13 Solar Questions You Must Ask To Weed Out The Solar Shonks

One of the questions that lands in my inbox almost every day is this:

“Hey Finn – I’ve been made a fantastic offer on a shiny new solar power system for my home. It is heaps cheaper than every one else on the market. Is it too good to be true or a genuine bargain???”

Here are 13 Solar Questions to quickly ask either yourself or the solar sales dude  that will help you decide.

Questions for the sales guy:

Question #1: Has your company ever been reprimanded for your advertising practices?

Question #2: How many of your installations have ever failed a government inspection?

Question #3: Is the CEC accredited installer present for the entire install?

Question #4: How much do you pay for a subcontracted 1.5kW install? ($900 is the minimum that should be paid for a quality solar installation in my humble opinion)

Question #5: What is the product warranty on the solar panels? (this is not the power output warranty). Is is at least 10 years? Is the warranty void if I don’t pay you to regularly “service” my solar system?

Question #6: What 3rd party evidence can you give me that these solar panels are any good? (e.g. Magazine Tests, my humble Solar Panel Comparison Tool)

Question #7: What 3rd party evidence can you give me that this solar inverter is any good?

Question #8: What kind of solar power system have you got on your roof  kind sir? (Don’t buy a shirt from a naked man!)

Questions to ask yourself: (crikey – I sound like your therapist now!)

Question #9: What happens if you Google “youtube [solar company name]” ?

Question #10: What happens if you Google “whirlpool [solar company name]“?

Question #11: What happens if you Google “whirlpool [solar panel name]“?

Question #12 What happens if you Google “whirlpool [solar inverter name]“?

Question #13: When was the last time you bought the absolute cheapest option available  - in any product or service category  - and it made you happy for years to come?