The good, the great and the cheeky–there’s a diverse mix of solar companies in Australia. With the industry steadily maturing after almost two decades of mainstream penetration, it should, in theory, be relatively easy to compare solar companies and their reviews. Unfortunately, as soon as there’s a clarifying option there are a few that will do what it takes to manipulate the perspective.
Contents
Key points
- Your solar installer is a component of the system and the most important warranty.
- Compare: On low review count platforms.
- Avoid: feeling pressured into a sale.
- Consider: ISO-certification, NETCC endorsement, Electrical licence.
You’ve received a great price on a particular solar package. The sales staff are nice and responsive, and everything is glossy, perfect. But how do you genuinely compare the likelihood of a solar business living up to its marketed high standard after the point of sale if a solar company’s high review ranking could be considered misleading? The great news is there are a few easy steps to safeguard yourself for a more bankable sustainable energy investment when comparing solar companies in Australia.
1. Review average consistency
Super quick. Type in the name of the solar company you’re interested in into a Search Engine like Google and add ‘reviews’ to the end of their business name (E.g. XYZ Reviews). Don’t worry about the thousands on one particular platform—that’s where they want you to look. Look for inconsistencies across minor review platforms that the business isn’t monitoring and aiming to drown out. The term is ‘gamification of reviews’. If they offer enough incentive, the customer will leave a positive review.
Solar Company A example:
- 4.8/5 (16400) ProductReview.com
- 2.3/5 (33) SolarChoice.com.au
Ignore the volume of reviews and build an average between the primary ratings. Solar Company A’s output after the point of sale more closely resembles a 3.5/5 customer review score.
2. Absurdly high review counts
Interestingly, there are averages in review count common when comparing mainstream solar companies over the last decade, and the previous example of 16400 (approximately) is absurdly high and out of organic alignment with other businesses proportionate to their volumes.
In fact, for any solar company review count that you may find yourself querying, jump into their reviews section and look at the daily number of reviews reviewers made per day. If there is a surge of reviews in one day, this suggests stimulating factors beyond the usual follow-up: “We’ve enjoyed being a part of your sustainable energy journey, can you please review our service?” request.
3. Read lowest reviews first
All mainstream solar companies have a level of negative sentiment online. It’s like running a popular, highly regarded restaurant. Differences in customer opinions are okay and, in turn, allow you to form a more informed opinion about the business you’re considering—plus you know they’re not paying customers to remove negativity.
You’ll want to hone in on two aspects here:
- How a company handles dissatisfaction. Is it fair and reasonable?
- Is there a commonality between complaints? Workmanship, false promises etc.
Low or isolated negative sentiments are healthy when comparing solar companies and their reviews. However, a low volume of 5-star-only reviews has also proven to adversely affect consumer sentiment through a lack of definition.
4. Don't rush
Is someone making you feel like an offer is ending at midnight? Or perhaps there’s a group buying deal for everyone on your local street. Certain sales are legitimate, but a few calls to action become repetitive among certain solar companies, and they are not nessacerilly aligned with Australia’s consumer laws (ACCC).
Aside from incessant calling (no thanks) and ultra-persistant following up. These are, more often than not, pressure sales tactics. You no longer need to keep considering these solar companies. They’re hardcore sales companies.
5. Flakey savings guarantees
Savings guarantees are new this decade as high-volume sales companies fight to win market share consistently. However, most solar company savings guarantees have enough holes in them that their almost certain never to be invoked. NETCC-approved retailer contracts accompanied by a system generation/yield report, alongside Australian consumer law, ensure the best solar companies don’t need to offer this. They just do what is right under the circumstances, and their reviews reflect this on both high and low-volume review count platforms.
6. Seek business assurances
Your ultimate trump card. Many solar companies talk the talk, but how many define themselves as companies invested in your long-term energy security? Add weight when comparing solar companies and their reviews with recognised business certifications and assurances.
