The install itself usually takes one day. The wait to get to that day is what's changed — and right now it's the wait, not the labour, driving people to book months ahead.

We're getting calls from Dee Why to Charlestown asking the same thing: how far out are you booking? Below is what actually happens between your first phone call and the day we switch the system on, and why lead times have stretched.

How long the whole thing really takes

For a standard solar-only job — say a 6.6kW or 10kW system on a straightforward single-storey home — the physical install is one day. Two sparkies and a couple of labourers, on the roof by 7am, tested and commissioned by mid-afternoon.

Add a battery and you're often looking at one long day or two, depending on where the unit goes and how tidy your switchboard is. A Tesla Powerwall 3 or a Sigenergy stack near the meter is quick; a battery on the far side of the house needing new cable runs and a subboard takes longer.

The real timeline is the front end. From accepting a quote to install day, expect roughly two to eight weeks. The variables are network approval (Ausgrid or Endeavour), stock on the specific inverter and battery, and how busy the crews are that month.

The network approval nobody warns you about

Before we install, we lodge a connection application with your network — Ausgrid across most of Sydney and the Newcastle side, Endeavour through parts of the outer west and south. For solar under a certain size this is usually quick. For batteries and larger systems, or where you want to export more than the standard limit, approval can take a couple of weeks.

A common gotcha: three-phase homes and export limits. If your street's transformer is already loaded up with solar — which happens in newer estates around Frenchs Forest — the network may cap your export at 5kW or even zero. We check this before you commit, because it changes whether a bigger system makes financial sense.

Why people are booking earlier

The biggest driver is the incentives lining up at once. The federal STC rebate still knocks several thousand dollars off a solar system, but it steps down every year on 1 January as the deeming period shrinks. The NSW battery incentive has also pulled a lot of demand forward — people who were on the fence about storage are now doing solar and battery together.

When incentives are strong, everyone books at once. That fills the calendar. The homeowners who wait until December to organise a system for the summer bills often can't get a crew until well into the new year, by which point the STC value has dropped again.

The second driver is feed-in tariffs falling. A few years ago you might have earned 10–12c per kWh for exported solar. Now it's commonly 4–7c, and some retailers are lower again. That kills the old "just export everything" strategy and makes a battery the way to actually use your own power — so people book solar and storage together rather than adding a battery later.

Booking early also locks in current stock and pricing. A quality 10kW system with a decent battery typically runs somewhere between $12,000 and $20,000 installed after rebates, depending on the gear. Prices move, and popular battery models sell out in waves.

What we check on the quote visit

When we come out, the roof is the easy part. The switchboard is where jobs quietly blow out. We open it up and look for asbestos backing on older boards — common in homes built before the mid-80s around the Northern Beaches — because that has to be handled and often replaced before we can work in there safely.

We also check for a spare way for the solar breaker, whether there's a working main switch and surge protection, and what your metering setup is. A lot of quotes go wrong when the installer assumes the existing meter will handle solar — sometimes it needs reconfiguring or replacing by your retailer, which is a separate booking that adds days. We flag that upfront so it's not a surprise on install day.

The other frequent mistake we see on other people's work: panels crammed onto a shaded or south-facing section just to hit a headline kW number. We'd rather fit fewer panels in good sun than pad the system size. It's the kind of thing that only shows up in your bills a year later.

Getting in ahead of the rush

If you're thinking about solar or a battery for this coming summer, the sensible move is to get the quote and network application moving now, while there's room in the calendar and the rebates are at their current value. The paperwork can be ticking along in the background while you decide.

We're happy to come out and take a proper look at your roof, switchboard and meter, and give you honest numbers on timing and cost with no obligation. Book a free assessment with us and we'll tell you exactly where you sit.