Solar panel installation in Melbourne's South East: designed and wired by our own electricians
Helcro Electrical does solar panel installation across Melbourne’s South East from our Cheltenham workshop, for homes and businesses. Home systems run from 5 kW to 30 kW. Our own licensed electricians do the whole job: the panels and inverter, the switchboard and meter board work, and the Certificate of Electrical Safety at the end. We do not subcontract.
Call 1300 201 358 → Get a Quote →
Send the form and we will call you back within 2 business hours. We can often give a price range on the phone; a written quote follows a $50 site assessment.
In business since 2006 · Registered Electrical Contractor REC 35448 · NETCC Approved Seller for solar and batteries · Clean Energy Council member · 10-year workmanship warranty on solar and batteries
What solar panel installation costs: 6.6 kW and 10 kW system prices
| Item | Price, including GST |
|---|---|
| Typical 6.6 kW home solar system, installed, after the STC discount | about $6,000 |
| Typical 10 kW home solar system, installed, after the STC discount | about $12,000 |
| Home switchboard upgrade, if your board needs one | typically $1,250 to $2,500 (a small board is at the low end) |
| Site assessment for a written quote | $50 |
Every system is quoted for its home, and you have the written quote before any work starts.
What moves the price of a solar installation:
- The panels and inverter: the brand and model, and whether you choose a hybrid inverter that can take a battery later.
- Your roof: its pitch, height and material, and how many roof faces the panels go on.
- Your switchboard: an old board may need an upgrade before solar can be connected. We check it at the site assessment.
The STC discount, and why 2027 matters
Under the federal Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, an eligible rooftop solar system creates small-scale technology certificates (STCs). The number depends on the system's size, your postcode zone and the year it is installed. Most people sign the STCs over to their retailer's registered agent for an upfront discount; our typical prices above already have it taken off. The system must be designed and installed by a Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA) accredited designer and installer, with panels and an inverter on the Clean Energy Council approved list.
The "deeming period" behind the count drops by a year each year until the scheme ends in 2030: 5 years for a 2026 installation, 4 for 2027. The same system installed in 2027 earns about a fifth fewer STCs.
A solar electrician, not just a solar installer
"Solar installer" and "solar electrician" are not always the same person. A roof crew can mount panels, but the wiring of a solar system is electrical work for a licensed electrician.
Can a normal electrician install solar? Not on a licence alone, if the system is to earn STCs. Solar Victoria's buyers guide says the person who installs your system must be accredited under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme with Solar Accreditation Australia and hold an unrestricted Class A electrical licence registered with Energy Safe Victoria.
Helcro Electrical is a Registered Electrical Contractor (REC 35448), and our accredited designers and installers cover grid-connected solar, battery storage and stand-alone power systems. The electrical side is done by our own team, never a subcontractor:
- The switchboard. We check it at the site assessment and tell you if it needs an upgrade before solar goes in (price above; our residential electrical work page covers the job).
- The mains, main switch and meter board. The connections, isolators, any metering changes and, where a large system needs it, a consumer mains upgrade.
- The inspection and the certificate. Solar is prescribed electrical work in Victoria, so an independent licensed electrical inspector checks it before the certificate is finalised, and you receive a Certificate of Electrical Safety, with a copy lodged with Energy Safe Victoria.
One team and one point of contact, from the site visit to the paperwork. You can watch one of these jobs on HelcroLabz: the Hütt 01 PassivHaus, where we designed and installed the complete electrical system, including 28 solar panels (11 kW) on a roof pitched at 65 degrees.
Is solar worth it without a rebate?
What decides whether solar is worth it for you, without a rebate:
- How much you use yourself. Every kilowatt-hour your panels make and you use is one you don't buy from your retailer. Power you export earns your retailer's feed-in tariff, and Victoria has had no minimum rate above zero since July 2025; buying power on the 2026-27 Victorian Default Offer costs about 27c a kWh in United Energy's area.
- How long you will stay. Solar Victoria expects panels to last more than 25 years, so tell us when we quote if you might sell within a few years.
What size solar system you need
We install home solar systems from 5 kW to 30 kW. The right size depends on:
- When you use power. Solar pays best when you use it as it is made, in the middle of the day.
- What is coming next. A battery, a heat pump or an EV charger all use more daytime power.
- Your roof. How much unshaded roof faces north, east or west.
- Your supply. Single-, two- or three-phase, which sets how much you can export (below).
How many solar panels do I need? The count follows the system size and the panel's wattage: we size in kilowatts first, then fit the panels to your roof (for example, 15 panels of 440 W make 6.6 kW).
North, east or west roof? North is best, and north-east, north-west or even east and west can work. Solar Victoria's guide puts the cost at up to 15 per cent: "For panels on an east-or west-facing roof with a 20° pitch, average daily generation will decrease by up to 15 per cent."
Solar Accreditation Australia's rules say the inverter's AC output cannot be less than 75% of the panels' peak power, and it must stay within the inverter maker's limit. That is why a 5 kW inverter is often paired with about 6.6 kW of panels.
Single- or three-phase? A three-phase home can use a single-phase inverter, exporting up to 5 kW on that phase, or a three-phase inverter, which can export up to 15 kW in total on United Energy's network. SiGENERGY makes both.
Grid connection and export limits on United Energy's network
Nearly all of Melbourne's South East, including Bayside, Kingston, most of Glen Eira, Frankston, Seaford and Carrum Downs, is on United Energy's electricity network, so we handle United Energy's solar approvals for you. Part of Caulfield North is on CitiPower instead; your bill names your distributor.
Since 1 July 2026 the most a home can export on United Energy's network is:
| Supply | Maximum export |
|---|---|
| Single-phase | 5 kW |
| Two-phase | 5 kW per phase, 10 kW in total |
| Three-phase | 5 kW per phase, 15 kW in total |
Those are maximums: your address's limit is set at United Energy's pre-approval, which we lodge in myEnergy and which must be approved before we install. Where the network is constrained, it can come back at 0 kW of fixed export; since 1 July 2026 United Energy has offered a flexible export connection instead, for a compatible inverter connected to the internet.
New, upgraded and replacement rooftop systems of 200 kVA or less must be emergency-backstop enabled: a CSIP-AUS inverter, an export-limiting meter and an internet connection. After the inspector approves the job, we lodge the alteration in myEnergy with your Certificate of Electrical Safety, and only then does United Energy activate your export limit.
Solar panels and inverters we install
- Solar panels: LONGi, Trina Solar and Jinko Solar.
- Inverters: SiGENERGY, Enphase, Fronius, GoodWe and Sungrow.
Panel warranties vary by model; your quote names the panel and its warranty terms. Inverter warranties, from the makers:
- SiGENERGY: 10 years, with the system kept online for updates.
- Enphase IQ8 microinverters: 25 years.
- Fronius GEN24: 10 years with Fronius Warranty Plus, when the system is registered on Solar.web.
- GoodWe EH: 5 years, or 10 years with a GoodWe Lynx Home F battery and SEMS registration.
How long do solar panels last? Solar Victoria says: "Solar panels should last more than 25 years, but inverters are not generally expected to last much more than 10 or 15."
Which brand is the most reliable? We don't rank brands. Compare whether the panels and inverter are on the Clean Energy Council approved list (needed for STCs), how long the warranties run, and who you call if something fails.
String inverter or microinverters? A string inverter (SiGENERGY, Fronius, GoodWe, Sungrow) is one unit for the whole array. With Enphase, each panel has its own microinverter, so shade on one panel doesn't pull down the others. That suits shaded roofs or panels on several roof faces.
Adding a battery, hot water or an EV charger
- A battery, now or later. A hybrid inverter can take a compatible battery later without being replaced. SiGENERGY's SigenStor is the battery we install most, and our solar batteries page has the prices. The federal battery discount steps down on 1 January 2027, when the certificate factor falls from 6.8 to 5.7, which lowers the discount at every battery size; the date on your Certificate of Electrical Safety sets the rate (see our battery rebate guide).
- Hot water. A heat pump set to heat in the middle of the day uses your own solar instead of exporting it. See our solar soak guide and heat pump hot water installation prices.
- An EV charger. A charger like the Zappi can charge the car from surplus solar; our EV charger installation page has the brands and prices.
- Cloudy days. Households with a smart meter that sign up to the Victorian Midday Power Saver get up to 24 kWh a day of free grid power from 11am to 2pm. Other rates on that offer can be higher.
Planning the whole house? See home electrification.
How a solar job runs with Helcro Electrical
- Call 1300 201 358 or send the form.
- A $50 site assessment. We look at the roof, shading, the switchboard, the meter board and your supply phase.
- A written quote. The exact panels and inverter, any switchboard work and the warranty terms.
- United Energy pre-approval, lodged by us in myEnergy.
- The installation, by our own team. A typical home solar installation takes one to two days on site, depending on how complex the job is.
- Inspection and certificate. A licensed electrical inspector checks the work, and you get your Certificate of Electrical Safety.
- Your export limit switched on by United Energy, once we lodge the paperwork.
- Handover. Your certificates, the handover instructions for your system and your warranty in writing.
Comparing solar installers? Look for a written quote after a site visit, approved panels and inverter, warranties in writing, who does the electrical work, and the export limit. Solar Victoria's guide to finding the right installer has a full checklist.
WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY
SolarQuotes review, commercial solar in Moorabbin, November 2024
SolarQuotes review, 20 kW home solar, January 2026
Our 10-year workmanship warranty and after-sales
Every solar and battery installation carries our 10-year workmanship warranty, from the commissioning date on your Certificate of Electrical Safety, on top of the manufacturers' product warranties. It covers:
- mounting, racking, roof penetrations and flashing
- wiring, cabling, connections and terminations
- switchboard, isolator and metering changes
- installation of the inverter, battery and mounting hardware (the hardware itself is covered by its manufacturer's warranty)
- configuration and commissioning to AS/NZS 5033 and AS/NZS 3000
If our workmanship is at fault, we repair it at our cost, or redo the work where a repair isn't practical, including the labour, callout and inspection. The warranty transfers to a later owner of the property for the rest of the 10 years if we are told in writing of the change of ownership and given the new owner's contact details. A product fault goes through the manufacturer's warranty, and we help you make the claim. The full terms are on our warranty conditions page.
To make a claim, call 1300 201 358 or email accounts@helcro.com.au with your name, address, job number and a description of the problem (photos help).
Do you repair solar systems another company installed? We don't repair inverters or panels, and we normally don't work on a system another company installed: we either replace the whole system or leave it alone. Where a system is out of warranty, we can sometimes replace a part, once we've agreed in writing that we're responsible only for our own work. Adding a battery to existing solar is a separate job: see batteries for existing solar systems.
Solar installation across Melbourne's South East
We install solar in Cheltenham, Mentone, Moorabbin, Highett, Parkdale, Beaumaris, Sandringham, Bentleigh, Bentleigh East, Brighton East, McKinnon, Carrum Downs, Aspendale, Hampton, Chelsea and Brighton, and in Black Rock, Mordialloc, Seaford, Frankston and the other South East suburbs we cover.
Tell us your roof type, whether you are single- or three-phase, and whether a battery or EV charger is on the list, and we will call you back within 2 business hours.
Helcro Electrical, 45/148 Chesterville Road, Cheltenham VIC 3192. Phone 1300 201 358.
Prices and rules on this page checked 22 October 2026.