homes under construction, at up to 50% of purchase cost to a maximum of $1,400.
If you are buying rather than building
Ask for the NatHERS certificate and the Whole of Home outcome, then ask what is actually installed. Two homes can both pass and still cost very different amounts to run.
Talk to us about your new home
Midland Solar has been installing solar around Bendigo for over 10 years, with our own team rather than subcontractors. We size home systems from your last 12 months of electricity bills, so your quote matches how your household actually uses power. If you are building and do not have bills for the new place yet, get in touch early and we will work through it with you. Call (03) 5439 5317 or book a solar assessment through our contact page.
