Solar installer problems in Perth: your complaint and dispute options

If your Perth solar installer has gone quiet on a warranty claim, left a poor install unfixed, or sold you something different from what you were promised, you have four main escalation paths, roughly in this order: a written complaint to the installer, a New Energy Tech Consumer Code complaint if they're an approved seller, Consumer Protection WA for consumer-law breaches, and the Energy and Water Ombudsman WA if the dispute is actually with Synergy or Western Power. Unsafe or unlicensed electrical work goes to the Electrical Licensing Board. Unresolved financial losses can go to the Magistrates Court. Here's how to work through them in order.

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What's the first step when a Perth solar installer won't respond?

Before escalating to any body, build a paper trail:

• Write a clear email describing the fault, the underperformance, or the unresolved issue
• Attach photos where relevant
• Reference the installation date, system specifications, and the warranty terms from your contract
• Set a deadline for a response. Five to ten business days is a reasonable ask for an initial reply

Keep every piece of correspondence. If the problem is a physical fault, do not try to fix it yourself: that can void your warranty, and solar systems carry dangerous DC voltages even with the inverter switched off.

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What if my installer is a New Energy Tech Approved Seller?

Solar retailers used to be accredited under the Clean Energy Council's Approved Retailer scheme. That program moved to the New Energy Tech Consumer Code (NETCC) in 2023, and approved sellers are now listed as New Energy Tech Approved Sellers. If your installer holds that status, they've signed up to a code that requires responding to warranty claims in good faith, using accredited installers, and maintaining minimum warranty standards, including the Clean Energy Council's minimum 5-year whole-of-system warranty.

How to lodge a complaint:

• Check the seller's status and lodge a complaint through newenergytech.org.au
• The scheme can investigate whether the seller breached the code
• It can suspend or remove an approved seller who doesn't comply

This process isn't a legal or financial remedy: it won't award you compensation. It's a reputational and accreditation lever that works on sellers who want to keep their approved status.

What if the installer isn't a New Energy Tech Approved Seller? There's no accreditation scheme to escalate to. Go straight to Consumer Protection WA or the courts.

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When should I go to Consumer Protection WA instead?

Australian Consumer Law, administered in WA by Consumer Protection WA (a division of the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety), gives you statutory guarantees that apply regardless of any accreditation scheme:

1. Services must be provided with due care and skill. A faulty or substandard installation breaches this guarantee.
2. Goods must be of acceptable quality and match their description. If panels or inverters were misrepresented, sold as a grade they aren't, or specced differently from what you were told, that's a breach.
3. Misleading representations. Exaggerated savings claims or incorrect STC calculations can be misleading conduct.

Consumer Protection WA:

• consumer.protection.wa.gov.au
• Phone: 1300 30 40 54

Consumer Protection WA can mediate disputes, investigate traders, and in serious cases take enforcement action. For an individual financial remedy (repair cost, refund, compensation), mediation usually leads to a negotiated outcome rather than a binding order.

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Is the Energy and Water Ombudsman the right place for an installer dispute?

Usually not. The Energy and Water Ombudsman WA (EWOWA) handles disputes between energy consumers and energy companies, mainly Synergy (the electricity retailer) and Western Power (the network operator). EWOWA fits when:

• Synergy has applied the wrong DEBS export rate and your bill shows it
• Western Power refused or delayed your new connection notification without justification
• Synergy hasn't activated DEBS on a system that's already commissioned

EWOWA is not the right body for:

• A dispute with your installer about workmanship or warranty: that's Consumer Protection WA or the courts
• New Energy Tech accreditation complaints: that's the scheme itself

EWOWA: ewowa.com.au, phone 1800 754 004 (free call).

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Who handles unsafe or unlicensed electrical work?

Building and Energy, a division of the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety, licenses and regulates electrical contractors in WA. If your installation breached the Electricity (Licensing) Regulations 1991, meaning unsafe work, an unlicensed installer, or missing documentation, you can lodge a complaint with the Electrical Licensing Board for:

• Unsafe wiring or electrical hazards. The board can investigate and require rectification.
• Work by an unlicensed electrician. This is an offence and should be reported.
• Missing compliance certificates. Installers must provide these; not doing so is a regulatory breach.

Building and Energy: buildingandenergywa.com.au.

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What if none of that resolves my financial loss?

For losses the steps above don't fix, civil courts are the backstop:

• Magistrates Court (WA). Claims up to $75,000. Relatively informal, and you can self-represent.
• State Administrative Tribunal (SAT). Some building disputes are heard here, though SAT's reach into solar disputes is limited.
• ACCC. For deceptive marketing at scale, beyond your individual dispute, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission may act.

Before you go to court, get an independent report from an accredited installer or electrical inspector documenting the fault and the cost to fix it. It strengthens your claim considerably.

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How long does each option typically take?

These are general guides, not guarantees: an individual case can move faster or slower depending on complexity and how busy each body is at the time.

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For most Perth solar disputes, Consumer Protection WA mediation is the most practical route to a financial outcome, and a New Energy Tech Consumer Code complaint is worth running in parallel if your installer is an approved seller. EWOWA only comes into it when Synergy or Western Power, not your installer, is the other party. Building and Energy handles unsafe or unlicensed electrical work. Courts are the final backstop when everything else has been tried.

Getting the contract right before you sign heads off most of these disputes. See what your Perth solar contract should include and how to check a solar installer's credentials before signing. If the dispute is specifically about a warranty claim being refused or delayed, how to make a solar warranty claim in Perth walks through that process in more detail. And if your installer has gone under entirely, what to do when your solar installer goes out of business in Perth covers that separate situation.