Get a free on-site commercial assessment
Solar and batteries for Northern Rivers businesses, up to 1 MW. Commercial finance through Solaris Finance.
Free Solar and Battery Guides for Northern Rivers Homes
Checked and updated by our licensed electricians: October 2026
Want a number? Try our free calculators for price, rebate, battery size, blackout runtime and EV charging.
Plain-English guides from our own licensed electricians, written for Northern Rivers homes: what to check before you buy, how rebates, tariffs and VPPs work, special cases like EVs, heat pumps, pools, new builds and off-grid, and how to look after your system once it is in. Nothing to download and no details needed.
Jump to: Buying a systemRebates, running costs and power plansSpecial situationsOwning your system
Buying a system
Home battery buyer’s guide for the Northern Rivers
Everything before you buy: sizing from your bills, Sigenergy and GoodWe module sizes, the rebate step-down, blackout backup, where the battery can go and comparing quotes.
Solar battery quote comparison checklist
The 12 things every quote should show, with tick boxes as you read each one, so you know what to ask before you sign.
How to choose a home battery installer
The questions worth asking any installer, us included: licences, who does the work, the site visit, the switchboard and warranties.
How to read your power bill to size solar and a battery
Where the daily use, feed-in and tariff sit on a bill, and what they say about the system you need.
How big a solar system do I need?
How to work out a solar size from your usage, roof and plans.
What size battery do I need?
Sizing a home battery from your power bills and evening use.
Is a home battery worth it?
How to decide whether a battery suits your home and your bills.
What decides the cost of solar and a battery?
The parts of a job that move the price: equipment, roof, switchboard and more.
Sigenergy vs GoodWe vs Tesla
How the batteries we install compare, and how to choose between them.
AIKO vs Jinko solar panels
The two panel brands we install, side by side.
Can I add a battery to my old solar inverter?
AC and DC coupling explained, and what it means for your existing system.
Where can a home battery go?
The AS/NZS 5139 rules on where a battery may and may not be installed.
Solar and batteries near the coast
Salt air and what each maker requires for homes close to the sea.
Solar and battery numbers by town
How many homes in each Northern Rivers town have solar and batteries, from Clean Energy Regulator data.
What happens on install day?
What to expect on the day, from arrival to switch-on.
Rebates, running costs and power plans
Cheaper Home Batteries rebate: who qualifies
Who can get the federal battery rebate and how it is claimed at the point of sale.
Battery rebate step-down in 2027
What changes on 1 January and 1 July 2027, set by the install date.
Solar rebate in NSW: how STCs work
How the solar STC rebate is worked out and taken off your price.
NSW Home Energy Saver 0% loan: questions answered
Who qualifies and how repayments work. Eligibility criteria apply, subject to lender approval.
Has a built-in calculator
Amber Electric or a VPP with your battery
How wholesale pricing and virtual power plants work with a home battery in NSW, with a fit checker.
Should I join a virtual power plant?
What a VPP does with your battery and the questions to ask before joining.
Has a built-in calculator
Smart meters, controlled load and time-of-use
What the smart meter rollout and the tariff changes mean in the Essential Energy area, with a tariff checker.
Time-of-use and feed-in tariffs with solar and a battery
How tariff windows and feed-in rates change what a battery is worth to you.
Solar export limits in the Northern Rivers
Essential Energy’s export limits and what they mean for your system size.
Special situations
EV buyer’s guide: charging from home solar
Electric cars sold in Australia compared for home charging: on-board charger, V2L and V2G, and which charger suits your battery.
Charge your EV from solar and a battery
How solar and a home battery share the job of charging a car.
Has a built-in calculator
Hot water heat pump buyer’s guide
Brands, noise, refrigerant, warranty and rebates, with a tank sizing calculator.
Has a built-in calculator
Getting off gas: induction cooktops and your switchboard
Induction circuits, RCBO upgrades, gas disconnection and running an all-electric home on solar.
Has a built-in calculator
Generator or home battery for blackouts?
Fuel, noise, switch-over and safety side by side, with an outage calculator.
Whole home battery backup
How backup works in a blackout and what runs.
Has a built-in calculator
Tiny homes, granny flats and off-grid cabins
Grid-connected or off-grid, metering and sizing, with a system sizer.
Off-grid solar: how it works
What is in an off-grid system and how the parts work together.
Off-grid battery: how many days of autonomy?
Sizing an off-grid battery for cloudy runs and winter.
Has a built-in calculator
New build in NSW: BASIX, solar and batteries
What the BASIX certificate needs and what to settle before the slab, with a planner.
Has a built-in calculator
Air conditioning on solar and a battery
What splits and ducted systems really draw and what that asks of solar and a battery, with a calculator. We do not sell air conditioners.
Has a built-in calculator
Running your pool on solar
Pump timers, solar pool heating and pool heat pumps, with a calculator. We size the roof; a pool company supplies the heater.
Single-phase vs three-phase
What your supply means for solar and battery choices.
Owning your system
Help and how-to guides for owners
Apps, Wi-Fi, lights, modes and blackouts for Sigenergy, GoodWe, Sungrow, SolaX and Tesla systems.
How long will my battery run the house in a blackout?
What decides it and how to check your own system.
Does my solar work in a blackout?
Why solar alone switches off and what a battery changes.
How long do solar panels and inverters last?
Typical life spans and what the warranties cover.
Do solar panels work on cloudy days?
What to expect from your panels in Northern Rivers weather.
Maintenance checks for solar and batteries
How often to have it checked and what you can safely do yourself.
Cleaning and shading
When panels need cleaning and how shade affects them.
After a storm or flood
What to do with your solar and battery after severe weather.
Get Your Free Energy Assessment
Leave your name and mobile. We’ll text you within minutes to size the right system from your power bill.
★★★★★
Rated 5.0 from 60 Google reviews
✓Local electricians, no subcontractors
✓No obligation, takes 30 seconds
✓25-year workmanship warranty
Questions we get asked
Where should I start if I am thinking about a battery?
Start with the home battery buyer’s guide, then use the quote comparison checklist when quotes come in. If you want a number first, the free calculators give a price range, rebate and battery size in about a minute each.
Who writes these guides?
Our own in-house team: licensed electricians who design and install solar and batteries across the Northern Rivers, in the trade since 1987. Facts are checked against the makers’ manuals, government and regulator pages, and each guide is dated.
Are the guides free?
Yes. Every guide is free to read on the page, with nothing to download and no details needed.
Do you cover my area?
We install across the NSW Northern Rivers, postcodes 2471 to 2473 and 2477 to 2490: Tweed Heads and Kingscliff south to Evans Head, and west to Lismore. The guides are useful anywhere, but the local details (Essential Energy tariffs, coastal rules, flood and cyclone history) are written for this area.
