Yes.  You pretty much answered your own question.  Add each sphere to its own (rotation) transform group which is centered on the origin (0,0,0).  Then add each of those transform groups to a new (translation) transform group to position the sphere relative to the sun.  Finally, add those transform groups to yet another (rotation) transform group to rotate the spheres around the sun.

Note that, if you want the planets to each rotate around the sun at a different rate, you will need a different 'around the sun' transform group for each planet.

So your transform group structure will be something like:

Solar rotation (time around the sun)
     |
translation (distance from sun)
     |
axis rotation (time around axis)

You will need a structure like this for each planet.