Work we've done in Byron Shire

Myocum, off-grid family home: 24 kW of Winaico solar, two Victron Quattro 10 kVA inverter-chargers, 102 kWh of MPS battery storage and an auto-start PowerMaster generator, installed in 2023. It runs a large home with a heated pool, air conditioning and an EV charger with no grid connection at all.
Solar and batteries on the coast from Byron Bay to Ocean Shores, and stand-alone systems up the valleys behind Mullumbimby.

Two very different jobs in one shire

On the coast, from Byron to Ocean Shores, the work is salt-rated grid-connected solar and batteries on homes, holiday lets and small businesses. Winaico panels with salt-mist certification and a 30-year warranty, marine-grade racking, Sigenergy hybrid inverters and storage, everything sealed for the weather that comes off the sea. In the hinterland behind Mullumbimby, up Main Arm, Wilsons Creek and the Upper Wilsons Creek valleys, a large share of the properties are off-grid or want to be, and that's the work Thomson Energy has been doing since 2011: Victron-based stand-alone systems with Australian-made MPS batteries, sized from real loads, with generator integration and remote monitoring.

Byron Bay and the coast

Byron Shire Council has had a net-zero target for years and the shire has one of the highest rates of rooftop solar in NSW, so the question for most owners isn't whether to go solar but how to get more out of it. Batteries are the answer for homes with evening loads and for holiday lets that want a lower running cost and backup through an outage. Heritage and character controls in parts of Byron and Bangalow can affect panel placement; we design around them. Strata and townhouse solar, common in Byron and Suffolk Park, is something we can take to a body corporate with a proper proposal.

Mullumbimby and the hinterland

Mullum itself is on reasonable Essential Energy supply, but the lines up the valleys behind it are long, exposed and the first to go down in a storm. The 2022 floods isolated Main Arm and Upper Main Arm for weeks, and ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred in 2025 cut power across the hinterland for days. If you're at the end of one of those lines, a grid-connected system with a decent battery and backup wiring is the minimum we'd suggest, and if the connection is marginal or the Essential Energy quote to connect a new build is eye-watering, a full off-grid system is often the better long-term answer. We'll tell you which, honestly, after a look at the site and your loads.

Local network notes

All of Byron Shire is on the Essential Energy network. A standard single-phase connection comes with a 5 kW export limit, with flexible limits up to 10 kW coming in from late 2026 where the local network has capacity. Some of the older coastal streets and most of the hinterland are single-phase only, which caps inverter size; we'll check your supply before we quote. Multiple occupancy communities in the hinterland, which are common around Main Arm and Wilsons Creek, often share a single connection and need a system designed around that arrangement, which we've done before.

Travel and service

Mullumbimby and Ocean Shores are about 35 minutes from our workshop at Fernvale, Byron Bay and Bangalow about 45, and the Main Arm valley about 45 to 55. No travel charge for Byron Shire. For off-grid systems we monitor remotely through Victron VRM and can diagnose most faults without a site visit, which matters when you're an hour up a dirt road.

Get a Byron Shire quote

Solar and battery installer for Byron Bay and Mullumbimby