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Solar panels in Darwin

Darwin gets more sun than any other Australian capital and uses more air conditioning than any of them, which makes it one of the strongest solar cases in the country and one of the most demanding places to install. It sits in a cyclone region, the wet season brings months of cloud and humidity, and the build-up before it is as hot as Australia gets. The Clean Energy Regulator's postcode data on this page covers Darwin, the northern suburbs, Palmerston and the rural fringe out to Howard Springs.

Clean Energy Regulator small-scale installation data across 17 postcodes in Darwin and Palmerston, to October 2026. Averages include some business systems.

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Where the installs are going

Palmerston and the new suburbs around it, Zuccoli, Durack and Bellamack, are where most of the recent installs have gone, along with the rural blocks at Howard Springs and Humpty Doo where big roofs and big bills go together. The northern suburbs of Darwin proper, from Nightcliff to Karama, install steadily on the elevated homes and the ground-level brick houses that replaced them after Cyclone Tracy.

Roofs and homes in Darwin

Cyclone rating is not optional here. Every panel, rail and fixing has to be certified for the region, and a local installer will show you the engineering without being asked. Most roofs are corrugated iron or Colorbond on steel framing, which is ideal. The wet season is the design consideration people forget: from December to March the sky is overcast for days at a time, so a system sized only on the dry-season average will under-deliver when the air conditioning is working hardest. Humidity is hard on inverters, and a ventilated, sheltered spot for it matters more than in any southern city.

Brick house with solar panels on its roof, on a suburban street

The network: Power and Water

Power and Water runs the network and Jacana Energy is the Territory's retailer, with a feed-in tariff set by the Territory rather than by competition. Export limits apply and larger systems go through a connection application; the Darwin grid is small and isolated, so the rules on inverter settings and exports are stricter than the national grid's. A battery in Darwin covers the evening air conditioning load and the outages that come with storm season, and with year-round sun it fills reliably.

Suburban street with power poles and overhead lines at sunset

What a system generates in Darwin

Darwin averages 5.5 peak sun hours a day and sits in STC Zone 2. A peak sun hour is an hour of sunlight at full strength, so the figure is what a panel collects once the weaker morning and evening light is added up. On that average, this is what the two most common system sizes produce on a north-facing roof with no shade.

Average daily and yearly solar generation in Darwin
SystemAverage dayYear
6.6 kW30.9 kWh11,262 kWh
10 kW46.8 kWh17,064 kWh

Worked as system size times 5.5 peak sun hours times 85%, the allowance our suburb pages make for inverter, heat and wiring losses, over 365 average days. Summer days produce well above the average and winter days well below it, and an east or west-facing array produces less than a north-facing one.

Across the eight capitals, the same 6.6 kW system makes from about 7,576 kWh a year in Hobart to about 11,262 kWh in Darwin. More sun means more output from the same panels, but it does not change the STC rebate within a zone: that is set by the zone, the system size and the year you install.

Rebates and feed-in tariffs in Darwin

Federal
Up to $8,000+ in solar and battery rebates in STC Zone 2. See how we calculate this.
Northern Territory
no state add-on. The Home and Business Battery Scheme is closed.
Feed-in tariff
Rates in the Northern Territory are set by the Territory through Jacana Energy. Compare feed-in tariffs.

How much solar panels cost in Darwin

These are the installed prices our solar panel cost guide works on, with the federal STC rebate for Darwin taken off. The rebate comes off the quote at the point of sale, so the last column is what you actually pay. In STC Zone 2 it is worth $1,900 on a 6.6 kW system and $2,888 on a 10 kW one.

  • 5 kW

    Installed price
    $4,500 to $6,500
    STC rebate, Zone 2
    $1,444
    You pay after the STC
    $3,056 to $5,056

  • 6.6 kW

    Installed price
    $5,500 to $8,000
    STC rebate, Zone 2
    $1,900
    You pay after the STC
    $3,600 to $6,100

  • 10 kW

    Installed price
    $8,000 to $12,000
    STC rebate, Zone 2
    $2,888
    You pay after the STC
    $5,112 to $9,112

  • 13 kW

    Installed price
    $10,000 to $15,000
    STC rebate, Zone 2
    $3,762
    You pay after the STC
    $6,238 to $11,238

Prices are the national ranges from our solar panel cost guide. Installed prices are before any rebate. The STC rebate is the certificates each system creates in Zone 2 over the 2026 deeming period of 5 years, at $38 a certificate. The deeming period shortens by a year every 1 January, so the same system earns less rebate each year you wait.

The average system installed across Darwin in the 12 months to October 2026 was 14.4 kW, above the largest system in the table, although that average includes some business systems. Size yours on your own bills and roof, but it is a fair check on what your neighbours are putting up.

What moves a quote up or down: the panel and inverter brands, a second storey or a steep or tiled roof, and switchboard or meter work. The full breakdown is in our solar panel cost guide.

Payback in Darwin

Payback is the after-rebate price divided by what the system saves each year. The saving comes from two places: the power you use yourself, which you no longer buy at around 27.0c per kWh, and the power you export, which earns the feed-in tariff.

  • 6.6 kW

    Yearly generation
    11,262 kWh
    Yearly saving
    $1,543
    You pay after the STC
    $3,600 to $6,100
    Simple payback
    2.3 to 4 years

  • 10 kW

    Yearly generation
    17,064 kWh
    Yearly saving
    $2,338
    You pay after the STC
    $5,112 to $9,112
    Simple payback
    2.2 to 3.9 years

Assumes 30% of the solar is used in the home at 27.0c per kWh, the average residential usage rate we hold for the Northern Territory, and the other 70% is exported at 8.0c per kWh, the median feed-in tariff we hold for the Northern Territory. That 30% is the share our suburb pages and calculators assume for a household out at work during the day. No battery, no price rises and no panel ageing are counted.

