Installer directory
Solar installers in Australia: the Why Solar Approved directory
Find solar installers near you, state by state and city by city, and check any installer before you sign. Or enter your postcode and we place you with one Why Solar Approved installer near you, one who has passed all six of our checks, with a fifteen-minute expert call before you sign anything.
60 seconds. Free. One installer receives your details, and the installer never cold-calls you.
The Why Solar Approved standard
A warranty is only as good as the company behind it. Before an installer earns Why Solar approval, they pass every one of these. Most don't.
Every installer we match homeowners with has passed all six checks below, and has agreed that we will call their customers after every match to check they did what they said. Being listed in the directory is not the same thing: only installers who pass all six receive matches from us.
Credentials
Accreditation and licensing, current and genuine, checked rather than assumed.
Staying power
Years actually trading, and the financial stability to still be here in a decade to honour what they promise.
Proof of work
Real installations we can examine, not a folder of stock photos and slogans.
The actual hands
Who physically turns up to do the job, not the cheapest available subcontractor.
What goes in
Genuine, traceable components that match the quote exactly. No quoting German and fitting Chinese.
How they handle trouble
How they behave when something goes wrong. That, not the sales call, is the true measure of a company.
Installers earn the Why Solar approval. They can lose it.
No retainers. No installer owns a piece of Why Solar. That matters, because it means we can drop them.
An installer earns the Why Solar approval by passing six checks before they see a single homeowner. After every match, one of our team calls you to make sure they turned up, quoted what they said they would, and treated you properly. Installers who don't measure up are removed from the network. Some already have been.
Find solar installers by state and city
Solar is local. The company doing careful work in Perth is not on a roof in Brisbane, and a national brand is often a sales office in front of whichever subcontractor is free that week. So the directory is organised the way the work is: by state, then by city.
The install figures are the Clean Energy Regulator's postcode data for each state, so you can see how busy each market is. The city pages name the installers we rate there, what a typical system costs locally and what to ask before you sign. The directory search covers every installer we list, filtered by state, service and rating.
New South Wales
NSW77,999 systems installed in the last 12 months, averaging 10.9 kW, and 1,191,166 in total.
Victoria
VIC54,782 systems installed in the last 12 months, averaging 9.3 kW, and 906,684 in total.
Queensland
QLD72,813 systems installed in the last 12 months, averaging 10.7 kW, and 1,220,360 in total.
Western Australia
WA32,621 systems installed in the last 12 months, averaging 9.5 kW, and 585,226 in total.
South Australia
SA24,735 systems installed in the last 12 months, averaging 11 kW, and 466,039 in total.
Tasmania
TAS4,494 systems installed in the last 12 months, averaging 10.4 kW, and 67,926 in total.
Australian Capital Territory
ACT4,446 systems installed in the last 12 months, averaging 12.1 kW, and 68,762 in total.
Northern Territory
NT971 systems installed in the last 12 months, averaging 14.4 kW, and 26,011 in total.
Search the full directory
Type a suburb, a region or a postcode to search the installers we list in that area, with their accreditation, services and any reviews homeowners have left.
Or open the full installer directory and filter by state, service and rating.
How the match works
Every match is built around the same three things: your rebate, one Why Solar Approved installer, and the expert call before you sign. This is the order they happen in.
Your rebate in 60 seconds
Postcode, a few questions, and the federal and state figures for your home. No account, no sales call.
One Why Solar Approved installer
Not three quotes. One installer who has passed all six of our checks and never cold-calls you.
Your expert call before you sign
Fifteen minutes with a solar expert on your quote, at a time you choose. Part of every match.
One installer receives your details, and only after you have seen your rebate estimate. They quote, install the system and handle the STC paperwork. The installer never cold-calls you: the call you get before you sign is from your solar expert, at a time you choose.
After every match, one of our team calls you to check the installer turned up, quoted what they said they would and treated you properly. An installer who lets a homeowner down loses the approval and stops receiving matches. Our service is free for homeowners; the installer pays us a fee when you choose them, which is why we can afford to be picky about who we send you to.
Your expert call
Before you sign, talk to the expert we never had.
When we went solar we had no one independent to ask, and it cost us dearly. So every Why Solar match includes a 15-minute call with one of our solar experts before you sign anything. Not a sales call. We don't sell solar.
You pick the time. The installer never cold-calls you.
Even a good installer quotes from its own stock and its own habits. A second pair of eyes on the quote catches a hybrid inverter you do not need yet, a battery sized for a different house, or a workmanship warranty shorter than the one in the brochure. Fifteen minutes with someone who reads solar quotes every day, and has nothing to sell you, is how you sign with your eyes open.
60 seconds, then you pick a time for the call.
