Solar Repairs in Perth 2026: Common Faults, What They Cost and When to Replace

Solar systems are reliable, but they are not maintenance-free, and after ten years of Perth sun a fair number of components are at or near the end of their design life.

This guide covers what actually fails, how to tell a repair from a replacement, and — a question we field constantly — what to do if the company that installed your system no longer exists.

The faults we see most often

Inverter failure

By a wide margin the most common significant fault. String inverters are rated for roughly 10–15 years against a 25-year panel life, so at least one replacement over the system’s life should be considered normal rather than a defect.

Symptoms: system not producing, persistent error codes, display dead, output far below expected, repeated night-time restarts.

Common causes: heat stress (a west-facing wall in a Perth summer is a hostile environment for an inverter), capacitor ageing, cooling fan or filter failure, moisture ingress.

Fix: repair is occasionally possible for fan or filter issues; beyond that, replacement is almost always the correct call. An inverter within its manufacturer warranty should be replaced under that warranty.

DC isolator failure

A recognised long-term issue in Australian installations. Rooftop DC isolators degrade under UV and can allow moisture ingress, which in the worst cases has caused fires.

Symptoms: often none until inspection. Visible cracking, discolouration or water staining on the isolator housing is the warning sign.

Fix: replacement with a current-standard unit. Straightforward, and worth doing proactively on any system over about eight years old.

Panel damage

Micro-cracking from hail, impact or thermal shock. Frequently invisible to the naked eye and only detectable by output testing or thermal imaging.

Delamination — layers separating, showing as cloudiness or bubbling. A manufacturing defect and a product warranty claim.

Hot spots — localised overheating from shading or cell damage, visible on a thermal scan.

Bird and possum damage to cabling under the array. Common in Perth and preventable with mesh proofing.

Water ingress

Roof penetrations that were not sealed correctly, or whose seals have failed. Shows as ceiling staining below the array.

Treat as urgent. Water damage compounds quickly and the cost escalates from a sealing repair to a ceiling replacement. On a Talk Energy installation this falls under the 20-year workmanship warranty.

Monitoring and connectivity

The most common call we get, and usually the least serious. A router change, a new wi-fi password or an ISP swap disconnects the inverter’s data link. The system keeps generating; you just cannot see it.

Worth fixing, because without monitoring you have no early warning of a genuine fault.

String or optimiser dropout

One string or one section of the array stops contributing while the rest continues. Output falls by a third or a half but the system does not report an outright fault.

This is the fault most likely to go unnoticed for a year. It is also the reason monthly monitoring checks are worth the thirty seconds they take.

Reading your inverter: what the lights and codes are telling you

The inverter is the diagnostic hub of a solar system. Almost every fault worth knowing about shows up there first, and most inverters distinguish between three states: running normally, running with a warning logged, and stopped. A unit that has stopped is obvious. A unit that is running with a warning logged is the one that costs people money, because the system looks fine from the driveway.

Manufacturers use different code numbering, so the code itself means little without the manual. The underlying fault families are the same across brands.

Isolation or earth fault

The inverter has detected current leaking where it should not, usually moisture in a connector, a damaged cable, or a panel junction box that has let water in. Perth systems tend to show these after the first serious rain following a dry summer, when a seal that has been degrading all year finally admits water.

This one is worth acting on rather than resetting. It is a genuine electrical fault, and the inverter is shutting down because it should.

Grid voltage errors

The most misdiagnosed fault in Perth. Your inverter is legally required to disconnect if the voltage at your property rises above the limit set in Australian Standard AS 4777. On streets with a lot of solar and a long distance back to the transformer, midday voltage can drift high enough to trip everything in the neighbourhood.

The symptom is a system that cuts out in the middle of clear, sunny days — exactly when you expect peak output — and returns later in the afternoon. Nothing is wrong with your equipment. The fix is a network issue and can involve your inverter’s settings, your connection, or Western Power’s infrastructure. Replacing the inverter will not solve it, and anyone who suggests it without checking your voltage logs is guessing.

Overtemperature

Inverters throttle their output as they heat up and stop entirely past their limit. In Perth this is usually an installation-location problem rather than a hardware problem: a unit in direct afternoon sun on a west-facing wall, or in an unventilated garage corner, will shed output on exactly the days you most want it. Shading or relocating the unit fixes it permanently.

DC arc fault and overvoltage

Less common, and the most serious of the group. An arc fault alarm means the inverter has detected the electrical signature of arcing on the DC side, which is a fire risk. Do not repeatedly reset it. Switch the system off at the isolators if you can do so safely, and get it inspected.

Before you call: three checks you can do safely

None of these involve opening anything or touching wiring. They will not fix a real fault, but they will tell you what to say when you do call, and they occasionally save a visit.

• Look at the inverter screen or app and write down exactly what it says — the code, the wording, and roughly when it started. A code plus a date narrows the diagnosis enormously.
• Check whether anything else in the house tripped. If the solar breaker in your meter box has tripped alongside other circuits, the event may have been a grid disturbance rather than a system fault.
• Compare output to the same month last year, not to last month. Perth output naturally falls from summer into winter, and plenty of “my system is broken” calls are seasonal change. A year-on-year drop of more than about 10% is the number worth reporting.

What not to do: repeatedly reset an inverter that keeps faulting. Each reset clears the evidence, and a unit that trips on isolation or arc fault is protecting you from something real.

How a warranty claim actually runs

Two separate warranties cover most systems, and knowing which one applies determines who pays.

The product warranty comes from the manufacturer and covers the hardware itself — the panel or the inverter failing on its own terms. It follows the equipment, not the installer, and it survives your installer closing down.

