Solar or battery gone wrong? Here's who can actually help. The ombudsman isn't always the answer.
When a solar or battery job goes bad, the hardest part is often working out who to even call. The seller web is vague on purpose. Here's the blunt version: an energy & water ombudsman handles disputes with your retailer or distributor — bills, meters, feed-in tariffs, connections — but usually not installer workmanship or product faults, and sometimes not batteries at all. This is the map from “my problem is X” to the one body that can actually act. If your installer has vanished, start with what to do when the company that installed your system is gone.
Reviewed by the Mission Green Energy Team · Updated July 2026
One rule decides everything:
who did you pay, and for what?
There is no single hotline for ‘solar problems’. The right body depends entirely on what kind of problem it is — and matching them up wrong wastes weeks.
Here’s the honest short answer. Australia splits solar and battery complaints across several bodies, and they do not overlap much:
- A billing, metering, feed-in tariff, connection or disconnection dispute with your energy retailer or network belongs with your state or territory energy & water ombudsman — free, independent, and the body most people don’t know to use.
- A workmanship or product-quality problem — a bad install, a leaking roof penetration, a dead inverter, a battery that won’t hold charge — is a consumer-guarantee matter under the Australian Consumer Law. You chase the business you paid, and escalate to your state Fair Trading / Consumer Affairs office. The ombudsman generally can’t help here.
- Anything smoking, sparking or burning is a safety emergency — call 000, then the state electrical safety regulator.
The trap the seller web sets is letting you assume ‘the ombudsman’ or ‘the accreditation body’ will sort out a botched install. Often they can’t. Getting the routing right the first time is the difference between a fix and a runaround.
My problem is X —
the body that can act is Y.
Find your problem below, then go to the matching body. Where the fix is enforceable (a refund, a rectification you can compel), we’ve said so.
Your energy & water ombudsman
A dispute with your retailer or distributor — a wrong bill, a feed-in tariff not applied, a faulty or unread meter, a supply/connection delay, a disconnection — goes to your state scheme (EWON in NSW, EWOV in Victoria, EWOQ in Queensland, and so on). It’s free and independent. You must give the company a chance to fix it first. See also why your bill went up after solar.
The installer, then Fair Trading
A poor or non-compliant install — leaks, loose mounting, sloppy wiring — is a consumer-guarantee matter. Raise it with the business you paid; if unresolved, escalate to your state Fair Trading / Consumer Affairs. The Clean Energy Regulator also points install-quality concerns to Solar Accreditation Australia, but the enforceable path runs through the ACL. First read how to vet an installer.
The business you paid
A panel, inverter or battery that fails is covered by automatic consumer guarantees. If you paid a single supplier for product and install, they’re responsible for a remedy even if they subcontracted the work. Paid separate businesses? The retailer answers for the product, the installer for the install. Details in home battery warranties decoded.
000, then electrical safety
If an inverter, panel or battery is smoking or on fire, call 000. For non-emergency safety concerns, the state electrical safety regulator (for example, Energy Safe Victoria) is the body — battery and PV work must be done by a Registered Electrical Contractor or Licensed Electrical Worker. Rebate approval does not mean anyone inspected your install for safety.
NETCC — with real limits
If your seller is a current New Energy Tech Approved Seller and breached the Code, you can complain to the Code Administrator — but its powers are limited. It can suspend or expel a signatory; it cannot force a refund or enforce the law. Confirm they’re still listed and try the seller first.
The ACL via Fair Trading
For a major failure — something that would have stopped you buying had you known — the Australian Consumer Law lets you choose a refund or replacement. If the business won’t play, escalate through your state Fair Trading / Consumer Affairs and, if needed, the relevant tribunal. This is the enforceable backstop.
What an energy ombudsman
will — and won't — touch.
This is the body most homeowners reach for, and the one most often misunderstood. It’s powerful within its lane and largely powerless outside it.
Each state and territory has its own energy & water ombudsman scheme — there is no single national one. What they share is a focus on your dealings with an energy company that’s a member: the retailer or the network distributor. So a solar complaint the ombudsman can usually investigate looks like this: a feed-in tariff that was never applied, a billing error, a meter that wasn’t reconfigured or read after your install, a supply or connection delay, a payment-plan or disconnection problem.
What they generally can’t touch is the install itself. In NSW, for example, EWON states plainly that it does not handle solar installation, workmanship or product-quality complaints — it refers those to NSW Fair Trading — and that it lacks jurisdiction over some newer products such as solar batteries, peer-to-peer trading and electric vehicles. That’s an example of how coverage can be narrower than people assume, not a nationwide rule: jurisdiction varies by scheme and is changing over time. If your issue is a network rejecting your solar or battery application, that’s squarely a distributor dispute the ombudsman may take.
Workmanship, product, safety, billing:
four problems, four doors.
Almost every solar or battery complaint falls into one of four buckets. Naming yours correctly is half the battle.
How it was installed
Leaks, rattling racking, non-compliant DC wiring, a job that doesn’t match the plan. This is a consumer-guarantee failure on the installation service. Chase the installer/seller for rectification; escalate to state Fair Trading if ignored.
The hardware itself
An inverter that dies, panels underperforming, a battery losing capacity early. Covered by consumer guarantees and the manufacturer’s warranty. The business you paid owes the remedy — even if the maker is overseas. If they’ve vanished, see claiming warranty when the installer is gone.
Immediate danger
Smoke, sparks, a burning smell, exposed live parts. 000 first; then the state electrical safety regulator. Battery and PV work is licensed electrical work — if it was done by someone unlicensed, the safety regulator is exactly who should know.
Your energy account
Bills, feed-in credits, meters, connections, disconnections — anything about your relationship with the retailer or network. This is the energy & water ombudsman’s home turf (after you’ve tried the company).
Why NETCC and accreditation
can't force the fix you want.
Approved Seller badges and accreditation logos are useful signals of quality — but people badly overestimate what these bodies can do when things go wrong.
The New Energy Tech Approved Seller program runs under the ACCC-authorised New Energy Tech Consumer Code. It’s a good sign a seller has signed up to certain standards. But it is voluntary, and the Code Administrator’s strongest sanctions against a signatory are suspension or expulsion from the Code — in 2024, one supplier was suspended and five were expelled. That stops a company using the Approved Seller brand; it does not enforce the law or compel a refund.
To complain under NETCC you must first confirm the company is a current Approved Seller in the directory and attempt to resolve it with the seller directly. The Administrator only investigates breaches of the Code’s standards — where your issue isn’t a Code breach, it points you to other organisations that may help. New cases can also wait some weeks before investigation. The same ‘limited teeth’ logic applies to the Clean Energy Regulator: it doesn’t resolve install-quality complaints (it directs those to Solar Accreditation Australia), and its own enforcement is narrow — things like certificate fraud, not your leaking roof. And accreditation or rebate approval never guaranteed anyone inspected your particular job for a compliant, safe install.
The ACL is the backstop
that actually has power.
When a code can’t help and the ombudsman’s out of lane, the Australian Consumer Law — run through your state Fair Trading — is the route with real force behind it.
Under the Australian Consumer Law, solar products and their installation carry automatic consumer guarantees that no warranty fine-print can cancel. The practical rules that matter most:
- Who’s responsible? If you paid a single supplier for both the product and the install, they owe you a remedy — even if they subcontracted the work. If you paid separate businesses, the retailer answers for product faults and the installer for installation faults.
- Major failure = your choice. For a major failure, you get to choose a refund or a replacement — the business doesn’t get to insist on a repair.
- How to escalate. Put it in writing to the business first. If that fails, lodge with your state or territory Fair Trading / Consumer Affairs office, which can conciliate; unresolved matters can go to the relevant civil tribunal.
The exact steps, timeframes and tribunal thresholds differ by state, so check your own state’s Fair Trading page for the specifics. If the underlying issue is a company that no longer exists, the ACL path narrows — our guides on orphaned solar systems and warranty claims when the installer is gone walk through what’s left.
Match the problem to the body
— then keep receipts.
The fastest fix is almost always the one lodged with the right office the first time.
Work out which bucket your problem is in before you call anyone. If it’s about your bill, meter, feed-in tariff, connection or disconnection with your retailer or network, give the company a genuine chance to fix it, then take it to your state energy & water ombudsman — but first confirm your scheme covers your issue, because batteries and newer products aren’t covered everywhere. If it’s a bad install or a faulty product, that’s a consumer-guarantee matter: chase the business you paid, and escalate to your state Fair Trading / Consumer Affairs if they stall — that’s the enforceable path, not NETCC or accreditation, which can only sanction membership. If anything is smoking or sparking, it’s 000 and the electrical safety regulator, full stop. And if your installer has disappeared, your options change — read our orphaned-system guides before you spend money chasing a ghost. Whatever the route, keep every document: the contract, the promise in writing, the dates, the photos.
