How to find a good solar company

I love working in the solar space and my company has been in business 12 years.
We know what is required to be in business for 12 years and we look after customers. Almost none of the businesses we competed against even 5 years ago are still around today. Effectively this means zero warranties for the people who purchased through them.

Researching quality installers can be daunting and downright confusing. You have professional advisors like Solar Quotes who try to give newbies some direction in installing quality solar solutions. But they don't always get it right. Solar Quotes sells your details. That’s a fact. Every contact they have, they make a minimum $135 from. Fact. Their business model is in convincing people they have some special sauce in terms of customer experience and their (SQs) track record in their recommended installers.

Many of their "recommended" retailers are good. Many I’m gobsmacked about. For example - how can a company with a steaming fresh ABN working out of a virtual office and using the lowest cost subcontractors they can find be "good", let alone recommended? What about directors with several phoenix events in their past? In SQ you’ll find them all.

My advice on how to find a good solar company isn’t that hard:

1. Look in your local area
    
2. Use the Australian Business Register's ABN lookup tool. You can search for {company name} and check how long they’ve been in business. Click on the history tab - and you'll see if they’ve been a garden services company, yoga instructor or takeaway under the same ABN.
    
3. Check if they have an electrical contractor license.
    
4. Ask if they have an internal install crew (say no to subcontractors).
    
5. Confirm that they have physical premises with support staff you can actually visit. Trust me - this is very important when you want post sales support.
    
6. Check if they have been in business under the same ABN long enough to satisfy you they will still be in business in whatever time frame you think they should be to meet your customer support needs. Personally, I think that’s 5 years ... any less and there’s increased risk of them not having the management skills to stay in business for the long haul.
    
7. Are the panels and inverters they offer on SolarQuote's recommended lists? Beware that SQ have recommended installers who flog "not" recommended products. I’ll leave that to SQ to explain but for me it’s a <shrug>
    

8. Can the solar company tell you what their values are and do they align with yours? For example my company’s values (solar built on purpose) are: Slave labour free supply chain; Components only from suppliers who have a track record of consumer law compliance; Buy local, Buy Australian (elsewhere will our kids get jobs). Give back to our local community in a meaningful way.

Solar Built On Purpose

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