How to choose a good solar installer in Australia.

The 30-second take

• Most "bad solar" stories are install-quality stories, not panel-brand stories.
• Demand: a real trading history, manufacturer accreditation, a track record of decent Google reviews, written workmanship warranty.
• Phoenix risk is real — installers go under and re-open under a new ABN to escape warranty liability.
• Five questions to ask: trading history, accreditations, who handles warranty claims, payment milestones, post-install support.
• Don’t pick on price alone — the cheapest quote usually wins on year-1 economics and loses on year-5 support.

Why installer quality matters more than panel brand

In April 2026 the Clean Energy Regulator inspected 1,278 home battery installs under the Cheaper Home Batteries Program. 60.8% came back substandard — incorrect labelling, exposed wiring, sloppy electrical work, ventilation problems, missing isolators. Most of those installs used tier-1 panel and battery brands. The hardware wasn’t the failure mode.

A $15,000 solar-and-battery system that’s installed badly is a $30,000 problem in year 5. If the installer phoenixes, no other qualified electrician will take warranty liability for someone else’s work. You’re either paying to rip it out and start again — without the rebate — or living with degraded output. Picking the right installer up-front is the single highest-leverage decision in the buying process.

“60.8% of inspected home battery installs in April 2026 came back substandard. Most used tier-1 hardware. The failure mode is install quality, not panel brand.”

The four-filter checklist

Before you accept a quote, the installer should pass all four of these. Any miss is a red flag.

• Trading history. At least a couple of years in business with a real track record of completed installs in your area. Look up the ABN on abr.business.gov.au and check the registration date. A 2-year-old ABN with "20 years industry experience" copy on the website is a rebrand — find out what the previous trading name was and why it changed.
• Manufacturer accreditation. Active accreditation with at least one listed manufacturer (Tesla, Enphase, SolarEdge, Sigenergy, Fronius). The brands don’t accredit installers casually — accreditation requires training, audited installs, and ongoing compliance. An accredited installer for the brand you want is a far better signal than a brand-agnostic "we install everything" claim.
• Real Google reviews. A track record of decent reviews built up over time. Not a 5.0 with 12 reviews — that’s either a new business or a manufactured score. Read the recent 1- and 2-star reviews; what they complain about tells you what your year-3 experience is likely to be.
• Written workmanship warranty. 10 years minimum, in writing, in the quote. Verbal warranties aren’t enforceable when the installer disappears. Demand a signed warranty document, not "we offer 10 years" on the website.

The five questions to ask before signing

These don’t need a perfect answer — they need a confident, specific answer. Hesitation or vagueness on any of them is a tell.

• "How long have you traded under this ABN?" Cross-check with abr.business.gov.au. If the ABN is younger than the years the website claims, ask why.
• "Which manufacturer accreditations are current?" They should be able to name them and confirm the brand’s portal will validate the install. If they can’t, the accreditation is lapsed or fictional.
• "If something fails in year 4, who handles the warranty claim?" The right answer is "we do, direct with the manufacturer". The wrong answer is "you contact the manufacturer".
• "What are the payment milestones?" Deposit < 10%, progress payment at install, final payment after commissioning and sign-off. Any installer asking for >50% upfront should be a hard pass.
• "What does post-install support look like in years 1, 3, and 5?" Specifics matter — system monitoring, fault response time, who comes out for a service call, what it costs. Vague answers signal there’s no real plan.

How Solar Select filters for this

Solar Select runs every installer that applies to the network through this exact filter — typically 2+ years in business with a track record of decent reviews, vetted before they see a single enquiry. Every homeowner enquiry is routed to a maximum of 3 vetted installers — no auctions, no race to the bottom. If a routed installer underperforms or a homeowner reports a bad experience, the installer history is tracked and bad actors are removed.

You can still do this filter yourself. It just takes time. Solar Select compresses that time into a postcode entry plus a short qualifier — same outcome, less work.

Read next

• How Solar Select matches you (the 5-step process)
• About Solar Select — what we won’t compromise on
• How to read a solar quote

Sources

• cleanenergyregulator.gov.au — battery install inspection program
• abr.business.gov.au — ABN lookup
• cleanenergycouncil.org.au — approved retailer code