Customers ask about warranty, and installers get confused because three different ideas share the word.
1. Product warranty
The manufacturer’s guarantee on panels, inverters and batteries. Panel performance warranties often run for 25 years and inverters or batteries for 10, but they depend on the manufacturer still existing. This is not insurance you buy, though it is a selling point.
2. Workmanship warranty
Your own promise to fix installation defects, typically for a set number of years. It is only as good as your business. If you stop trading, your customer has a promise from a company that no longer exists.
3. Warranty insurance and home warranty insurance
Home warranty insurance is a statutory scheme in some states that protects homeowners if a builder dies, disappears or becomes insolvent. In Queensland, the QBCC administers it for residential construction work above a threshold; NSW has a home building compensation scheme with its own threshold; other states vary. Whether it applies to a standalone solar installation depends on how the work is classified, so confirm with the regulator rather than assuming. See the state pages, such as Queensland and NSW.
Warranty-backed insurance, sold by private insurers, backs your workmanship or product warranty if you cease trading. It is optional, but it gives customers a reason to trust a small business and answers the question every sceptical buyer asks.
Why customers care
Stories of installers who take a deposit and vanish, or go bust mid-warranty, keep this issue alive. See what to do if a solar installer disappears after taking a deposit and what happens to STCs if an installer goes bust.
How to decide
- Ask your regulator whether statutory home warranty applies to your jobs.
- Price optional warranty-backed insurance against the extra jobs it could win.
- Put the warranty terms in the contract and quote; see contract templates.
- Keep documents: serial numbers, photos and commissioning records, which also support the STC claim and any warranty claim.
From the desk: never promise a warranty longer than your business plan. A 10-year workmanship warranty from a three-person firm needs a backstop, and warranty-backed insurance is one.
Where public liability fits
Public liability covers damage and injury, not your obligation to fix a defect. Compare the covers together in insurance for solar installers.
What this means for installers
Warranty cover is a trust signal and sometimes a legal requirement. Budget it with start-up costs, and confirm what your state requires. If you are comparing buyers for your certificates, see choosing a certificate trader and the installers hub.