TFA Solar · Carey Gully, Adelaide Hills
Solar and Battery Installers in Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills
The local solar & battery installers you can trust.
Design, installation, servicing and repairs right across Adelaide, the Hills and regional South Australia, from a team that has been working on rooftops here since the early 2000s.
- Installing solar in South Australia since the early 2000s
- Based at Carey Gully, installing right across SA
- SAA accredited retailer, NETCC approved seller
- Our own installers, never subcontracted
- 4.9 stars from around 119 Google reviews
Who we are
Solar, batteries and EV charging across Adelaide and South Australia
TFA Solar is a small, family started business based at Carey Gully in the Adelaide Hills. We design, install, service and repair solar for home owners right across South Australia, covering on-grid solar, battery storage, off-grid systems and EV chargers.
Every system we quote is designed around your roof, your power usage and your part of the network. A suburban block, a Hills property and a rural site all behave differently, and that difference shows up in the design rather than in a standard package.
What we do
Our solar and battery services
Solar for home installs make up the bulk of our work, alongside battery storage, EV charging, repairs, and off-grid work for properties where the grid is not the best answer.
Grid connected
On-Grid Solar Systems
Grid-connected solar for home owners, sized around your daytime usage rather than the biggest system that fits on the roof. We handle the design, the SA Power Networks application and the install.
On-grid solar systemsStorage
Solar Battery Storage
Store what your panels make during the day and use it at night. We install batteries alongside new solar and retrofit them to existing systems, including AC coupled setups where the original inverter stays in place.
Solar battery systemsStandalone power
Off-Grid Solar Systems
For properties where connecting or upgrading a grid supply is expensive or impractical. Most off-grid work is rural, where mains power is limited or not there at all, and it needs a different design approach to a grid-connected system.
Off-grid solar systemsEV charging
EV Charger Installation
Home EV charger supply and installation, either included in a solar quote or done on its own. We can also look at whether your switchboard and supply can handle it before you buy a car.
EV charger installationService
Solar Repairs and Maintenance
Panels underperforming, inverter faults, monitoring that has stopped reporting, or a system installed by a company that is no longer trading. We service systems we did not install, and we also do switchboard upgrades and system health checks.
Solar repairs and maintenanceWe install and service equipment from these brands, and we will tell you plainly why we have recommended a particular panel, inverter or battery for your site.
Brands we install
Reviews
What South Australian homeowners say about TFA Solar
Professional, prompt and friendly service. The product was explained really clearly and some good tips on using the solar and battery were offered.
Friendly, experienced and knowledgeable team helped to right size my solar and battery to meet my demand.
Our solar system stopped working. Our neighbour recommended TFA. Great service and excellent communication.
Where we started
Off-grid installation in the Hills and rural SA
Plenty of rural properties have no mains connection at all, or the cost of getting one to the house is higher than going without. Off-grid is a real option in those cases, but it is a different job to a grid-connected system. Sizing has to account for the worst week of the year rather than the average, and there is no grid to fall back on when the design is wrong.
Off-grid systems are where TFA Solar originally specialised. We design and install them, and we service existing ones that are not performing.
Off-grid solar systems →Our work
Our Recent Installations
With decades of experience and local knowledge, TFA Solar can design a system that suits your location, your roof, your budget and how you actually live.
Over the years we have delivered solar, battery and off-grid systems across metropolitan Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills and regional South Australia. Alongside complete installations we do switchboard upgrades, AC coupled battery retrofits, and ongoing servicing and maintenance.
There is no such thing as an out-of-the-box solar system, because one size does not fit all.
This is why we assess every property individually before we design anything.
Why us
Why South Australian homeowners choose TFA Solar
A small team, so you are not a job number
We are a small, family started business and the owner is still involved in the work. The person who quotes your system is part of the same team that installs it. You are not handed between a call centre, a subcontractor and a warranty department. If something needs sorting later, you call the same number.
One of the first solar companies in South Australia
TFA Solar started installing solar in the early 2000s, which makes us one of the first solar companies in South Australia to do it. Plenty of companies that sold solar here over that period are no longer trading, which is why we spend a fair amount of time servicing other people's installations. A warranty is only worth something if the company behind it answers the phone.
Our own installers, on our own jobs
The people on your roof work for us. We do not subcontract installations out to whoever is available that week, so the standard of work is something we control rather than hope for. Every system carries a minimum five year whole-of-system and installation warranty.
SAA accredited solar retailer since December 2018 · NETCC approved seller since April 2025
We know this network and this terrain
We work on suburban rooftops, Hills blocks and rural properties every week, so SA Power Networks connection rules, SWER supplies, shaded sites and bushfire prone areas are all routine rather than the occasional exception. Being based in the Hills means the harder sites are the ones closest to home.
The process
How we work, from first call to switch-on
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Get in touch
Call us or send the form. We will ask a few questions about your property, your power bills and what you are trying to achieve, and can book a time to come out.
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Design and quote
You get a system designed for your property, with the equipment we have recommended and the reason we recommended it. The discounts are already deducted, so the figure you see is the figure you pay.
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On-site assessment
We come to you. We look at the roof, the shading through the day, the switchboard, the supply and your usage pattern, and we check what your connection is allowed to export.
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Network approval
We lodge the SA Power Networks application and handle the paperwork so it is smooth sailing on your end, typically completed within two weeks of your installation. If you are on a high feed-in tariff, we time the final approval to maximise your time on that tariff.
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Installation and switch-on
Our in-house team handles the installation and commissioning of your system, sets up the monitoring, and shows you how it all works before we leave. We lodge your meter upgrade, if required, so you can relax with your new system.
Service area
Where we travel
We are based at Carey Gully in the Adelaide Hills and we install right across South Australia. For larger systems we are happy to travel further again.
