Sun Sets On Sungain Solar, Leaving Customers In The Dark

On December 27th, 2024, official notice was given that Perth-based solar installation company Sungain Solar had entered liquidation.  That’s a fancy way of saying they’d gone bust.  A number of their customers have been left in the lurch because they paid deposits for solar systems and now don’t know if they’ll get any of their money back.

Below, I’ll tell you how you can protect yourself — in general — from companies disappearing down the drain with your deposit.  I’ll also specifically mention the best way to protect yourself when it comes to getting rooftop solar, home batteries, and EV chargers.

Even Good Businesses Can Go Bust

While we may have reacted faster if their official liquidation notice hadn’t been made over the Christmas period, on the 30th of December we placed the following notice at the top of their SolarQuotes review page:

If you go to the Sungain Solar site, you will now see this image:

The section at the bottom that’s hard to read says, “Sungain Solar has recently closed. If you are an existing customer, please contact [email protected] for further information.”

That’s a nice picture of a family in front of a solar home.  Now I could just be slow on the uptake here, but I’m pretty sure that photo was taken in Slovakia — an interesting choice for a company based in Western Australia.  That said, I’m also pretty sure Sungain didn’t go down the drain due to their taste in stock photos.

I don’t know why Sungain Solar went out of business and I don’t really want to know the details.  It’s like how Tolstoy starts the novel Anna Karenina…

“Happy families are all alike.  Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”¹

Every business that goes bust goes bust in its own way.

It’s an unfortunate fact that even good businesses can end up going bankrupt — and Sungain Solar was a good business.  They performed quality installations, and if a customer had a problem, they addressed the issue quickly and appropriately.  We have indicators that can reveal if a business is in distress, and these caused us to become concerned about Sungain Solar, but we did not know they would enter liquidation.

Is This A Growing Problem?

If you’re wondering whether solar installers going out of business is a growing problem, then please allow me to immediately reassure you — probably not.

The rooftop solar industry isn’t currently booming, but it also isn’t doing the opposite, which I guess would be moobing.  The “solar rebate” was reduced at the start of this year, but that was a normal and expected part of its gradual phaseout.  Meanwhile, over the past year, installers have benefited from reductions in the cost of solar panels.

There’s always a background level of businesses going bust, whether times are good or bad. But bad times do bring more business bankruptcies.  Fortunately, the solar business is at least a little countercyclical in that, when times are hard, people look for ways to save money — such as installing rooftop solar.

That said, economic slowdowns are not good and I hope we’re not heading for one.  The health of our economy heavily depends on what’s going on overseas and — while I haven’t checked the international news lately — no doubt all major world leaders are working hard to ensure future global peace and prosperity.

Never Pay An Excessive Deposit

Of the people who paid Sungain Solar deposits and never received a system, I know there’s at least one who paid nearly 100% deposit.  When a company asks for an excessively large deposit — especially 100% — that’s a big red flag.  We will not recommend using any company that asks for over-the-top deposits, and we will not work with them if they do.

Normally, you only need to pay a 10% deposit.  This is the general rule of thumb for rooftop solar.  That’s 10% of the total cost you have to pay after the solar rebate is applied.  Some states also have legal maximum deposit limits.

If an installer asks for more than the usual 10%, it doesn’t necessarily mean something dodgy is going on — so long as state law allows it.  There can be situations where it’s reasonable for an installer to ask for a larger deposit.  For example, if you live in a remote area or it’s a difficult job that requires hiring additional equipment such as a cherry picker.

But even in special cases I generally expect the requested deposit to be no more than 20%.  Anything over that would make me suspicious, while a 50% deposit is right out, and agreeing to pay 100% is a really bad idea.  While the installer could be 100% honest, above board, and — importantly — completely financially solvent, there’s no way you can be 100% certain of that and you’re leaving yourself terribly exposed if they aren’t.

Pay Deposits By Credit Card

One way to protect yourself is to pay deposits by credit card.  If something goes wrong you can request a chargeback.  But using a credit card is not a reason to pay an excessively high deposit.  Firstly, you may not be able to get a chargeback.  Secondly, depending on the dispute, you may have to give up your deposit anyway and hand it over even if you get a chargeback.  But note, I’m not a lawyer and so may not know what I’m talking about here.

What To Do If A Company Disappears With Your Deposit

If you pay a deposit to a company which then goes into liquidation, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission outlines what you can do on this page.  If you are unable to get your money returned through a chargeback you can register as an unsecured creditor.  It’s possible you could eventually receive all your money back, but that often doesn’t happen.  You may receive a partial payment or nothing.

You may want to seek the advice of Consumer Affairs or Fair Trading in your state or territory.  Their numbers at the bottom of our page on what to do if your installer disappears.

Those Referred By SolarQuotes Will Get All Their Money Back

Some who paid deposits to Sungain Solar only have the option of registering as unsecured creditors and hoping they’ll get at least some of their money back.  But others can be certain that, in time, they’ll have all their deposit returned.  These are people who were referred to Sungain Solar by SolarQuotes.

Our goal is to make purchasing solar easy and to reduce the risk by helping people avoid dodgy installers.  So if you use our service and we refer an installer to you, we back them up with our Good Installer Guarantee.  There are some conditions, and you can read about them here, but the idea is we will make sure you get what you were promised.  This includes SolarQuotes reimbursing lost deposits at our expense.

We ask people to attempt to recover their deposit by registering as an unsecured creditor first, but if you don’t receive any of your deposit back, we will give you the full amount.  If you only receive a partial payment, we will make up the difference.  This applies not just to solar systems but also to home batteries and EV chargers from installers we refer.

There are around a dozen people SolarQuotes will help with Sungain Solar deposits.  Unless they can receive money as unsecured creditors, it will add up to a considerable expense, but it gives us skin in the game and helps ensure we do our jobs properly and only refer installers who do quality work and who are solvent.

3 Steps To Protect Your Deposit

Going through SolarQuotes is in my opinion the best way to protect your deposit via our Good Installer Guarantee — but of course I’d say that. If you do buy a solar system elsewhere, at a minimum make sure to follow the other three steps I’ve outlined to keep your deposit safe:

1. only pay more than a 10% deposit if there’s a good reason;
2. never pay an excessive amount;
3. always pay by credit card.

It’s regrettable Sungain Solar went under, and the company’s employees have our sympathy.  They’re often the ones most hard done by when a business goes bust.  Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to see these things coming and no doubt the sun will set on other good companies in the future, so make sure you aren’t scrambling in the dark for your deposit if it happens to your installer.