Don’t Become A Lost Sheep In A Field Of Wolves:
The Top 7 Mistakes People Make When Buying Solar Systems
By Finn Peacock – Chartered Electrical Engineer, Ex-CSIRO, Founder of SolarQuotes.com.au
1) Putting off buying solar because you are waiting for batteries to drop in price
Unfortunately, all the hype in the mainstream media about batteries has made people question the viability of solar without batteries – to the extent that people are waiting for ‘affordable batteries’ before they invest in solar.
Don’t get me wrong – with the right installer, using certain brands, it is possible to get a great deal on a solar and battery system when you buy them in one hit.
If you can get such a deal – go for it. But if you can’t – or if batteries are still outside your budget – my advice remains ‘don’t wait to put on solar’.
Every day you don’t have solar is another day you do have to pay high electricity bills. A well designed solar system without batteries can give you tiny bills.
Waiting 2, 3 or 4 years for batteries to become more affordable means another 2, 3 or 4 years of high bills.
One day, batteries will be a no-brainer – and when that day comes they can be added to any existing solar system.
So consider going solar now – don’t lose years of savings waiting for cheaper batteries to become mainstream.
2) Not getting multiple quotes
I swear this isn’t a shameless plug for the free service that my website provides. It’s absolutely critical to get multiple quotes wherever possible (and not just when it comes to solar!), as some unscrupulous installers are still going around charging people $15,000 for a $5,000 system.
By having multiple companies give you a breakdown on how much solar will cost you, you can gain a real understanding of whether solar is right for your budget, and whether or not you’re being ripped off (in either price or quality).
3) Being unaware of how the ‘rebate’ works or how to calculate paybacks from solar
Another big mistake that I see people make comes from their (mis)understanding of how the solar ‘rebate’ and feed-in tariffs (what you’re paid for sending excess solar energy back into the grid) work.
I explain in greater detail here, but to summarise, the solar ‘rebate’ is a federal government financial incentive and the feed-in tariff is a state government financial incentive.
The main misunderstanding about paybacks from a solar system comes from one of two erroneous beliefs:
#1: People think that having a decent-sized solar system means that not only will they never have to pay an electricity bill again, but they’ll also get a fat cheque in the mail every quarter from their electricity companies.
This generally only happens if you were lucky enough to sign up to a 40-60c gross feed-in tariff 10+ years ago.
With net feed-in tariffs hovering around 0-12c per kWh mark around Australia, the days of a solar system being a license to print money are in the past.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t significantly reduce your electricity bills with solar – the typical 6.6kW solar system can still easily give a sub 5-year payback.
#2: “The only benefits of solar are what your electricity company prints on your bill.”
Most people don’t realise that the true benefits of a solar system are ‘invisible’ – that is, not written on your bill – and don’t understand that paybacks for solar systems are faster than what they initially seem.
If a solar system halves the amount of electricity you’d usually need to buy from the grid, your electricity retailer won’t tell you this – so it can be unclear to some people just how much solar is benefiting them. This is why a good monitoring system is essential – it will tell you exactly how much solar is saving you.
4) Not knowing what protections you’re entitled to under Australian consumer law
This may come as a shock to some people, but you shouldn’t believe everything a salesperson says!
Almost every week I hear from someone that a solar installer told them that they need to have their systems serviced once every two years (or more) in order for the system to stay in warranty.
This is bollocks. Speaking as a chartered electrical engineer, good-quality solar systems should only need to be serviced once every 5 years.
If you have a slimy salesman telling you that you’ll need to pay some kind of ‘maintenance fee’ to keep your panels in warranty, show them the door.
Another tactic that dishonest salesmen use is to assure you that your solar systems will have a 25 year ‘performance warranty’, to make it seem like any problems that befall your system will be covered under this apparent 25-year warranty.
Unfortunately, this often isn’t the case. Solar panel manufacturers may try to wriggle out of this ‘performance warranty’, by claiming that any defects in the panels fall under the ‘panel product warranty’, which is most commonly 10 years.
In reality, there are actually four separate warranties that you get with your solar system – the ‘performance warranty’ being one of them. The other three are for your inverter, the panels themselves, and the workmanship. In terms of warranty, what you really want to look for is:
- A 10 year warranty for your inverter.
- A minimum 15 year product warranty for your solar panels (A handful of panel brands do come with a bona fide 25 year product warranty – don’t confuse this with the less valuable performance warranty which is almost always 25 years.)
- A 5 year warranty for the workmanship – this covers the racking, cabling, etc.
Check that the warranty is backed by an Australian Entity. I’ve seen cheapo deals where the Chinese manufacturer’s warranty states that the owner has to post the panels back to China at the customer’s cost to get them tested!
5) Not asking the hard-hitting questions to separate the solar installer wheat from the chaff
The only thing shonky installers hate more than an investigation from a fair trading/consumer affairs body is a customer who knows their stuff! With knowledge comes power, and if a shonky installer realises that you know solar, their ability to rip you off just took a nose dive and they know it.
Always, always, always independently verify information, whenever possible. There are numerous resources available to help you verify what solar salesmen tell you (the Whirlpool forums are one of my favourite sources of such information), but if Google can’t help you, I will. Just shoot me an email here.
6) Not knowing what size system is right for your home
I get asked this question daily.
My answer is invariably: Put on as much solar as you can reasonably fit and afford.
The max you can install depends on a few things, like available roof space and limits set by your local electricity network. A smart installer is a godsend here as they will leverage the rules to get as much solar as possible on.
I’ve never heard a homeowner regret buying a large solar system. But I hear all the time from homeowners who wish they had installed more panels when they had the chance. Adding panels to an existing system is expensive and complicated.
Even if you “don’t need” a bigger solar system right now, you probably will in the future when you add a battery and an electric car to your home. If you buy a smaller system, you’ll likely be disappointed, especially when winter comes.
7) Thinking that because your roof doesn’t face the optimal direction or because there’s some shade on your roof, solar isn’t worth it
This couldn’t be further from the truth! Solar panel efficiencies have reached the point where, even if your panels aren’t facing north, you only lose 10-15% of your solar system production – which means that the system is still well worth the investment.
In fact, depending on the time of day you use your electricity, it may make more sense for your solar panels to face east or west (for morning or evening heavy electricity usage habits, respectively). I go into greater detail about this topic here.
There you have it! The top 7 mistakes people make when purchasing solar systems.
If you’re considering installing solar panels for your home or business, SolarQuotes can help you get quotes from high-quality installers quickly and easily:
About Finn Peacock
I’m a Chartered Electrical Engineer, solar and energy efficiency nut, electric car and e-bike owner, dad, and founder of SolarQuotes.com.au. My last “real job” was working for the CSIRO in their renewable energy division. Since 2009 more than 750,000 Australians have used my site to get quotes for high quality PV systems from pre-vetted solar installers.