Using more of it yourself improves the numbers quickly, because a kWh used at home is worth 27.0c and an exported one 8.0c. At 50% self-consumption, which a household home through the day or one that runs the pool pump, dishwasher and hot water on a timer can reach, the 6.6 kW system saves about $1,971 a year in Darwin and pays back in 1.8 to 3.1 years.

Your rebate in Darwin

Up to $8,000+ in solar and battery rebates. One Why Solar Approved installer, one free written quote, and fifteen minutes with a solar expert before you sign.

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Batteries in Darwin

The federal Cheaper Home Batteries rebate applies in Darwin as it does everywhere. It is paid on usable capacity, at $258/kWh for the first 14 kWh and at lower rates above that, and like the STC rebate it comes off the price at the point of sale. It steps down on 1 January 2027, when the full rate falls to $217/kWh.

Battery rebates in Darwin
Battery (usable)Federal rebate
10 kWh$2,584
14 kWh$3,610

The table is the federal rebate only: there is no NT battery rebate that a typical household can count on.

Northern Territory: no state add-on. The Home and Business Battery Scheme is closed.

Whether a battery pays in Darwin comes down to the gap between what you pay for power and what you are paid for exporting it. Each kWh a battery moves from export into your evening is worth about 19.0c (27.0c less 8.0c). A 10 kWh battery that filled and emptied every day would be worth up to $694 a year on that gap alone; most do less in winter, when there is less surplus to store.

Battery prices by size, before and after the federal rebate, are in our battery cost guide, and the NT battery rebate page has the state detail.

Installers in Darwin

We have not published an installer guide for Darwin yet. Our national installer directory lists SAA-accredited installers with customer reviews.

When you check your rebate with us, you are matched with one Why Solar Approved installer in Darwin. An installer has passed all six of our checks: credentials, staying power, proof of work, who actually turns up to do the job, what goes in, and how they handle trouble. They earn it before they see a single homeowner, and they lose it if they let one down. The installer never cold-calls you; the one call is from a solar expert, fifteen minutes before you sign.

Installer in hi-vis and a safety harness fitting solar panels to a tin roof

What's actually happening on roofs near you

Darwin is 17 postcodes. Check yours, or any other.

What Darwin homeowners ask us

Darwin homeowners ask about cyclones and about the wet, and both come down to choosing an installer who has worked through a Top End year rather than one who flew in for the dry. They ask about the Territory's own incentives, which have changed several times and are worth checking at the time. And they ask about warranties, because the distance from the manufacturers' service networks makes an Australian support office and a local installer who will still be here matter more than anywhere else in the country.

Questions people ask

How many homes in Darwin installed solar in the last 12 months?
666 small-scale solar systems were installed across Darwin's 17 postcodes in the 12 months to October 2026, averaging 14.4 kW. The figures are the Clean Energy Regulator's postcode data, not estimates.
What solar rebates apply in Darwin?
Up to $8,000+ in solar and battery rebates apply in Darwin, calculated from STC Zone 2 and the federal battery rebate. Northern Territory: no state add-on. The Home and Business Battery Scheme is closed.
What is the best feed-in tariff in Darwin?
Feed-in tariffs in the Northern Territory are set by the Territory through Jacana Energy, so compare plans once your system is in.
How much does it cost to install solar panels in Darwin?
A 6.6 kW system in Darwin costs about $5,500 to $8,000 installed. The federal STC rebate in Zone 2 takes $1,900 off, so you pay about $3,600 to $6,100. A 10 kW system is $8,000 to $12,000 before the rebate and $5,112 to $9,112 after it. Prices move with the panels, the inverter, the roof and any switchboard work.
Is it worth getting solar in Darwin?
For most owner-occupiers with a roof that gets sun, yes. A 6.6 kW system in Darwin makes about 11,262 kWh a year from 5.5 peak sun hours a day. Using 30% of that at home and exporting the rest saves about $1,543 a year at today's rates, which pays back the after-rebate price in 2.3 to 4 years. It pays back faster if you use more of the power during the day, and more slowly on a shaded roof or a small bill.
Who is the best solar installer in Darwin?
There is no single best installer for every home. Look for SAA accreditation, a written workmanship warranty and a company that has traded under the same ABN for years; our national installer directory lists accredited installers with reviews. If you check your rebate with us, you are matched with one Why Solar Approved installer in Darwin who has passed all six of our checks.
What is the 20% rule for solar?
It is the rule of thumb that the panels should be rated 20 to 33 per cent above the inverter, such as 6.6 kW of panels on a 5 kW inverter. Panels rarely produce their full rating, so a slightly larger array keeps the inverter working near its capacity for more of the day. The Clean Energy Council's design guidelines, which the STC rules follow, allow panels up to a third larger than the inverter. That is why 6.6 kW is the standard size on a 5 kW inverter, and why 13.3 kW is the largest array on a 10 kW single-phase inverter.

Suburbs in the Darwin figures

All of the Northern TerritorySearch every suburb

Your rebate, one Why Solar Approved installer in Darwin, and a solar expert on the phone before you sign.

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Up to $8,000+ in solar and battery rebates · Federal rebates step down in 80 daysSee how we calculate this