The workmanship warranty comes from the installer and covers the installation — mounting, sealing, cabling, connection. Talk Energy installations carry a 20-year workmanship warranty. This is the one that disappears if the installing company does.

A straightforward claim runs like this: fault reported, diagnostic visit, fault confirmed and documented with serial numbers and evidence, claim lodged with the manufacturer, replacement part approved and shipped, install visit booked. The step that takes the time is almost always the manufacturer’s approval and shipping, not the labour. On a Talk Energy system, call us first and we’ll explain how the manufacturer claim works for your equipment.

How long it takes

For systems we installed, our 48-hour fix or replace guarantee covers the response. What happens after the diagnosis depends on the part:

• Monitoring and connection faults — often resolved in the same visit, sometimes remotely.
• Isolator, connector and sealing repairs — normally one visit, parts are standard stock.
• Panel replacement under product warranty — paced by the manufacturer’s claim process, usually the longest wait, and worth starting early.
• Inverter replacement — quick when the model is current, slower when the unit is old or the brand has left the Australian market.

That last point is worth planning around. Some inverter brands sold in WA over the past decade no longer have an Australian support presence, which means no warranty channel and no spare parts, whatever the paperwork says. If your inverter is over ten years old, it is worth finding out now whether its manufacturer still operates here, rather than on the day it fails.

Common questions

My inverter cuts out in the middle of sunny days. Is it failing?

Usually not. That pattern is characteristic of high grid voltage, which is a network condition rather than a hardware fault. It needs measurement rather than replacement.

Is it worth repairing a ten-year-old inverter?

It depends on what else is on the roof. If the panels are performing and the array is a reasonable size, replacing just the inverter usually makes sense. If the array is small by current standards and you are considering a battery, putting that money towards a new system is often the better outcome.

Can I claim on the manufacturer myself?

Yes, and if your original installer has closed down that is your route. You will need the original invoice, the system details and the serial numbers.

Does a fault mean my system was installed badly?

Not necessarily. Water ingress, cable damage and seal failures point at workmanship or wildlife. Inverter hardware failures and panel delamination are product issues that happen to well-installed systems too.

If you need service on a system we installed, our solar repairs and service page has the request form, or you can call us directly.

What drives the cost of a repair

Repair cost is driven by three things: whether the component is still under warranty, whether roof access is required, and whether the fault is diagnostic-heavy.

Roughly in order of cost, lowest first:

• Monitoring reconnection — usually resolvable remotely
• Diagnostic visit — the starting point for any unexplained fault
• Isolator replacement — straightforward, but needs roof access
• Panel replacement — often covered by product warranty; the labour may not be
• Roof seal repair — covered under workmanship warranty on a Talk Energy install
• Inverter replacement — the largest common cost. Check warranty status first; a unit inside its manufacturer term should be replaced free.

If your original installer has gone out of business

This affects a substantial number of Perth solar owners. The WA market has seen a number of companies close, and their customers are left with a system, a workmanship warranty that no longer exists, and manufacturer warranties they now have to chase themselves.

Here is the honest position, including what we can and cannot help with.

Your manufacturer warranties survive. Panel and inverter product warranties are issued by the manufacturer, not the installer, and remain valid even if the installing company is gone. You will need your original documentation — invoice, system details, serial numbers. If you no longer have it, the Clean Energy Council STC registry and your electricity retailer’s records can often establish your install date and system size, and the serial numbers are usually printed on the inverter itself.

Your workmanship warranty does not survive. If the installing company no longer exists, neither does its warranty. This is the real loss, and it is worth weighing installer longevity at purchase time rather than after.

To be straight with you: Talk Energy services and repairs the systems we install. We are not able to take on fault-finding and repair work for systems installed by other companies. We would rather tell you that plainly than have you call and be turned away.

What we would suggest instead:

• Go to the manufacturer directly for panel or inverter faults still inside the product warranty. Most have Australian support arms and will nominate a service agent.
• Use a licensed electrician with solar accreditation for isolator faults, switchboard issues and safety concerns. Any accredited electrician can make a system safe.
• If the system is old and the inverter has failed, price a full replacement before paying for a repair — see the next section. A new system comes with a new workmanship warranty, which is exactly what you have lost.

If you are at that last point and considering a replacement system, that is something we can help with.

Repair or replace?

Repair when the system is under about 10 years old, panels are performing, and the fault is a single component.

Consider replacing when the system is 12+ years old, the inverter has failed, panels are materially degraded, and the array is small by current standards. Panel efficiency has improved substantially — a modern array in the same roof space can produce considerably more than a decade-old one, and if you are paying for an inverter and labour anyway, the incremental cost of a full upgrade is often smaller than expected.

Definitely consider replacing if you are adding a battery. Retrofitting storage to an ageing system sometimes means paying twice.

Our system upgrade guide covers this decision.

Preventing most of it

Most of the faults above are either preventable or catchable early:

• Check your monitoring monthly. Thirty seconds, and it is the only way you will notice a dropped string.
• Have the system inspected periodically, particularly the DC isolators once it passes eight years or so.
• Keep the panels clean. Perth’s long dry summers mean months of dust with no rain to clear it — see our maintenance guide.
• Mesh-proof the array if you have bird or possum activity.

Getting help

Talk Energy services and repairs the systems we install, across Perth metro and regional WA. All work is performed by our own in-house SAA-accredited electricians — the same team that did the installation, never a subcontractor.

Every Talk Energy installation carries a 20-year workmanship warranty and a 48-hour fix-or-replace guarantee. If something goes wrong, you call us and we deal with the manufacturer on your behalf.

If you are considering replacing an ageing or orphaned system, we are happy to quote on that.

Talk to our team: (08) 6255 5914.