What to check before signing a solar contract

Solar has a sales problem. Most installers are fine, but the industry attracts high-pressure selling, and a twenty-five year asset gets sold with the urgency of a timeshare.

Here is what to check before you sign anything.

The equipment, specifically

A quote should name make and model, not categories.

• Panels — brand, model, wattage, quantity. “Tier 1 panels” is not a specification.
• Inverter — brand, model, capacity, and whether it is hybrid (battery-ready).
• Mounting — brand, and whether it is rated for your wind zone.
• Battery, if included — brand, model, and usable capacity, not just nameplate.

If the quote will not name the equipment, the installer wants to substitute later.

The warranties, in years

Two different panel warranties get conflated constantly:

• Product warranty covers manufacturing defects. Often 12 to 25 years.
• Performance warranty guarantees output stays above a threshold. Often 25 to 30 years.

A quote advertising “25 year warranty” may mean either. Ask which.

Then ask about the inverter separately. Inverter warranties range from 5 to 12 years, and this is the component most likely to fail first. The difference between 5 and 10 years is worth real money.

Finally, the workmanship warranty — the installer’s own guarantee on the install. Five years is common.

What is excluded

This is where cheap quotes become expensive ones. Ask explicitly:

• Switchboard upgrade, if required
• Scaffolding or access equipment
• Tile replacement for breakages
• Meter change, and who pays for it
• Trenching or extended cable runs
• Removal of an existing system

An exclusion list is not a red flag. An absent exclusion list is.

The rebate, shown separately

Your quote should show the full price, the STC discount as its own line, and the balance payable. If there is a battery, the battery discount likewise.

A single bundled number makes it impossible to tell whether the rebate reached you.

Accreditation

Verify that the person designing and installing is accredited, and that the equipment is on the Clean Energy Council approved lists. This is not bureaucratic box-ticking — non-accredited installs cannot claim the rebate and may not be lawful.

Ask for the accreditation number and check it.

Warning signs

“This price is only available today.” A twenty-five year asset does not require a same-day decision. This is the single clearest signal to walk away.

“The rebate ends this week.” The federal scheme steps down annually on a published schedule. It is not about to vanish.

A quote produced without assessing your roof. If nobody has looked at your roof — even from aerial imagery — and nobody asked about your usage, you have been given a package, not a design.

“Free solar.” No scheme covers the full cost. It means a tiny system, finance dressed up as a giveaway, or the cheapest equipment available.

Door knocking and cold calls. Not automatically disqualifying, but the correlation with poor outcomes is strong.

Reluctance to put things in writing. Anything promised verbally that is not in the contract does not exist.

Your rights regardless

Australian Consumer Law guarantees apply to the goods and the installation, and they cannot be excluded by anything in a contract. A system that fails well before a reasonable person would expect may be covered even if a written warranty has expired.

If the contract was signed at your home after an unsolicited approach, unsolicited consumer agreement rules may give you a cooling-off period. Check that before you assume you are committed.

The simplest test

Get three quotes. Line them up. Ask each installer to explain why theirs differs from the others.

The one who explains the difference clearly, without disparaging the competitors, is usually the one to go with.