How installers make our lists

Is this their main trade?

We start with what each company really does. Electricity retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and lead sites that pass your details on to installers are left out, and so are shops that sell systems without fitting them. In each list, a company that lives off this trade is placed above one that names it among a dozen other services.

A solar installer has to design and fit rooftop systems. A battery installer has to fit home batteries, with new panels or on an existing system. A hot water company has to install heat pump or solar hot water systems rather than only repair standard units. An air conditioning installer has to supply and fit split or ducted systems in homes, and an electrician has to do residential electrical work. The Commercial solar, EV chargers and Ducted buttons inside a list keep only the companies that show that kind of job in their own words, not a passing mention.

What customers say, over the years

Then we turn to what customers have written publicly about every company, something any reader can look up for themselves. We balance the overall impression with the length of the track record, so a few glowing comments after a first summer count for less than a name built over many years. In this trade that matters: the installer is usually your first call for a warranty claim, so it helps if it is still around.

What the company shows of its work

We also go through each company’s own website and official accounts. There we look for the accreditation numbers of the people who design and install, its electrical or plumbing licence, whether it is a New Energy Tech Consumer Code approved seller, the panel, inverter and battery brands it fits, photos of real installs, whether its own crews or subcontractors do the work, the area it covers and its written workmanship warranty. A company that sets all that out gives you something to compare.

Independence

Placing companies in order is an editorial judgement, made on merit and revisited now and again. No company pays to get onto a list, and paying cannot buy a change in how we judge. Once selected, a company can pay for Pro, which brings phone and website buttons, photos of its installs and the names of its accredited installers, or Top, which moves it into one of the three places at the head of a list. Both are labelled wherever they appear.

Before you sign for solar or a battery

We do not check accreditation, licences or rebate eligibility company by company, so these checks are yours. Ask for the accreditation numbers of the designer and the installer and look them up with Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA), which took over installer accreditation from the Clean Energy Council. Its website searches by number or by full name. Then check that the panels, inverter and battery are on the Clean Energy Council’s approved products lists.

Both checks matter for the small-scale technology certificates (STCs) of the federal Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, which most quotes take off the price. They also matter for the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, which asks for a battery endorsement on the installer’s accreditation and a battery able to join a virtual power plant. Its rules have changed since it began, so read the current terms on the Clean Energy Regulator’s website. State programs, such as those of Solar Victoria, set their own conditions, including the use of an authorised retailer, so check the current terms before paying anything. The New Energy Tech Consumer Code website lists its approved sellers, and your network company has to approve the connection and decides how much the system may export.

Hot water, air conditioning and electrical work

Electrical work needs a licensed electrician, and each state and territory lets you search its licence register, through bodies such as Energy Safe Victoria or NSW Fair Trading. Ask for the compliance certificate your state requires once the work is done. A hot water heat pump is installed by a licensed plumber, and it earns STCs only if the model is on the Clean Energy Regulator’s register. Anyone handling refrigerant in an air conditioner needs a licence from the Australian Refrigeration Council, which you can check on the ARCtick website. If a seller signs you up at your door or on a call you did not ask for, the Australian Consumer Law generally gives you 10 business days to change your mind. Spotted an out-of-date detail? Tell us through the Contact page.