CASE STUDY · SWITCHBOARDS · WEST END
Upgrading the mains cable in a West End Queenslander before solar and a battery
The home had the thin 6mm mains cable that is common in West End. It would have limited the performance of a solar and battery system, so we upgraded the switchboard and replaced the cable with 16mm, run up from under the house and hidden in the wall.
Upgrading the mains cable in a West End Queenslander. 41 sec, filmed on site on 29 July 2026.
Read what is said in the video
Electrician We're out here at West End, just around the corner from the workshop. We're doing a switchboard upgrade here for a solar and battery upgrade.
Electrician If you've got a little 6 mil cable, which is common in these types of setups in West End, that's going to bottleneck the performance of the solar and battery.
Electrician For good performance of the system, you want to make sure you've got a good fat overhead service, and then a good fat consumer main going to your switchboard. It's sort of like water through a pipe.
Electrician From that point of attachment down there, we're going to jump in the wall. We can snake all the way up from under the house and conceal the cabling, all the way up through, and it's going to be 16 mil cable.
Lightly edited for reading. Crew names are left out.
The job.
What was holding the house back
They wanted solar and a battery on their timber Queenslander, just around the corner from our workshop. The house was still on a 6mm consumer mains cable.
What we recommended
A solar and battery system needs a heavy enough overhead service and consumer mains to carry its full output, and 6mm cable would hold it back. We recommended upgrading the switchboard and replacing the mains with 16mm cable before the system went in.
Does an old Queenslander need a rewire? ↗What we did
- 1Upgraded the switchboard for the solar and battery system.
- 2Ran new 16mm consumer mains from the point of attachment, up from under the house and through the wall.
- 3Kept the cable concealed inside the wall the whole way up.
FROM THE JOB
Photos from the day.
AT A GLANCE
Job details.
- House
- Timber Queenslander
- Old mains
- 6mm, common in West End
- New mains
- 16mm
- Cable route
- Under the house, then inside the wall
- Ready for
- Solar and a battery
QUESTIONS FROM THIS JOB
Upgrading the mains before solar.
Answers from the West End job, filmed 29 July 2026.
Why does mains cable size matter for solar and batteries?
The consumer mains is the cable from where the power comes onto the house to your switchboard. Many older West End homes have 6mm mains, and that size limits how well a solar and battery system can perform.
What size mains did you put in?
16mm cable, run from the point of attachment up from under the house and inside the wall, so none of it shows.
Does the switchboard need upgrading as well?
On this job it did. We upgraded the switchboard at the same time as the mains, ready for the solar and battery.
Thinking about solar on an older home?
Send us a photo of your switchboard and where the power comes into the house. We will tell you whether the mains need upgrading before solar goes in.
READ NEXT
More on switchboards and mains.
Switchboard upgrades in Townsville
When an old board needs replacing, what the upgrade involves, and how to book it in.
See the service ↗SERVICESolar and battery installation in Townsville
How we plan and install solar and batteries across Townsville, and how to get a written quote.
See the service ↗GUIDEDoes an old Queenslander need a rewire?
What we look for in the wiring of an older Townsville house, and when a rewire is worth it.
Read the guide ↗