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

1) Putting off buying solar because you are waiting for batteries to drop in price

Despite the hype about solar battery storage, any honest solar installer will give you the same advice: Batteries will not pay for themselves in 2020.

At the moment, a Tesla Powerwall battery system will cost you around $15,000 to install. I have purchased one for my home – pictured above – because I’m in the business of writing about solar and batteries, and wanted to measure the real world savings from a typical battery system.

From the data I’ve collected, it will take about 15 years to pay back (in a best-case scenario), has a warranty of 10 years, and has an unknown lifespan (though, I would expect it to last at least 10 years).

Compare that to a solar-only system – which has a typical payback of 4-6 years, a warranty of 10-25 years (depending on the brand), and a lifespan of 25+ years – and you can quickly guess whether I think battery storage is a sound investment.

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.

But even though the cost of solar battery storage is projected to decline year-over-year, it makes no sense to wait to get 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 affordable means another 2, 3 or 4 years of high bills.

One day, batteries will make lots of sense – and when that day comes they can easily be added to any existing solar system using a method called AC coupling.

So don’t lose years of savings waiting for cheap batteries to arrive.

Consider going solar now – with the knowledge that you can easily retrofit batteries later when they will pay for themselves – not before.

A note about state battery rebates: In South Australia you can now get a battery subsidy of $500 per kWh up to a maximum of $6,000. If you find a good deal this could halve the cost of an installed battery, potentially giving a sub 10-year payback. So, in South Australia, batteries have gone from being ‘too expensive’ to ‘worth considering’.

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 $20,000 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).

Approximate prices for good quality solar panel systems in Australia, including installation and federal solar rebate, are:

3kW: $3,500 – $5,000

5kW: $5,000 – $8,000

6kW: $5,600 – $9,000

10kW: $10,000 – $14,000

To be clear – the upper end prices are for systems using top-end brands, installed by a solar ‘craftsman‘. Lower end prices are for systems using reputable budget brands, installed by a ‘no frills’ solar installer.

3) Not understanding the difference between the solar rebate and solar feed-in tariffs

People get these mixed up all the time. To keep it simple:

The “solar rebate” acts like a point-of-sale discount off the cost of a solar system, and is claimed on your behalf by your solar installer

acts like a point-of-sale discount off the cost of a solar system, and is claimed on your behalf by your solar installer The “feed in tariff” is what your electricity retailer pays you, per kWh, for feeding excess solar into the grid. It pays to shop around, as retailers can pay anywhere from 0-20c per kWh.

If you see prices quoted online, on the telly, or in the paper, there’s a 99.99% chance that the quote price already has the ‘discount’ from the solar rebate applied.

It’s worth about $650 per kW of solar panels installed, but this will vary depending on where you live.

As an example, a 3kW system attracts around $1,950 in rebates.

Anyone can claim the rebate, even if you’ve already bought solar power systems in the past and want to buy a new system.

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 someone will tell me that they’ve had a solar installer tell 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 will 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 system will have a 25 year ‘performance warranty’, to make it seem like any problems will be covered under this apparent 25-year warranty.

In reality, there are actually four separate warranties that you get with your solar system:

The panel performance warranty, which is typically 25 years (and, in the words of one manufacturer I spoke to, said ‘it’s just a piece of paper’)

warranty, which is typically 25 years (and, in the words of one manufacturer I spoke to, said ‘it’s just a piece of paper’) The panel product warranty (think of this as the ‘real’ warranty), which is typically 10 years (though high-end brands will carry a full 25 year product warranty)

warranty (think of this as the ‘real’ warranty), which is typically 10 years (though high-end brands will carry a full 25 year product warranty) The inverter warranty – which is typically 5 years, with an option to pay extra to extend.

The workmanship warranty – which is typically 5 years

Check that the panel and inverter warranties 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!

If you’re looking to get quotes for solar from pre-vetted installers within our trusted network, that are looking out for your needs (and not just their own wallet) then simply click here to start the process

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 ACCC investigation 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

My advice about this topic has changed considerably compared to just a few years ago.

This is because prices for solar have fallen considerably, electricity prices have risen, and feed-in tariffs (what you’re paid for exporting excess electricity generation) have also risen.

The only limitations now are your budget, what your roof can properly fit, and the amount your DNSP (Distributed Network Service Provider) allows you to install.

For most homes, this means the sweet spot is 6.6kW of panels (approx. 22-24 in total) with a 5kW inverter.

The biggest regret I’ve heard from solar power owners is that they didn’t factor in how winter limits electricity bill savings from their system. They wish they put on more panels when they had the chance, as it’s expensive and complicated to add panels later to an existing system.

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).

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: