23/09/2026
Nobody has ever come back to us and said they wish they hadn't gone solar.
But after fifteen years of doing this around Adelaide, the same regrets come up again and again. Here are the ten we hear most.
1. Going too small. The system got sized to the bill they had, not the life they were heading into. Add a pool, a baby, a heat pump or an EV and a setup that fitted perfectly two years ago is suddenly working overtime.
2. Leaving no room for a battery. The inverter was matched to the panels and nothing else, so adding storage later meant changing more than they expected.
3. Thinking about how much power they use, never about when. Most of what solar is worth sits in what you use during daylight. If the house is empty until six, that changes what the right setup looks like.
4. Assuming blackout backup came standard. It doesn't. Backup needs an optional gateway, and the time to sort that out is before the install, not during the next outage.
5. Buying on the number at the bottom of the quote. Two quotes can look the same on paper and be built from completely different gear.
6. Never asking where the panels were actually going. Roof direction, pitch and shade decide what a system produces. A cheaper array pointed the wrong way isn't cheaper.
7. Skipping the switchboard conversation. Older boards sometimes need work before anything can be connected, and install day is a rough time to find that out.
8. Waiting for a better rebate. Whatever is coming, the bills keep turning up in the meantime.
9. Not knowing what their feed-in tariff was actually worth. Exporting power and storing it are two very different outcomes, and it pays to know which one you're set up for.
10. Not doing it sooner. This is the one we hear most, and it's almost always said with a laugh.
What's the one thing you'd do differently? Stick it in the comments, it helps whoever reads this next.