Establishment period: Most leading solar companies in Australia have now been established for 10 years or more. 10 years of business operational history (forget combined experience) as a solid benchmark for 2025. Time is a powerful number in business. Time to attain: 10 years.
ISO-Certification: If you really want to test a solar company’s commitment to future success, consider asking for their ISO certifications in Quality, Environment, and Safety. Most will not have this, but with 20 years of industry maturation, it’s a fair consideration to request. ISO is intensive for the organisation, but it helps customers understand an organisation’s future commitment to a proven international standard of operating procedures. Time to attain: 2 years avg. Audited Annually.
Electrical licence: Interestingly, companies are allowed to sell a solar generator in Australia without an electrical licence as long as the contracted installer has one. What happens when you have a technical query after installation? Time to attain: Trade, 6 years. Non-trade & nominee, 3 months.
NETCC endorsement: The New Energy Technology Consumer Code is a great business assurance for consumer safeguarding in ‘fair play’, but it must be considered alongside alternative business assurances. Time to attain: 1-3 months
Use ‘Time to attain’ to further differentiate value to a solar company’s business assurances.
Discerning review platforms
Certain review platforms seem credible. Many national and high-volume companies have a large number of reviews on marketing machines, such as Product Review and Trust Pilot. However, these platforms lose credibility when they give premium subscribers (solar companies) the ability to weed out negative sentiments before the review is posted—a practice now frowned upon by Google’s fair practice standards as ‘review gating’. Nevertheless, comparisons on alternative platforms such as SolarQuotes.com.au can assist in identifying a more reflective average score.
SolarQuotes.com.au comes with a warning. The review count size is heavily weighted to its own subscriber network – solar companies that purchase leads there. While quotes are free for the customer, SolarQuotes.com.au charges three local installers for the privilege to quote on a project. There’s nothing wrong with this, as the website produces good research content for the sustainable energy shopper, and they must be paid somehow.
A place that was rife for purchasing reviews in the previous decade was Facebook. Although, a large question mark exists surrounding Facebook reviews for comparing solar company reviews here. On the plus side, it seems to be a platform Microsoft is advancing towards for its new ChatGPT-integrated Bing search engine as competition to Google. Evidence credibility could be returning to Facebook reviews in the future. There’s a while to go in this space yet.
Every top 10 solar company in Perth is aware of Google reviews. Google reviews are for everyone, not just product purchasers. How a solar company interacts with a potential customer through to aftercare service from purchasing customers. Quite simply, it’s important to be on your best behaviour at all times with Google reviews for solar companies. Google reviews in the early years had the potential to be dubious among certain solar companies, but now are better regulated. Be weary of low review counts from established solar companies. Google business accounts are easy to delete and restart again if the reviews aren’t trending the way they would like.
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Points of caution comparing solar companies
Your power bill will not pay for your solar energy system loan. Even though different schemes of acquiring a self-generated energy investment appear each day. The greatest misconception from unscrupulous salespeople is that you can swap your Synergy bill payment to pay off a solar energy system. If you’re buying solar (without batteries) on a payment plan in 2024, you will have two ongoing bills. A payment plan direct debit and a Synergy bill that makes up the difference of what the solar couldn’t offset. A little thing called night. Every top 10 solar company is concerned about its reputation and enduring customer satisfaction and will need to steer away from false promises.
Every one of the top 10 solar companies has the best solar panels, right? Unfortunately not. There’s a lot of hype out there towards solar panels with inferior specifications. After all, this has become a sales aggressive industry. The best solar panels Perth customers can buy have three basic numbers to assist a purchasing decision and it’s no longer power or warranty. Efficiency, Temperature Coefficient and Weight are three easy numbers to remember as a gauge to help you cut through the sales spin and understand what elements genuinely contribute towards being ‘the best’. Ranked by Efficiency: The best solar panels Perth customers can buy in 2025 ›