On the call
What we go through with you
- Your rebate, and what the installer has to show for it on the quote
- Your quote, line by line: panels, inverter, battery, the workmanship warranty
- What to push back on before you sign
- Whether a battery makes sense for your home, or not yet
Fifteen minutes. Not a sales call. Part of every match.
What to check on any solar installer
Whether you use the directory or find an installer yourself, these are the things to check before you pay a deposit. They cover the same ground as our six checks, written so you can do them at the kitchen table with the quote in front of you.
SAA accreditation
Solar Accreditation Australia took over installer and designer accreditation from the Clean Energy Council in 2024. The people who design and install your system must hold current SAA accreditation or the system is not eligible for STCs, the federal rebate. Ask for the accreditation numbers and check them on the SAA register. If a company says its installers are CEC accredited, that is the old name for the same accreditation: ask for the SAA number anyway.
NETCC signatory
The New Energy Tech Consumer Code is the industry code for the companies that sell you the system, and it replaced the Clean Energy Council's old Approved Solar Retailer program. Signatories commit to honest advertising, clear quotes, a cooling-off period and a complaints process, and some state schemes, Solar Victoria's among them, only work with signatories. It is a promise about how the system is sold, not proof of a good installation, so check it alongside the rest rather than instead of it.
Insurance in the right name
Ask for the certificate of currency for public liability insurance and check the name on it matches the company on your quote. If the installation is subcontracted, ask whose policy covers the people on your roof. A company that cannot produce the certificate within a day is telling you something.
Who holds the warranty
Three warranties come with a system: the panel maker's, the inverter maker's and the installer's workmanship warranty. The workmanship warranty, usually 5 to 10 years, is held by the company that installed the system. If that company stops trading, the warranty stops with it, and panel and inverter makers generally prefer to deal with an installer rather than with you. Get the workmanship warranty in writing, with the company's ABN on it.
Years trading, not years of experience
The brochure says years of experience. What matters is how long the company has traded under its current name and ABN. Search the ABN on the Australian Business Register and look at the date it has been active from. A company registered last year by a director whose last two solar businesses collapsed is not a new business; it is the same business with a new name.
Brand and model on the quote
A good quote names every panel, inverter and battery by brand and model, with the number of panels and the size of the inverter. "Tier 1 panels" and "premium inverter" are not products. If the quote does not name them, you cannot check they are on the approved list, compare the price, or prove that what went on your roof is what you paid for.
The collapsed-companies problem
Over 270 solar companies have collapsed in Australia, and one in six solar homes now has no workmanship warranty left. In July 2026 the Clean Energy Regulator suspended 21 more companies from the rebate scheme. This is why we check staying power before we check price. If you already have solar and are not sure your installer is still trading, check the company name or ABN against our tracker.
How much does a solar installer charge?
Australian solar installers do not charge by the hour. They quote one installed price for the whole system: panels, inverter, racking, wiring, the switchboard work and the grid connection application. The STC rebate is claimed by the installer on your behalf and taken off that price, so check whether a figure you are given is before or after it. A good quote names every component by brand and model, so you can see what you are paying for.
In Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, our city pages put a typical 6.6 kW system from a quality installer at $5,000 to $7,500 installed, before the federal rebate. The STC rebate on that system is $1,482 to $1,710 depending on the city, and the installer takes it off the quote, which leaves roughly $3,290 to $5,790 to pay. Well below that band you are often looking at a package sold on price with components you cannot look up; well above it, you are paying for a premium panel, a hybrid inverter ready for a battery, or a difficult roof.
| City | Typical system | Installed, before rebate | STC rebate | Roughly what you pay | Sun hours a day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | 6.6 kW | $5,500 to $7,200 | $1,482 | $4,018 to $5,718 | 4.1 |
| Sydney | 6.6 kW | $5,800 to $7,500 | $1,710 | $4,090 to $5,790 | 4.5 |
| Brisbane | 6.6 kW | $5,200 to $6,800 | $1,710 | $3,490 to $5,090 | 5.0 |
| Perth | 6.6 kW | $5,000 to $6,500 | $1,710 | $3,290 to $4,790 | 5.3 |
| Adelaide | 6.6 kW | $5,300 to $7,000 | $1,710 | $3,590 to $5,290 | 4.7 |
Installed prices are the bands on our city pages, before the federal STC rebate. The rebate is for the typical system in that city's STC zone at the current certificate price, and what you pay is the band less the rebate. Your own quote depends on your roof, your switchboard and the components you choose.
What moves the price: a two-storey home or a steep tile roof adds access time and safety equipment; older homes often need a switchboard upgrade before an inverter can go in; a three-phase inverter costs more than a single-phase one; tilt frames on a flat roof add hardware; and travel time matters outside the metro area. None of those is a reason to walk away, but every one of them should be a line on the quote, not a surprise on the day.
