What to do when your solar installer goes out of business in Perth

Your solar installer has gone out of business, and now you're wondering what happens to the system on your roof. Short version: your panel and inverter warranties are fine. They run with the manufacturer, not the installer, so a company folding doesn't touch them. Your workmanship warranty is the one genuinely at risk. It dies with the business, and any claim you have becomes an unsecured debt in whatever insolvency process the company is going through.

One thing has changed since 2024 that catches a lot of people out. Installer accreditation, the insurance conditions attached to it, and complaints about an individual installer's work now sit with Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA), not the Clean Energy Council (CEC). The CEC still runs the approved-product lists for panels, inverters and batteries, but it stopped accrediting installers years ago. Below is the full sequence: what to gather first, which warranties still apply, who to contact, and what to tell a new installer when you need one.

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Step 1: Where do I find my installation records?

Before you contact anyone, gather what you already have.

• NCN (Network Connection Notice) approval. Western Power's reference number, usually on a printed approval or an emailed PDF. Call Western Power on 13 10 87 if you can't find it. They keep NCN records by address.
• Electrical Certificate of Compliance (ESC). The certificate your installer's licensed electrician issued for the wiring work. If it's lost, contact Building and Energy, the WA division that registers these certificates by address.
• CEC Design and Installation Certificate. The Clean Energy Council or Solar Accreditation Australia may hold this, depending on when your system went in. Email the CEC at info@cleanenergycouncil.org.au with your address and approximate install date, and try SAA if the CEC comes up empty.
• Inverter serial number. On the unit itself. Photograph it.
• Panel serial numbers. Hard to reach once installed, but sometimes on the original paperwork. Otherwise, note the brand and model from the inverter's string data or from a panel visible at the roof edge.
• Workmanship warranty. Usually in the original sales contract or quote. If you kept emails from the installer, search them for warranty terms.

Nothing on hand? Request two things first: the NCN from Western Power and the electrical compliance certificate from Building and Energy. Between them, they confirm what was installed and when.

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Step 2: Which warranties survive when my installer goes bust?

Four warranties are in play here, and they don't all behave the same way.

Panel product warranty. Runs with the manufacturer, not the installer. Longi, Jinko, REC, Canadian Solar and most panel brands maintain Australian warranty service through local distributors. Contact the manufacturer directly with your panel model and serial numbers, and they'll point you to their current Australian service agent.

Panel performance warranty. Same principle: manufacturer, not installer. Typically 25 years. Whether it transfers to a new owner if you sell the house differs by brand, so check the specific warranty document rather than assuming either way. Our panel warranty guide breaks down what that 25-year figure actually guarantees.

Inverter warranty. Same again: it runs with the manufacturer (SolarEdge, Fronius, SMA, Sungrow, Goodwe and others). Register your inverter online with the manufacturer if you haven't already. Some brands require registration to activate the full warranty term, and you'll need the serial number regardless.

Workmanship warranty. This is the one actually at risk. It's issued by the installer, commonly around five years though some offer longer, and it's void once the installer is insolvent. You become an unsecured creditor for whatever it was worth, not a warranty holder with a live claim.

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Step 3: Can I still get help through SAA or the CEC?

1. Insurance covers property damage, not general defects. SAA-accredited installers must carry public liability insurance as a condition of their accreditation. That insurance responds to property damage caused by non-compliant installation work, such as a roof leak or an electrical fault that damaged something in your home. It doesn't cover a general workmanship-quality complaint, and it doesn't cover contractual or financial disputes like a deposit you paid and never got the promised work for. Insurers don't disappear when the business does, so a genuine property-damage claim can still proceed against the installer's insurer after the company folds.
2. Contact SAA, not the CEC, about the installer. Solar Accreditation Australia has run installer and designer accreditation since 2024, a role the Clean Energy Council used to hold. Raise your concern with SAA at saaustralia.com.au, giving them the installation address, the approximate date, and a description of the damage.
3. What SAA can and can't do. SAA administers accreditation and can act on breaches of its own rules, but it doesn't pay compensation directly. Its real value to you is narrower: helping establish whether an insurance path exists for property damage caused by the installation.
4. Where the CEC still matters. If the fault traces to a specific panel or inverter model rather than the workmanship, that's a product warranty matter, not an SAA or insurance question. Contact the manufacturer directly using the details in Step 6. The CEC's approved-product list confirms a product met approval standards when it was installed; it isn't a fault-reporting channel or a complaints process.

