Solar Installer Botched the Job? How to Force a Fix or Refund

You paid $9,000 for a 6.6kW system. It was meant to cut your bill by $1,500 a year. Six months later the inverter keeps tripping, one string was never connected, and the roof leaks around the mounts. The salesperson who promised the world has left, and the “customer care” line goes to voicemail.

The good news: the rules for installers are tighter than almost any other trade.

Three sets of rules the installer must follow

1. Australian Consumer Law. The panels and inverter must be of acceptable quality (section 54). The installation must be done with due care and skill and be fit for the purpose you were sold (sections 60 and 61). If they told you “you will save $1,500 a year” and the system produces a third of that, that may be misleading conduct (section 18).
2. Clean Energy Council (CEC) accreditation. To claim the government STC rebate, the installer must be CEC accredited and follow its guidelines. Rectification of defective work is a CEC requirement. Non-compliance can cost them their accreditation.
3. Home building law. In New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, solar work above a value threshold is residential building work with statutory warranties against defects for several years.

What you can demand

• Rectification at their cost within a fixed time, for example 21 days
• Or, if the failure is major or they refuse, a refund and removal of the system
• Consequential loss: the power bills you paid that the system should have covered, and roof repairs from leaks caused by their mounts

A system producing half what was promised for 8 months is easy maths. If you were told $125 a month in savings and got $40, that is $680 in lost savings on top of the fix.

Evidence that wins these cases

• The quote and contract, especially any production or savings figures
• Inverter app screenshots showing actual output
• Your electricity bills before and after
• Photos of leaks, loose cables or panel damage
• An independent inspection report from another CEC-accredited installer (usually $200 to $400, and worth every cent)

The Letter of Demand

Your letter should list the defects, quote the sections of the ACL and the relevant state building Act, refer to the installer’s CEC obligations, state what you want (fix or refund) and by when, and warn that you will file at the tribunal and lodge a CEC complaint. Solar companies are terrified of CEC complaints because losing accreditation ends the business.

Many retailers are also signatories to the New Energy Tech Consumer Code, which has its own complaint process. Mention it.

If they went bust

If the installer company has been wound up (common in solar), check whether the retailer who sold you the system is a separate company. The retailer is liable under the ACL regardless of who did the install. Manufacturers are also directly liable for panel and inverter defects.

Do not accept “we’ll send someone out next month” for the fourth time. Put it in writing and give them a deadline.

Claim Done drafts your Letter of Demand for $49. Done in about 5 minutes. You approve it before it is sent.