A battery is quoted separately and carries its own federal rebate. If a quote bundles the two into one number, ask for them split, because that is the only way to see whether the battery is priced fairly.
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Who is the most reputable solar company in Australia?
We do not name one, because reputation in solar is local, and it only lasts as long as the company does. The company doing careful work in Adelaide is not the one on a roof in Cairns, and a national brand is often a sales office in front of whichever subcontractor is free that week. What you can check is a standard. Every installer we match homeowners with has passed the six Why Solar Approved checks: current accreditation and licensing, years trading with the money to still be here in a decade, real installations we can examine, the people who actually turn up, components that match the quote, and how they behave when something goes wrong. Enter your postcode and we place you with one installer near you who has passed all six.
Which company is best for solar installation?
The best company for your installation is the one that will still be trading when your workmanship warranty is called on, that puts its own accredited installers on your roof rather than the cheapest subcontractor, and that fits the components it quoted. Price matters less than those three, because a cheap system from a company that folds costs more than a dearer one from a company that answers the phone in year seven. Our city pages show who we rate in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, or enter your postcode and we place you with one Why Solar Approved installer near you.
Which solar installer is best?
For your home, the best installer is local, holds current SAA accreditation, has traded under the same name and ABN for years, holds its own workmanship warranty, and can show you work it has done on roofs like yours. We do not publish a national number one because it would mean very little: an installer that is excellent in one city does not service another. We publish a standard instead, the six Why Solar Approved checks, and match you with one installer near you who has passed all of them.
How much does a solar installer charge?
Australian solar installers do not charge by the hour. They quote the whole job as one installed price: panels, inverter, mounting, wiring, the switchboard work and the grid connection paperwork. In Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, our city pages put a typical 6.6 kW system from a quality installer at $5,000 to $7,500 installed, before the federal rebate. The STC rebate on that system is $1,482 to $1,710 depending on the city, and the installer takes it off the quote, which leaves roughly $3,290 to $5,790 to pay. Tile roofs, two-storey homes, tilt frames, a switchboard upgrade and a three-phase inverter push the price up. A battery is quoted separately and carries its own federal rebate. Our solar panel cost guide breaks the price down by system size.
What is the 20% rule for solar?
The 20% rule is shorthand for inverter oversizing: sizing the panel array about 20 to 33% above the inverter's rated capacity. Panels rarely produce their full rated output, because heat, dust, the angle of the sun and cloud all take a share, so a slightly larger array keeps the inverter working closer to its limit for more of the day and lifts production in the mornings, the evenings and winter. In Australia the ceiling is a third: the Clean Energy Council design guidelines allow an array of up to 133% of the inverter's capacity, and a system oversized beyond that is not eligible for STCs. That is why 6.6 kW of panels on a 5 kW inverter is the most common home system in the country. Your export limit is a separate question: many networks cap single-phase homes at 5 kW of export, some lower, whatever the size of the array.
Why are people getting rid of their solar panels?
Mostly they are not getting rid of solar. They are getting rid of a bad system, or a system nobody will look after. The usual story: the company that installed it has collapsed, so there is no workmanship warranty and no one to call when it faults; the inverter has failed and the manufacturer will only deal with an installer; it was a cheap package sold on price that never produced what the salesperson promised; or the network has since limited exports, so a system sized to earn feed-in credits earns far less than the quote said. Over 270 solar companies have collapsed in Australia and one in six solar homes has no workmanship warranty left, which is why staying power is one of our six checks. A system installed properly by a company that is still trading is rarely pulled off a roof. More often it is repaired, upgraded or joined by a battery.
Are Why Solar Approved installers SAA accredited?
Yes. Credentials is the first of the six checks: accreditation and licensing, current and genuine, checked rather than assumed. Solar Accreditation Australia took over installer and designer accreditation from the Clean Energy Council in 2024, and a system designed or installed by someone without current SAA accreditation is not eligible for the federal STC rebate. We check the accreditation, the electrical licence and the insurance before an installer sees a single homeowner, and we check again when something goes wrong.
What happens after you match me with an installer?
After every match, one of our team calls you to make sure the installer turned up, quoted what they said they would, and treated you properly. Installers who don't measure up are removed from the network. Some already have been. That call is how the approval stays honest: an installer keeps the Why Solar approval by keeping its promises to the homeowners we send it, not by paying us a retainer.
One Why Solar Approved installer, and an expert call before you sign.
See your rebate in 60 seconds and we place you with one installer near you who has passed all six checks. Free, and the installer never cold-calls you.
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