My solar inverter or battery failed and nobody will fix it. What now?
Who owes you the fix when a solar inverter or battery fails, what to send and where to go when the installer and the manufacturer blame each other.
AI-assisted research and reviewed for accuracy. Something out of date? Let us know.
The business that sold and installed your system owes you the remedy, and it shouldn't send you to the manufacturer. Under the Australian Consumer Law you can also claim from the manufacturer or its Australian importer, within 3 years of finding the fault. If both still refuse, your state consumer agency can try to negotiate, but only a tribunal or court can order them to pay.
Already tried and got nowhere?
That's where we start. Our team takes it from here.
Who has to fix a failed solar inverter or battery?
The business that sold you the system, first. The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) gives every purchase automatic rights called consumer guarantees. The inverter, battery and panels must be of acceptable quality, which includes being durable (section 54). The installation is a service, and it must be done with due care and skill (section 60).
The ACCC says businesses "must not tell consumers to go to the manufacturer for a remedy". Western Australia's Consumer Protection says the same about solar retailers: contact the retailer first, because it is responsible for the consumer guarantees.
These rights sit on top of the manufacturer's warranty. The ACCC calls the consumer guarantee a right "over and above" the warranty that a manufacturer or supplier can't take away. In practice, an expired inverter warranty doesn't end the claim.
What you can ask for depends on how serious the fault is. A major failure, one where a reasonable person wouldn't have bought it knowing about the problem, lets you reject the goods (section 259). A failure that can be fixed and isn't major lets the seller fix it within a reasonable time. If it refuses or takes too long, you can have it fixed elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost from the seller.
| Your situation | Who you claim from | What the law gives you |
|---|---|---|
| The installer is still trading | The installer or retailer that sold the system | A repair, replacement or refund, depending on how serious the failure is, plus foreseeable losses |
| The installer has closed | The manufacturer, or its Australian importer | Compensation for the drop in value and foreseeable losses. A repair or replacement only if the manufacturer offers one |
| The manufacturer blames the installation | The installer, for its workmanship | A fix within a reasonable time or the cost of having it fixed elsewhere, plus foreseeable losses |
You have 3 years to claim against a manufacturer. Section 273 of the ACL runs it from the day you became aware, or should have become aware, of the fault.
When the brand has no place of business in Australia, the ACL treats the company that imported it as the manufacturer (section 7). Solar Victoria says importers are responsible for manufacturers' warranties, so it matters who your importer is.
The manufacturer can point at the installer. Section 271 says a manufacturer isn't liable when the failure happened only because of something another person did. That is why a bad installation is a claim against the installer's workmanship under section 60, not against the brand.
What should you do first?
If you've only rung the installer or the brand's helpline, put it in writing before anything else. A written request is what an agency or a tribunal will ask to see.
Step 1: Keep your evidence
Keep the contract, invoice, the inverter and battery make and model, the warranty documents and the Electrical Safety Certificate. Save screenshots of error codes or the monitoring app, and your bills showing what the system produced before and after it failed.
Step 2: Ask the seller in writing
Email the business that sold the system so you have a record and a date. Ajust's recommended channel is whichever one gives you a written record and a reference number, usually email or the web form. If the installer has closed, send the same request to the manufacturer's Australian office or importer.
Subject: Failed [inverter / battery]: request for a remedy
Hello,
On [date] you supplied and installed a [brand and model] at [suburb] for $[price]. Since [date], it has [describe the fault, with any error code]. Photos, screenshots and my invoice are attached.
When I raised this on [date], I was told to [contact the manufacturer / that it was an installation problem]. As the seller and installer, the remedy is yours to provide. I am asking for a [repair / replacement / refund].
Please confirm in writing within 14 days how and when you will provide it.
Regards,
[Your name]
Step 3: Hold them to a date
If they say they're waiting on the manufacturer or an inspection, ask in writing for the date the system will be working again. An assessment is reasonable. Open-ended waiting while you lose solar output isn't.
Already done all this and still being bounced between the installer and the brand? Here's what happens next.
What if the installer and the manufacturer still say no?
