Choosing a solar panel installer – yes, another clickbait title. If you're searching the web, researching solar, or considering installation, you've probably come across titles like Best Solar Panels, Solar Buying Guide, How Much Do Solar Panels Cost, and so on.
After editing the Solar Directory for many years, I've developed some effective methods to verify and identify the credentials and reputation of solar power companies. I want to share these methods with you to help you make an informed decision about who to choose to install what will hopefully become your beloved solar power system. You can perform all these checks online without contacting the company for details like license numbers.
The first place most of us turn to is Google or another search engine. You probably type in "solar panel installers near me" or something similar. One thing to remember is that search engines don't rank solar and electrical companies based on credentials or reputation. The "algorithm" (more likely AI in 2024) looks at the website's content and tries to serve you what it thinks you’re looking for based on your search terms. A flashy website doesn't necessarily indicate a high-quality company. So, don't let the appearance of a website influence you too much. We can break this down into three parts: qualification, identity, and reputation.
Qualifications
Electrical Licenses and Solar Panel Installation
Anyone who installs a solar power system must be a licensed electrician, applicable in all states. However, the company selling you the system needs an electrical license in South Australia, New South Wales, ACT, Northern Territory, and Queensland. In Victoria, Western Australia, and Tasmania, the company can contract the job out to a licensed electrician without needing an electrical license. More details about this can be found here: Solar Installer License Requirements by State.
Explainer: Solar Panel Installers and Electrical Licenses
If you have a shortlist of companies, check their electrical licenses. Here are the best links for license checks in each state. Most electrical companies or solar companies will display their electrical license on their website, often at the bottom of the page in the footer or the "About Us" section, sometimes in small print.
Electrical Licence Check Websites in Australia:
- Queensland
- New South Wales
- Australian Capital Territory
- Victoria
- Tasmania
- South Australia
- Western Australia
- Northern Territory
Solar Accreditation
Solar accreditation, approved solar retailers, and the new energy tech consumer code can be a bit confusing, especially with recent changes. Solar accreditation means an individual has undertaken the proper training to install solar to certain standards, and it only applies to individuals, not companies. An approved solar retailer is a title applied to a company. Recently, this has been replaced with the New Energy Tech Consumer Code (NETCC) scheme, administered by the Clean Energy Council.
Explainer: Accredited Installers, NETCC Approved Sellers, CEC Approved Retailers
You can verify an individual's solar accreditation on the Solar Accreditation website. To do this, you need the installer's accreditation number. If they don't display their number on their website, you’ll need to contact them and ask for it. A better idea might be to have a dedicated page for each installer where they can log in and update their details publicly, similar to the ABN website. Then people could search by location, name, or company. Additionally, installers could link back to that page from their website.
NETCC Approved Seller
You can browse approved sellers here.
Explainer: What Is the New Energy Tech Consumer Code NETCC?
Identity: Who's Behind the Name?
ABN Numbers
There are plenty of credible and quality solar installers, and of course, some not-so-good ones. Here's a trick to dig deeper into who is behind a company name or website.
If a business gets a bad name with a ton of bad reviews, they may try to rebrand under a different name. Australian domain names require an ABN number. You can look up the ABN number associated with a domain name here. Enter the domain without the HTTP or WWW, like this: domainname.com.au, and search. Focus on the registrant name and registrant ID, which will be an ABN number:
Registrant: DAVID SMITH
Registrant ID: ABN 12345678901
Then head over to the ABN Lookup Website and do a search for that ABN. You should see all the business names associated with it along with the name or business name associated with the ABN number. This way, if a company was a bit dodgy and changed their name to escape a bad reputation, you may see that old dodgy name listed. If you want to dig even more, search Google for the registrant name or try adding the word "Solar" after it. Often, a LinkedIn profile or other business names and associations will come up, exposing the relationship between individuals and multiple company names and businesses.
Solar Reviews
Finally, reading company reviews is essential. There are many websites offering reviews on solar companies, but no review site is 100% accurate in verifying the honesty of reviews. For example, on Facebook, anyone can create an account and write a review or even multiple accounts.
As far as solar reviews go, SolarQuotes is by far the top tier in this area. Why? Because they go to great lengths to verify the authenticity of the reviews. If you look at the form where reviewers need to submit their information, it's quite detailed. Reviewers need to submit their phone number and have the option of supplying other documents like receipts and images of the install.
Explainer: About the Solar Quotes Reviews System
Sometimes, if you're looking at reviews on Google Maps or Facebook, you might read one or two reviews and then go to another site and see the exact same reviews word for word. So watch out for that. You may get the impression that a company has a great number of reviews, but if you actually look at the names and text, you'll see that it's just the same review duplicated over and over.
Nothing beats word-of-mouth from your neighbours or someone you know who had solar installed by a particular company. This becomes more valuable over time. If someone has had a system installed for 12 months and they're happy, that's good. It may take time for shoddy workmanship or faults to appear that are not apparent at first.
Useful Links:
