Solar in Melbourne — Who Installs It, and What We Do

What Litmec does, and what we don't

Litmec does not install solar panels. Installing and connecting a grid-connected solar system in Victoria requires accreditation that we do not currently hold, and we would rather say so than take the job and subcontract it quietly. What we do instead is put you in touch with an accredited installer we know and have worked alongside, and handle the electrical side ourselves where a switchboard, mains or supply upgrade is needed to make the system possible.

That split matters more than it sounds. On a large share of the solar jobs we get called about, the panels were never the obstacle — the switchboard was. An installer quotes a system, gets to the board, finds ceramic fuses, an asbestos backing panel or no spare ways, and the job stops there. That part is ours.

How the referral works

1. Call us and describe the property — roof, age of the house, what the board looks like, and whether you are considering a battery or an EV charger as well.
2. We tell you honestly whether the electrical side needs work first. If it does, we quote that part — free, fixed price, after a site look.
3. We pass your details to an accredited installer we work with, who quotes the system itself. You deal with them directly on the solar; there is no margin added by us and no obligation to use them.
4. If both jobs go ahead we sequence them so the board work lands before the install, rather than the installer discovering it on the day.

We do not charge for the referral and we do not take a commission on the system. The only thing we quote for is electrical work we carry out ourselves.

The electrical work solar actually needs

These are the items that stop a solar install, and all of them are work a Registered Electrical Contractor does rather than an accredited installer:

• A switchboard with room in it. A solar system needs its own protected way and an AC isolator. A full board, or one with ceramic fuses, has neither.
• An asbestos backing panel dealt with. Zelemite, Ausbestos and Miscolite panels are common in houses wired between the 1950s and 1980s. Most installers will not drill into one, and they are right not to.
• RCD protection on the final subcircuits, which a board of that age usually does not have.
• Consumer mains that can carry the export and, on larger systems or where a battery and an EV charger are going in as well, a supply upgrade or a three-phase conversion.
• A meter position that works — occasionally the meter box has to be relocated or rebuilt before anything can be added to it.

Batteries and EV charging

The same division applies. The battery itself is the accredited installer's work. The AC side — the supply, the board, the isolation and the circuit feeding it — is ours, and so is an EV charger, which needs no solar accreditation at all. If you are planning solar, a battery and a charger over the next few years, the sensible order is to size the supply and the board once, for all three, rather than three times.

Rebates

Federal STCs and the Solar Victoria rebate and interest-free loan both change from time to time, and eligibility depends on the property, the household and the installer being accredited. We will not quote you a rebate figure, because the accredited installer is the one who applies for it and is the only party who can tell you what you will actually receive. Check the current terms at solar.vic.gov.au and treat any number quoted before a site inspection as an estimate.

Where we do this

Litmec is based in Newport in Melbourne's inner west and travels for project work — across Greater Melbourne and out to roughly 100 km where the scope justifies the trip. Switchboard and supply upgrades, three-phase conversions, rewiring, renovation rough-ins and commercial fitout are quoted anywhere in that radius.

If solar is on the list for your place, call 0418 583 097. We will tell you what the electrical side needs and put you on to someone accredited for the rest.