Take it above the person you've been dealing with, then outside the business. Each route can help, but each has limits worth knowing first.
| Where | What it does | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| The installer's owner or manager, then the manufacturer's or importer's Australian warranty team | Can approve a repair, replacement or refund that front-line staff refused | It's still the business deciding about its own product or work |
| New Energy Tech Consumer Code (NETCC) administrator | Investigates complaints that an Approved Seller broke the Code and takes action against the seller where appropriate | Only covers Approved Sellers, and only incidents from 1 February 2023. It says new complaints may wait up to 8 weeks before an investigation starts |
| State consumer agency (NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria, Queensland Office of Fair Trading) | Contacts the business to try to reach an agreement. The Energy and Water Ombudsman NSW sends installation and quality problems to NSW Fair Trading | It can't force a result. Consumer Affairs Victoria says it "cannot enforce an outcome", and Queensland's Office of Fair Trading says it cannot force a business to compensate you or fix a problem |
| Energy ombudsman (EWON, EWOV) | Handles complaints about your energy retailer or distributor, such as feed-in credits not applied to your bill | EWON only investigates solar and battery complaints when one of its member companies is involved. |
| Tribunal (NCAT, VCAT, QCAT) | Hears the claim and makes an order the business must follow | You prepare and present the case yourself, and fees apply. NCAT: claims up to $100,000, within 3 years. VCAT: generally within 6 years, about 52 weeks' wait, and it can't hear claims against companies in liquidation or deregistered |
NCAT encourages people to run their own case, and in a consumer claim anyone representing you needs its permission. Legal Aid NSW can fund a tribunal case about goods and services, but only if you pass a means test and a merit test, and usually only once the business's complaint process and an outside one have been tried.
Can someone take this on for you?
Yes. A failed inverter or battery that nobody will fix is the kind of case Ajust takes on.
Our team takes over your claim. We go past the helpline to the installer's owner and the manufacturer's or importer's Australian warranty team, put the claim to the one the law says owes it, and hold them to a date. If the installer has closed, we take it to the manufacturer or importer. If they still refuse, we can lodge it with Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs for you in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA and WA.
No win, no fee. We'll tell you straight if we don't think we can win it.
Ajust has handled over 50 cases about a failed solar inverter, battery or panel system.
- Ajust's recommended channel is whichever one gives you a written record and a reference number, usually email or the web form.
Under the Australian Consumer Law, a major failure lets you choose a refund or replacement, while a minor one lets the business choose to repair, replace or refund.
What doesn't work
- Accepting "it's a manufacturer issue" from the installer. The seller owes the consumer guarantees, and the ACCC says it must not send you to the manufacturer for a remedy.
- Accepting "it's out of warranty". The consumer guarantees sit on top of the warranty and don't end when it does.
- Letting someone else open it up first. A manufacturer isn't liable for a failure caused only by someone else's work. Ask the seller or brand in writing before another electrician touches the unit.
- Arguing only on the phone. Without a written request and a date there is nothing to show an agency or a tribunal.
- Waiting past the deadline. A claim against the manufacturer has to start within 3 years of when you knew, or should have known, about the fault.
Common questions
The installer has gone out of business. Who fixes it now?
The manufacturer, or its Australian importer if the brand has no place of business here. Section 271 of the ACL lets you claim from it for the drop in value and foreseeable losses. The NETCC says you may still reach a closed company's administrators through ASIC. If you paid by card, Consumer Affairs Victoria says to consider a chargeback.
The manufacturer says it was installed wrong. What then?
Then the claim is against the installer for its workmanship. The installation is a service, and the ACL requires it to be done with due care and skill. Ask the manufacturer to put its finding in writing, then send it to the installer with your request for a fix by a set date.
Can I claim the feed-in credits I lost while it was down?
Section 259(4) of the ACL lets you claim damages for loss a failure caused if that loss was reasonably foreseeable. Lost solar credits are the kind of loss people put to that test. Keep the bills from before and after the failure. The section doesn't apply to a cause outside human control, like lightning, after the goods left the seller.
Is the manufacturer's warranty my only protection?
No. The ACCC says the consumer guarantee is a right over and above the manufacturer's warranty. Solar Victoria warns that some manufacturers back their warranty with insurance that can lapse if the company becomes insolvent and the premium was paid yearly, so the consumer guarantees matter most when the warranty fails.
Fair Trading said it can't make them fix it. What now?
That's the agency's limit, not the end of the claim. State consumer agencies negotiate but can't enforce an outcome. Only a tribunal or court can order the business to repair, replace or pay. This is often the point where people hand the claim to Ajust's team before deciding on a tribunal.
- Competition and Consumer Act 2010, Schedule 2 (Australian Consumer Law), sections 7, 54, 60, 259, 267, 271, 272 and 273
- ACCC: Repair, replace, refund, cancel
- WA Consumer Protection: Buying solar panels and home batteries
- Solar Victoria: What warranties are available?
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: Solar energy
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: Resolve your problem
- Queensland Government: Understand the complaint process
- New Energy Tech Consumer Code: Make a complaint
- Energy and Water Ombudsman NSW: Solar, batteries and energy services
- NCAT: Consumer claims
- NCAT: Representation
- VCAT: Before you apply, goods and services disputes
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