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Step 4: What can Consumer Protection WA do for me?

Consumer Protection WA, part of the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety, handles WA's consumer law remedies.

• Phone: 1300 30 40 54
• Online complaint: consumerprotection.wa.gov.au

Consumer Protection can:

• Advise you on your rights under WA consumer law
• Explain the insolvency process (if the installer is in liquidation, you're an unsecured creditor)
• Point you toward an insurance claim path
• Help with disputes over the workmanship warranty

If the installer entered formal insolvency, liquidation or administration, you can lodge a proof of debt with the administrator or liquidator. Recovery on a small warranty claim is typically low, but lodging it still establishes your claim. For the fuller set of escalation options beyond Consumer Protection, including the New Energy Tech Consumer Code and the Energy and Water Ombudsman, our installer complaint guide covers when each path is worth pursuing.

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Step 5: How do I find an installer to assess and repair my system?

You'll need a currently accredited installer to inspect any faults, carry out repairs or replacements, and re-certify whatever electrical work they do with a fresh compliance certificate.

Check accreditation status directly with Solar Accreditation Australia before you book anyone. Don't just take an installer's word for it: SAA runs an accreditation status check tool at saaustralia.com.au, and our guide to checking an installer's credentials covers what to look for beyond the badge itself.

What to tell the new installer:

• That you need an inspection of an existing system whose original installer is no longer operating
• The approximate age of the system and any symptoms (error codes, reduced output, physical damage)
• That you need written findings for a potential warranty or insurance claim against the panel or inverter manufacturer

The new installer's labour isn't covered by any surviving warranty, so you'll pay for the inspection and any workmanship on repairs. If the repair involves replacing a panel or inverter, though, the manufacturer may supply the replacement part free under the product warranty.

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Step 6: How do I claim directly with the panel or inverter manufacturer?

Panel manufacturers mostly run Australian service through their own websites:

• Longi: longi-solar.com/au, service section
• Jinko: jinkosolar.com, support
• REC: recgroup.com, support, AU
• Canadian Solar: canadiansolar.com, support
• JA Solar: jasolar.com, support

Call or email with the panel model, serial number, installation address, approximate installation date, and a description of the defect. They'll tell you whether replacement is warranted and arrange supply through their service agent.

Inverter manufacturers:

• SolarEdge: solaredge.com/au
• Fronius: fronius.com/au, service
• SMA: sma-australia.com.au
• Sungrow: sungrowpower.com/au
• Goodwe: goodwe.com, support

Most inverter manufacturers run their own Australian service networks and process warranty claims directly with the homeowner, no installer required. Our warranty claims guide has a fuller checklist for what to send each manufacturer.

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Step 7: What if there's a fault that could affect the grid connection?

If your system develops a fault that might affect the grid connection, an inverter failure or damaged wiring, here's the order of operations:

1. If the inverter has failed, the system will typically stop exporting on its own. Inverters fail safe: they shut down rather than keep exporting power in a fault state.
2. Contact Western Power on 13 10 87 if you think there's a safety issue on the grid-connection side of the meter.
3. Don't attempt repairs yourself on the inverter-to-switchboard wiring.

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Quick reference: who to contact for what

Your panel and inverter warranties aren't affected by the installer's closure. The workmanship warranty is what you've lost, and SAA plus the installer's insurer, not the CEC, are your best paths to any recourse there.