Twice in the past 10 days, local solar expert and electrician Ged McCarthy says he has heard sorry tales from residents either "embroiled in litigation with solar companies or who have nearly been fleeced by high pressure solar salespeople".
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Mr McCarthy said "there are a lot of companies out there taking advantage of people's desire to do the right thing by the environment and embrace solar technology".
"Unfortunately there are shonky operators in every business, and the solar industry seems to have more than its fair share," he said.
"Prices of panels and inverters have dropped dramatically, but there is still a big difference in quality, yet some of these fly-by-night companies are charging top dollar for average quality systems and amazingly getting away with it."
To avoid heartache Mr McCarthy recommends residents compare at least three quotes and make sure the company they go with "engages in due diligence" in regard to the installer, inverter and panels.
"A good quality 1.5 kilowatt solar system should cost around $3,700," Mr McCarthy said.
Three key questions you should ask a solar salesperson include:
1. Are you a local company? If not, who will look after my system if something goes wrong?
2. Does my quote include everything - solar system plus any meter box and mains upgrades that may be necessary?
3. Can you provide two or three references from local installations that you have completed?
Mr McCarthy reinforced that it was vital to follow up phone numbers, as he had heard of one "cold calling company providing a local number and when the person called back it was a disconnected number".
"Get comparative quotes, do your research and be very careful who you are dealing with - just as you would when buying a car," he said.
"A good solar system will last 25 year, while cheap panels can fail quickly and you may never know that they are no longer producing power.
"A cheap inverter will cost you more than twice as much in the long term as they fail regularly.
"For a simple rule of thumb, if you are being cold called to buy solar, be very very careful.
"Locals don't cold call."