To size your solar panel system you need to work out how much electricity you use and when you use it.
As a guide, a typical home uses 20kWh of energy a day, which equates to a 5kW system.
See our separate guide to sizing a solar PV system to figure out your home’s electricity use.
An example: You could use four 250W Jinko panels, taking up 6.5m2 of roof space, to make a 1000W array. But four 327W Sunpower panels would take up the same overall area and form a more powerful 1308W array (although the Sunpower panels would cost you more).
The average price across Australian capital cities for a 5kW system is $5100, and solar technology is only getting cheaper.
Read more about the cost of solar systems in our article Solar payback times.
It takes anywhere from two to seven years for a solar system to pay for itself – after that is when you can start counting the savings.
Payback times vary depending on where you live in Australia. The infographic below shows averages for capital cities.
*By submitting you are agreeing to receive occasional messages from Service Heroes We don't spam or sell your details to 3rd parties.