How To Use This Calculator
Watch this video to learn
At a minimum, simply enter your postcode and the solar system size you are considering into the calculator. Then enter your typical annual electricity bill (a guess is fine!).
You can leave all the other inputs as their default values and hit 'calculate'.
The calculator will provide a good estimate of your bills if you had that solar power system, along with the payback. You may be surprised at how low your bills can be with solar panels alone.
Next, experiment with different solar system sizes, and see if bigger is better for you. It usually is.
Then add a battery to the calculator to see how that affects your bills and the marginal payback of adding energy storage. Again, you may be surprised at how little a battery saves you compared to the solar panels – although it will depend on how generous your feed-in-tariff is.
View further information and a video on how to use this calculator here.
Solar Panel Angles Explained
The optimum angle for your solar panels – to get maximum annual energy yield – is equal to the latitude of your location. But almost always, the best angle to install your panels at is the angle that your roof is built at.
It is usually simply not worth building a structure to get the 'perfect' angle, as it will only get you a few percent more energy over a year. Learn more
Should You Get A Solar Battery?
There are a lot of reasons to buy a solar battery: for backup, to be an 'early-adopter', for the warm, fuzzy feeling of using your own solar power at night.
But the main reason people consider a battery is simple: they want to save money.
The calculator lets you add a battery to your solar system and will show you the marginal battery payback. It's a fancy way of saying the calculator shows you the solar and battery savings and payback separately instead of blending the payback together. Learn more about blended battery payback.
That's why the calculator asks for the battery cost separately. The default values are the estimated cost of the battery + installation in Australia. If you can get a better deal – or use a state-level rebate, then simply change the solar battery cost and system cost to reflect your quote.
Big Fat Disclaimer
These calculators are intended to provide illustrative examples based on stated assumptions and your inputs.
Although we've tried hard to get all the calculations correct - there is a possibility that we've made a mistake somewhere - we are only human.
Be aware that - although the default settings change by state/territory to reflect sensible values - the default settings of the solar calculator will most likely not be applicable to your situation, and you should ensure you change all the inputs to reflect your own circumstances.
You should also check that the Feed In Tariff settings are correct for your retailer (although don’t forget you can change retailers and the default setting is the best FiT available in your state at the time of writing).
Changing any of the inputs can have a large impact on the solar calculator's outputs. It is particularly difficult to estimate the % of energy you will self consume, so you should try the calculator with a range of scenarios, e.g. 10% self-consumption, 50% self-consumption, etc, to ensure you understand the consequences of exporting more or less electricity as your usage patterns change.
Also, no one knows what the feed in tariff rates will be in the years ahead. You should always model the effect of a 0c FiT as a worst case scenario.
Calculations are meant as estimates only and are not intended to be kept or used for any practical purpose. They are based on information from sources believed to be reliable and accurate and are not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice.
The calculators are not intended to be solely relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a solar power product or finance deal.
Consumers should consider obtaining advice from an Australian Financial Services licensee before making any financial decision regarding mortgages, loans or solar financing.
Actual outcomes will depend on a range of factors outside the control of SolarQuotes.
A note about the seasonal bill estimates:
This calculator cannot provide an exact prediction of your quarterly post-solar-bills because it does not know:
a) the seasonal variation in your electricity bills - we ask you for your annual bill - then use typical seasonal variation (using thousands of data-sets kindly provided by Solar Analytics) to estimate how that bill will vary with each season.
b) your energy usage profile through each day. We would need to know this to know your self consumption ratio each day to five really exact predictions. To counter this - we allow you to change your self-consumption - then estimate how that would vary by seasonal, then use that to calculate the solar savings.