How to hire a solar installer
Solar installers design and fit rooftop photovoltaic systems — an industry with strong sales pressure, where the financing structure matters as much as the panels.
What the job usually involves
- Site assessment: roof condition, shading, orientation.
- System design and production estimate.
- Installation, inverters and monitoring.
- Permits, inspection and utility interconnection.
- Battery storage, and maintenance or repair of existing systems.
What to ask before you agree to anything
- Am I buying, financing, leasing, or signing a power purchase agreement — and what does each mean if I sell the house?
- What is the production estimate, and what is it based on?
- How old is my roof, and should it be replaced first?
- Who handles permits and utility interconnection?
- What warranties apply to panels, inverter, workmanship and roof penetrations, and for how long?
- Who services it if your company is no longer trading?
Warning signs
- A price that drops steeply if you sign today.
- Savings presented as certainty rather than an estimate.
- Panels proposed on a roof near the end of its life.
- A lease or power purchase agreement presented as ownership.
- Vague answers about what happens to the agreement when you sell.
Common questions
Should I buy or lease solar panels?
Buying, with cash or a loan, means you own the system and any incentives it qualifies for. A lease or power purchase agreement means a company owns equipment on your roof and you buy the output or pay rent. Leases complicate selling the house, because the buyer must assume the agreement. Read what happens on sale before signing anything.
Should I replace my roof before installing solar?
If the roof is near the end of its life, yes — removing and reinstalling an array later costs significantly more than doing it in the right order. Any installer who ignores roof age is optimising for their sale, not your outcome.
Can a solar company guarantee my savings?
No. Production can be estimated from your roof, orientation and local sunlight data, but savings also depend on your usage, future rates and utility policy. Ask for the production estimate and its basis — a specific promised dollar saving is a sales figure, not a forecast.
How does Region Beacon work for solar installers?
You describe the job once. The first nearby business that takes it gets your details and contacts you; nobody else does. You deal with whoever you pick directly, and you pay them directly — Region Beacon never handles the money and takes no commission, so nothing is added to your price for using it.
How do I know if a solar installer's quote is fair?
Get more than one. A single quote tells you what one business charges; three tell you what the job is worth where you live. Ask each for the same scope in writing, and treat a quote far below the others as probably missing something rather than a bargain.
Get quotes from solar installers near you
Describe the job once and the first nearby business to take it contacts you. Only that one gets your details, no commission is added, and your details are not sold on to anyone.