A home solar system converts sunlight into electricity your house can use, and sends anything spare to the grid or into a battery. In Victoria a state rebate and federal certificates reduce what you pay.
What home solar actually does for you
Panels sit on the roof and generate while the sun is on them. You use that power first, which is why the biggest gain usually comes from moving what you can into daylight hours: the dishwasher, the washing machine, hot water, the pool pump. Whatever you do not use is exported, or stored if you have a battery.
What that gets you:
- Less grid electricity bought, which is the part of your bill you can influence
- Less exposure to what grid prices do year to year
- Fewer greenhouse gas emissions from your household
- With a battery, your own power in the evening instead of exported power
Rebates and discounts in Victoria
Three things reduce the price of a solar system here, and none of them are tax incentives.
- Solar Victoria solar panel (PV) rebate: up to 50% of the purchase cost, capped at $1,400, calculated after other discounts including certificates. Combined household taxable income of all owners must be under $150,000 a year, the property under $3 million, and the address must not have had a solar system installed in the last 10 years. Rebates are released in capped monthly batches.
- Interest-free loan: matches the rebate amount, up to $1,400, repaid monthly over 4 years. Since 1 May 2026 you must select the loan when you apply.
- Small-scale technology certificates: a federal scheme that comes off the purchase price upfront. Systems installed in 2026 are deemed over 5 years, and that drops by a year each year until the scheme ends in 2030.
If you are adding a battery, the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program takes around 30% off the upfront cost of an eligible battery from 5kWh to 100kWh nominal capacity. There is no income test and nothing for you to apply for. Since 1 May 2026 it is tiered, with the full rate on the first 14kWh of usable capacity, 60% from 14kWh to 28kWh, and 15% from 28kWh to 50kWh. The rate steps down every six months.
Two ways a home can use the sun
A solar PV system is panels, an inverter and a meter, generating electricity for the house, with a battery added then or later. Hot water is the other one: solar hot water collectors use the sun's heat directly, while a heat pump does the same job electrically and runs well on daytime solar.
What decides the right system for your home
We size home systems from your last 12 months of electricity bills, so your quote matches how your household actually uses power. The things that move the answer:
- How much power you use, and what time of day you use it
- Usable roof area, which way it faces, and shading from trees or neighbours
- Anything about to change, like an electric vehicle, a pool, or moving off gas
- Whether a battery suits your usage pattern, or is better left for later
Bigger is not automatically better. A system that generates more than your household can use or store just exports the difference.
Frequently asked questions
How many solar panels are needed to power a home?
It comes from your bills. There is no standard number, because a two-person unit and a five-bedroom all-electric house have almost nothing in common. We work from your last 12 months of usage and the roof you have, then tell you what that comes to in panels. For reference, the panels we currently install are in the 470 to 490 watt range.
How long do solar panels last?
Read the two warranties rather than trusting a single number. Panels carry a product warranty, covering manufacturing defects and physical failure, and a separate performance warranty, covering how much of the original output the panel should still be producing later in life. They are different lengths, and the performance warranty is the one that tells you about gradual decline. We show you both for the panels we quote, and we stick to Clean Energy Council approved products from Jinko, JA Solar, TW Solar and Aiko.
What is the average cost of solar panels?
There is no average worth quoting, because the price follows system size, panel and inverter choice, whether you add a battery, and how complicated the roof is. What we can tell you is what brings it down: the Solar Victoria rebate of up to 50% of purchase cost to a maximum of $1,400, the matching interest-free loan of up to $1,400 over 4 years, and federal certificates that come off the price upfront. Ask for a written quote with the rebate and certificates already applied, so you are comparing what you will actually pay.
Book a solar assessment in Bendigo
Midland Solar has been installing solar around Bendigo for over 10 years, with our own team rather than subcontractors, and most installs are finished in a single visit, often in as little as 4 hours. We specialise in grid-connected systems. Call (03) 5439 5317, email save@midlandsolar.com.au, or use our contact page. You can also see what we stock on our products page.
