You’ve decided to go solar. It’s a big step towards lowering your power bills. The solar industry keeps growing, which has helped bring prices down for homes and businesses.

Adding solar during a renovation

If you’re renovating, it’s a good time to think about solar, so the wiring and switchboard work can be planned together. Solar (also called a PV system) can also be a project on its own, and it can add value to your home if you sell.

In Victoria and South Australia, a home solar system typically pays for itself in about three to six years through lower power bills. After that, the power it makes for your home or business costs you nothing, and it produces no greenhouse gas emissions while it runs.

Hiring a licensed contractor for solar installation

After your switchboard and wiring have been checked and your roof inspected, the next steps are choosing your system and installer, completing the paperwork and getting approval from your electricity distributor to connect to the grid. Before your equipment is even delivered, it is important to know that your installer has an experienced electrician on staff and is a licensed electrical contractor for the final steps in owning your new solar system: installation, approval, and making the interconnection with the power grid.

When you choose a solar installation company, you should expect your PV installation to be completed by accredited installers and licensed electricians. In Victoria and South Australia, an electrical contractor can be an individual or a business owner that employs licensed electricians to safely install electrical systems. The contractor should have insurance and appropriate licences to protect the business, the employees and the clients from liability and unexpected damage.

A general look at the installation process will show why it is important to use licensed electricians when installing solar:

  • mounting rails are fixed to the roof to hold the panels
  • the panels are fitted to the rails and wired to the inverter
  • the inverter is connected to your switchboard
  • your meter is replaced or reprogrammed so you’re paid a feed-in tariff for the power you send to the grid

While these steps may look straightforward at first glance, there are a number of installation and electrical wiring mistakes that have become common when examining systems that fail or operate below the expected performance level. Under-sized wiring and loose connections are a common cause of electrical fire or poor performance.