10 Things to Check Before You Sign a Solar Contract

Solar is a twenty-year purchase from an industry that's about five years old here. Almost every dispute we hear about traces back to something that was discussed but never written down. This is what to confirm before you sign, with any installer. Including us.

1. Is every component actually named?

Panel make, model, wattage, and how many. Inverter make and model. Battery chemistry and usable capacity if there is one. Named components let you compare quotes and look things up. "Solar system — ₱280,000" is a price, not a specification.

2. Is the price broken down?

Equipment, mounting, electrical materials, labour, permits, fees. Separated. An itemized quote can be discussed line by line. A single figure can only be accepted or refused, which suits the seller more than you.

3. What's excluded?

Ask directly, get it in writing. The usual suspects that reappear later as invoices: panel-board upgrades, earthing work, scaffolding, roof repairs, the net metering meter fee, unusually long cable runs, delivery to remote sites.

4. Which warranties, covering what?

There are at least four, from different parties, for different lengths:

Panel product warranty — against defects, from the manufacturer.
Panel performance warranty — guarantees output stays above a percentage after N years. Longer than the product warranty, and a completely different thing.
Inverter warranty — typically much shorter than the panels'. Ask what happens when it runs out.
Workmanship warranty — from the installer, covering the installation itself. This varies most between companies, and it's the one that matters when the roof leaks.

A manufacturer's warranty is only worth the local support behind it. Ask who actually handles a claim, and where the unit goes.

5. Who does the permits and utility coordination?

Local permitting, and net metering approval for grid-tied systems. Establish who prepares it, who files it, who pays the fees. And remember approval timelines belong to the utility. Nobody can guarantee a connection date, so be wary of anyone who does.

6. Does the proposal state its self-consumption assumption?

Savings projections hinge on how much output you use rather than export. A proposal claiming savings without stating this isn't showing its working. Ask what percentage it assumes, then ask yourself whether that matches how your household actually behaves.

7. Was the roof assessed or assumed?

Age, condition, structural capacity, orientation, shade through the day. Panels last decades. If the roof underneath needs replacing in three years, that's a conversation for before installation, not after.

8. What are the payment terms?

A deposit is normal. Full payment before anything arrives is not. Sensible structures tie payments to milestones: deposit, delivery, commissioning. Be careful about releasing the final tranche before the system has been tested and handed over properly.

9. What does handover include?

You should end up with an as-built diagram, equipment manuals, warranty documents, monitoring access and a walkthrough of how to shut the thing down safely. Monitoring access in your account, not only the installer's. That one catches people out when they change companies.

10. And then what?

Who do you call, how fast do they come, is there a maintenance schedule? Coastal and dusty sites need cleaning more often than inland ones. An installer who vanishes after commissioning is a genuine risk in a market this young.

Answers that should slow you down

"We'll sort the paperwork out later."
A price that expires tonight.
Savings figures with no stated assumptions.
Reluctance to name the panel or inverter brand.
A guaranteed net metering approval date.
An offer to skip permits or inspection.

None of these is damning on its own. Every one of them earns a second question.

Hold us to this list

We wrote it knowing you might use it on us, and that's the point. A quote that survives all ten questions is a quote you can sign without worrying.

If you're thinking about solar and want a proposal that answers every item above before you have to ask, get in touch on Messenger or by phone. You're also welcome at the shop in Concordia, Bolinao, where we'll go through a sample quote line by line with you.