How to choose a solar and battery installer on the Sunshine Coast

1. How long they've been trading, under the same name

Solar has a long history of companies that appear, sell hard for two years, then close and reopen under a new name. When that happens your workmanship warranty goes with them. Check the trading name and the ABN on the quote, and look the ABN up on the ABN Lookup site. You want the same entity for at least five years, and you want the person you're dealing with to have been around for the industry's ups and downs.

2. How many systems they've actually installed

A big number on its own doesn't mean much. What you want is a company that has done enough installs on Sunshine Coast houses to have seen your kind of roof, your kind of switchboard and your kind of Energex connection before. Ask for a rough count and ask what share of that was batteries, because battery work is where the complexity is.

3. Employed electricians or a subcontracted crew

This is the one most people don't ask, and it's the one that matters most for quality. A lot of solar companies are a sales office. They win the job, then send it to whichever subcontract crew is free that week. The crew is paid per job, so speed wins over care, and they never see the customer again. If something goes wrong later, the sales company and the installer point at each other.

Ask directly: are the people on my roof your employees? Will the person who quoted the job be involved in the install?

4. Licences and accreditation you can check yourself

In Queensland, solar and battery work is electrical work. The business needs a QLD Electrical Contractor Licence and the person signing off needs an Electrical Worker Licence. On top of that, the designer and installer need Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA) accreditation for the system to be eligible for the federal rebate. SAA took over from the Clean Energy Council in 2024, so if a company still only talks about "CEC accreditation", ask for the SAA number.

Both can be checked online: the electrical licence on the Queensland Electrical Safety Office licence search, and the installer on the SAA website.

5. The workmanship warranty, in writing

Panels, inverters and batteries come with manufacturer warranties, and every installer will quote those because they cost the installer nothing. The warranty that tells you how confident a company is in its own work is the workmanship warranty: what happens if a roof penetration leaks, a cable is run badly, or an isolator fails because it was mounted wrong. Get the term and the conditions in writing on the quote.

6. Which brands, and why

Cheap, substandard product is a real problem in this industry. It's not that every unknown brand is bad, but the ones that fail tend to be the ones sold on price by companies that won't be around when they do. Ask why the installer has picked the brands they offer. A good answer talks about local support, how long the manufacturer has been in Australia, and what the installer has seen fail.

7. Who handles Energex and the retailer

Dealing with Energex is genuinely difficult and the industry doesn't talk about it enough. Every solar or battery connection on the Sunshine Coast needs an Energex application, and on a lot of streets the export limit you're offered is not what the brochure said. Then there's the retailer side: meter changes, tariff changes and feed-in arrangements. Ask who does the application, whether they'll tell you the real export limit before you sign, and whether they'll help with the retailer.

8. Who you call afterwards

Ask what happens after the install. Who sets up the monitoring app? If the system shows offline, who do you ring, and is it a local number or a national queue? The answer tells you whether the company is set up to install and leave, or to look after the system for the years it will be on your roof.

Where we're honest about the trade-offs

We're not the cheapest quote on the Coast and we don't try to be. We're a small team, so on a busy month there can be a wait for an install date. If your setup is straightforward, plenty of companies can handle it. If it's not, that's where we come in. We'd rather lose a job than cut corners to win it.

Flux at a glance

• Business: Flux Electrical Systems Pty Ltd, ABN 38 160 345 095, trading since 2010
• Based: Unit 3/46 Enterprise St, Kunda Park QLD 4556
• Service area: Sunshine Coast from Caloundra to Noosa and the hinterland, plus Moreton Bay
• Licences: QLD Electrical Contractor 76780; Matt Ottley Electrical Worker 121082
• Accreditation: SAA S5196653 (solar, on-grid batteries, off-grid); NETCC approved seller
• Systems installed: 1000+
• Labour: Flux-employed licensed electricians, no subcontracted crews
• Workmanship warranty: lifetime, provided the system is maintained
• Reviews: 5.0 from 150+ Google reviews
• Contact: 0489 077 735, admin@fluxelec.com.au