Solar & battery complaints
your questions, answered.
A dispute about your bill, feed-in tariff, meter, connection or disconnection with your energy retailer or network distributor is handled by your state or territory energy and water ombudsman scheme. There is no single national ombudsman: NSW uses EWON, Victoria uses EWOV, Queensland uses EWOQ, and so on. These schemes are free and independent, but they generally require you to give the company a genuine chance to resolve the issue first. Their focus is your relationship with an energy company that is a member of the scheme, not the physical installation. Check your own state scheme's website to confirm it covers your specific problem before lodging.
Usually not. Energy and water ombudsman schemes focus on disputes with energy retailers and distributors, such as billing, metering, feed-in tariffs and connections, not the quality of the installation. In NSW, for example, EWON states it does not handle solar installation, workmanship or product-quality complaints and refers those to NSW Fair Trading, and it also says it lacks jurisdiction over some newer products such as solar batteries, peer-to-peer trading and electric vehicles. That is an example of how coverage can be narrower than people assume, not a nationwide rule, because jurisdiction varies by scheme and changes over time. For workmanship and product faults, your enforceable path is the Australian Consumer Law via your state Fair Trading office.
No. The New Energy Tech Approved Seller program is voluntary and runs under the ACCC-authorised New Energy Tech Consumer Code. The Code Administrator's strongest sanctions against a signatory are suspension or expulsion from the Code; in 2024 one supplier was suspended and five were expelled. Those sanctions stop a company using the Approved Seller brand, but they cannot enforce the law or compel a refund. To complain you must first confirm the company is a current Approved Seller and try to resolve it with the seller directly, and the Administrator only investigates breaches of the Code's standards. Your enforceable right to a refund or replacement comes from the Australian Consumer Law, escalated through your state Fair Trading office.
Treat it as an emergency. If an inverter, panel or battery is smoking, sparking or on fire, call 000 immediately. Once the immediate danger is dealt with, the body for battery and PV safety concerns is your state electrical safety regulator, for example Energy Safe Victoria. Battery energy storage and solar installation work is licensed electrical work that must be carried out by a Registered Electrical Contractor or Licensed Electrical Worker under state electrical safety law, so if you suspect the work was done by someone unlicensed, the safety regulator is exactly who should hear about it. Remember that rebate approval or accreditation does not mean anyone inspected your particular install for safety.
No. The Clean Energy Regulator does not resolve consumer complaints about the quality of a solar or battery installation. It directs installation-quality concerns to Solar Accreditation Australia and points unresolved disputes with a retailer to the relevant state or territory fair trading or consumer protection agency. The Regulator's own enforcement is limited to fraud and non-compliance, such as creating certificates for unapproved panels or batteries, not repairing your system. Accreditation and rebate approval also do not guarantee that any particular install was inspected, compliant or safe. Your enforceable rights for a faulty or badly installed system run through the Australian Consumer Law, via the business you paid and your state Fair Trading office.
Solar products and their installation carry automatic consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot be signed away. If you paid a single supplier for both the product and the installation, that supplier is responsible for a remedy even if they subcontracted the work. If you paid separate businesses, the retailer is responsible for product faults and the installer for installation faults. For a major failure, you can choose a refund or a replacement rather than being forced to accept a repair. Put your complaint to the business in writing first; if it is not resolved, escalate to your state or territory Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs office, which can conciliate, and unresolved matters can proceed to the relevant tribunal. Exact steps and timeframes vary by state.
Where these figures come from.
The routing on this page is drawn from official primary sources, current as at 2026. Scheme remits and processes change — confirm at the source, and with your own state’s scheme, before you lodge.
- EWON (NSW) — what solar complaints the energy & water ombudsman can and cannot handle
- Clean Energy Regulator — rooftop solar, battery & solar water heater complaints information
- NETCC — how to make a complaint against an Approved Seller
- New Energy Tech Consumer Code (full text) — voluntary code, sanctions of suspension and expulsion
- ACCC — solar panels & home batteries: consumer guarantees and who is responsible
- Energy Safe Victoria — battery storage safety and installer licensing (state electrical safety regulator example)