How to connect - Homeowners & small businesses

Ensure your chosen DER system is listed on the Clean Energy Council Approved inverters or Approved batteries lists. Once you have confirmed your chosen DER system is listed you will need to find someone to install it. Ensure your installer is an accredited installer with Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA) by asking for their SAA accreditation number and checking their accreditation status.

To ensure our electricity network can support the connection of your DER system, you need to apply for a new connection contract with us. As technical information is required, it’s a good idea to have your system retailer/installer apply for you.

You can submit your Connect Application yourself via our Customer Self Service, however if you’re not quite sure about the information you need to provide, we recommend talking to your system retailer/installer who can submit the application on your behalf.

System retailers/installers operating on behalf of a customer will submit the Connect Application via the Electrical Partners Portal.

Note: During the connection process we will usually contact the person who submitted the application. If someone (e.g. system retailer/installer) has applied on your behalf, they will receive updates about your application. You may also receive copies of these emails to help you stay informed. These updates are provided for information only. The person who applied on your behalf remains your main point of contact. You may wish to contact them after receiving an update and they can explain what the update means and what happens next.

Connection Application -  Apply now

You can check the progress of your Connect Application via Track Service Orders.

If you still have questions, you can call our Solar and Renewables Team on (07) 4789 5959 (8am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday) or email us.

When we receive your application, we’ll check if your proposed connection qualifies as a basic connection or if a negotiated connection will be required. We will also assess whether the local electricity network can support your new system.

Once the Connect Application has been submitted, we will review it and provide a Basic or Negotiated Connection Offer.

The offer must be accepted for your system connection to proceed.

If someone submits the application on your behalf, they will also need to accept our connection offer on your behalf.

Note: Even though someone may be acting on your behalf, the connection contract that is formed by accepting our connection offer is between you and us, and it is IMPORTANT you understand your connection contract.

Basic Connection

If your connection qualifies as a basic connection service according to our Connection Policy  (PDF 659.6 kb) (and Factsheet (PDF 1.4 mb)), it can be fast-tracked when submitting the online Connect Application by ensuring the Expedite Application box is ticked. The connection contract will automatically be created based on the terms of our Model Standing Offer - Micro Embedded Generation (PDF 468.4 kb).

If your application is assessed as basic, but is not expedited, we’ll make a Basic Connection Offer within 10 business days (or another date agreed with you). You'll have 45 business days to accept it. Your connection contract starts when the offer is accepted.

Negotiated Connection

If your connection is unable to be classified as basic, it will be classed as a negotiated connection. We’ll contact the person who applied to discuss the terms of your connection contract. There may be additional costs which will need to be accepted at this time.

We do a technical assessment for most applications that will receive a Negotiated Connection Offer. If our technical assessment finds that your proposed system may not work effectively with our network, we’ll send an email advising of the options available. Once you choose your preferred option, we’ll arrange for your connection offer to be sent.

We’ll aim to make a Negotiated Connection Offer within 65 business days of your Connect Application being submitted. You'll have 20 business days to accept it. Your connection contract starts once the offer is accepted.

See our indicative terms for a Negotiated Connection Contract (PDF 456.9 kb).

Dynamic negotiated connection

Where dynamic (flexible) export is requested, the application will be assessed as a negotiated connection. Please refer to our Dynamic Negotiated Agreement – Less than 30kVA (PDF 326.8 kb) for our indicative terms and conditions. For more information on how dynamic connections work, refer to our About Dynamic Connections web page.

Do you live in a remote area? All new Connect Applications submitted in isolated communities need to be investigated before it can be determined if they will be basic or negotiated.

Read more about connection service types, offers and contracts in our FAQs.

The installation or alteration of any DER system that will be connected to our network must not be commenced until after you have accepted our connection offer and your connection contract has been formed.

Your installer must submit an Electrical Work Request (EWR) to us within the timeframes outlined in your connection contract once the system has been installed.

You must also contact your electricity retailer to advise of your new/modified system and arrange for appropriate metering to be installed if needed. Your electricity retailer may also require changes to your account (e.g. apply a solar feed-in tariff if you are eligible and will be exporting electricity to the grid).

Note: Metering that measures any electricity exported to the grid is required on all systems. Your electricity retailer may need you to have a new meter installed or your existing meter programmed to measure export. Please discuss this with your retailer and the timeframe for this to occur.

Important: Your installer must leave your system switched off until the metering has been replaced or programmed to measure export. Before the system is turned on you should talk to your installer about how to do this safely.

We may visit your premises to inspect your DER system to confirm it matches your application and meets safety and electrical standards. We may inspect your system after installation, as part of an audit, or if there's potential for your system to have an impact on our network. We don’t need to check the solar panels.

It's important that any system changes such as changing settings, swapping your inverter, or adding panels or batteries are approved by us before an installer makes the changes. You'll need to submit a Connect Application (see step 1 above) to apply for the changes.

Note: If we visit your premises, we’ll need access to your meter box and your inverter.