- Nuriootpa North
- Williamstown
- Birdwood
- Lobethal
- Carey Gully and Uraidla Home base
- Stirling
- Hahndorf
- Mount Barker
- Echunga
- Macclesfield
- Mount Compass
- Goolwa and Victor Harbor South
Adelaide Hills
The community on our doorstep
We specialise in the Hills, because we live here. Shaded blocks, SWER supplies, long driveways and bushfire prone sites are ordinary jobs for us rather than the awkward ones, and if something needs following up later we are a short drive away rather than a trip up the freeway.
Greater Adelaide
Gawler to Aldinga
We install all across Adelaide and everything in between. Around half of our work sits in the suburbs and out on the plains.
Rural and regional SA
Beyond the Hills
We go the extra mile to bring renewable energy to you. North of Port Wakefield and south of Murray Bridge, few doors are out of our reach.
TFA Solar
- Address
- 9 Deviation Road, Carey Gully SA 5144
- Phone
- (08) 8390 0096
- info@tfasolar.com.au
- Hours
- Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 5.00pm
Closed public holidays
Site conditions
What makes solar in the Hills and rural SA different
Most solar quotes are written as though every roof in South Australia is the same. Away from the suburbs they are not. Five things change the design of a Hills or rural system, and each is worth understanding before you sign anything.
How much you are allowed to export
South Australia has the tightest export rules in the country. When you install or upgrade a system, SA Power Networks asks you to choose between a fixed export limit of 1.5kW per phase, or Flexible Exports, which moves between 0kW and 10kW per phase depending on how much room the local network has at the time.
Which option makes sense depends on your address, not on a general rule. We check your property against the SA Power Networks eligibility checker before we quote, so the numbers in your proposal reflect what your connection can actually do.
SWER lines and rural connections
Parts of the Hills and the surrounding rural areas are supplied by SWER lines, which are single wire earth return connections built for small loads. These sites have historically been the most restricted in the state.
Two things have improved. Flexible Exports now covers all of South Australia, including SWER areas, and since July 2025 SWER customers can install up to 10kVA of solar and 10kVA of battery, up from 5kVA each. Some SWER sites are still classed as low hosting capacity and may be able to export very little or nothing at all. If that is your situation, the system needs to be designed around self consumption and storage rather than export, and we will tell you that up front rather than after the install.
Trees, shade and roof orientation
Hills and rural blocks are treed, and shade behaves differently through the year as the sun angle changes. A layout that looks fine in midsummer can lose a meaningful share of its output in winter.
That is why panel level electronics, string layout and panel placement are design decisions rather than defaults. On a heavily shaded roof we will often recommend a different configuration to the one we would use on an open metro roof, and the reason will be in your quote.
Bushfire prone areas
Much of the Adelaide Hills and a good deal of regional South Australia sit in designated bushfire prone areas. That affects component selection, cable routing, isolation and labelling, and how the system is laid out for emergency access.
We talk through your plans and your location so the system is sized to suit. In practice that often means careful thought about battery size and location, so you have power during outages and can run things like bore pumps. We can also adjust the battery reserve to suit how you use the property.
What happens when you lose supply
If you have sat through an outage up here, you already know a standard solar system shuts down with the grid. A battery only keeps your house running through an outage if it has been specified with backup and the switchboard has been wired for it, and not every battery on the market does this.
If keeping the lights on matters to you, say so at the site visit. It changes which battery we recommend and what work the switchboard needs.
FAQs
Solar and battery questions from South Australian homeowners
How much does a solar system cost?
Every quote is built around your electricity usage, your future plans and your budget rather than a set package price, and the discounts are deducted before you see the figure.
How much comes off the price of a battery?
Around 30 percent of the upfront cost, through the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program. Since 1 May 2026 the discount is tiered, with the full rate applying to the first 14kWh of usable capacity and support reducing above that. It is not means tested, it is applied by us at the point of sale, and it can be claimed once per property. The rate steps down every six months.
Can I export solar to the grid where I live?
That depends on your address. SA Power Networks offers either a fixed limit of 1.5kW per phase, or Flexible Exports, which varies between 0kW and 10kW per phase based on network capacity at the time. In some areas the fixed option is 0kW. We check your property against the eligibility checker before quoting.
I am on a SWER line. Can I still install solar and a battery?
Yes. Flexible Exports now covers all of South Australia including SWER areas, and since July 2025 SWER customers can install up to 10kVA of solar and 10kVA of battery, up from 5kVA each. Some SWER sites are classed as low hosting capacity and may be limited to very little export or none at all. In that case the system is designed around using what you generate rather than exporting it.
Will trees and shade stop solar working on my block?
Not usually, but they change the design. Shade moves through the day and through the year, so panel placement, string layout and panel level electronics are decisions we make per site rather than defaults we apply to every roof. It is one of the reasons we look at every property before we design anything.
Do you install batteries on an existing solar system?
Yes. We retrofit batteries to existing systems, including AC coupled setups where your current inverter stays in place.
Do you use your own installers?
Yes. Installations are done by our own team, not subcontracted out.
Do you service systems you did not install?
Yes. We repair and service existing systems, including systems installed by companies that are no longer trading, and we do switchboard upgrades and system health checks. We also offer solar health checks covering safety and performance checks, cleaning and system integrity inspections.
Do you only work in the Adelaide Hills?
We install right across South Australia. That covers the Adelaide Hills from Nuriootpa down to Macclesfield, all of metropolitan Adelaide from Gawler to Aldinga, and rural and regional areas north of Port Wakefield and south of Murray Bridge. For larger systems we will travel further again. If you are not sure whether you are in range, give us a call.
Find us
Based at Carey Gully, in the middle of the Hills
Workshop
9 Deviation Road, Carey Gully SA 5144
Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 5.00pm