Solar installer warns homeowners against unsafe, cut-price installations

Ask AI 3minA Johannesburg solar installer has warned homeowners to check equipment, safety compliance and installer credentials before signing contracts

Fifty-six solar companies have shut their doors in SA this year, and homeowners who chose cheap installers are being left with systems that put their houses and families at risk, a solar installer has warned.

Marius Rudolph, who installs solar systems for homes and small businesses from the east of Johannesburg, said in a podcast interview this week that the industry had been flooded by people with no experience who called themselves specialists.

“Everyone is suddenly a solar installer. Everyone is suddenly a specialist,” Rudolph said.

“That’s why customers are angry at solar, because they were lied to. They were misinformed.”

His warning lands four weeks before the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) decides on November 26 whether Eskom may raise its prices by 8.83% from April, a day after Durban community groups called a picket at Eskom’s Westville offices to demand that the increase be rejected.

Rudolph, the founder of installation company Your Solar SA, said on the Nabob Media podcast that experienced installers were regularly called out to fix systems that other companies had put in.

He said that when a customer showed him a competitor’s quote, with the prices removed, he found in nine out of 10 cases that it used inferior equipment, including fewer surge arresters, less lightning protection, earthing that did not meet requirements and cables thinner than national standards allowed.

“The first thing you need to understand about solar is that anything lithium is a fire risk,” Rudolph said.

“Do not use a substandard product. Because if you do, all you’re doing is putting your property and your life’s work and your family at risk.”

He said manufacturers had built fire suppression into batteries to counter that risk, but that lightning remained one of the biggest dangers to a solar installation, particularly on high ground.

Rudolph said many installers simply hammered an earth spike into the ground and told the homeowner the job was done, without testing whether the earthing met the standard.

He said one farm owner who had disconnected from Eskom ended up spending another R80,000 on earthing equipment to bring his system up to the required standard.

Rudolph said some companies won customers by promising that no deposit was needed, only for a R100,000 quote to rise to R150,000 once they were on site because of items they said they had forgotten.

He said some installers also did not charge their customers VAT, which was illegal, and that those businesses would be shut down once the tax authorities caught up with them, leaving customers without anyone to service their systems.

“People will come to you and give you a deal that’s too good to be true. You know why? Because it’s too good to be true,” Rudolph said.

“It’s easy to fit a shoebox on a wall. Who’s there to replace it when it falls off?”

Rudolph said he had heard of 10 installers who had emigrated to Australia in the past six months and could no longer be reached by their customers.

He said he became an installer himself after shopping for solar more than 11 years ago, when one company offered to put 19 panels on his roof.

When he asked why the company did not install 12 larger panels instead, he said the salesman told him it would make less money.

Rudolph also warned against rent-to-own deals, saying his teams had removed 26 rent-to-own systems from customers’ walls in the past two months.

He said customers on these deals typically paid R3,500 to R4,000 a month for an 8kW system, and that the payment rose to about R7,000 when they wanted to upgrade to a 10kW system.

“When you’ve got that customer on a rent to own, you’ve got him tied down. He’s got no freedom of movement,” Rudolph said.

He said rent-to-own interest rates reached 17% to 18%, while a bank could offer a personal loan at 10% to 12%, and he advised homeowners to arrange their own finance through their bank.

Rudolph told the podcast’s host, Zareef Minty, that homeowners should never accept a quotation unless a site assessment had been done, and the installer had explained how the panels, inverter and batteries worked together.

“Make sure that you understand the process,” Rudolph said.

“Always start with a proper site assessment. And then once you get your quote, do your due diligence.”