Solar scam alert: the tricks used on Kerala homeowners

Kerala's solar boom has attracted serious engineering companies, and it has attracted operators who will not exist by the time your first warranty claim comes. We keep meeting their customers, which is why our scam alert films are the most watched videos on our channel. Here is the written version.

1. The subsidy that goes to the installer

The PM Surya Ghar subsidy is paid to the homeowner's bank account, always. If a company offers to 'adjust' the subsidy in their price and collect it themselves, the discount is imaginary and the paperwork is often never filed. Verify your own application status on the official portal at every stage.

2. The free or one-rupee solar offer

There is no such thing as free solar. Offers built on that phrase hide the cost in inflated loan amounts, phantom subsidies, or equipment that was never worth the printed price.

3. The undersized inverter

A quote can advertise a 5 kW system and quietly pair it with a 3 kW inverter. The panels can never deliver what you paid for. Read the inverter capacity on the quotation, not just the panel total.

4. Unbranded panels with photocopied warranties

A 25-year warranty is only worth the company standing behind it. Insist on MNRE-approved, ALMM-listed brands, and check that the warranty card names the manufacturer, not the dealer.

5. The installer who vanishes

Most solar problems appear in year two, not week two. Before signing, call the company's service number and see who answers. Ask for customers from five years ago. A company that has been here since 2009 can give you both without hesitation.

6. The inflated kilowatt

A subtler trick: quoting a '5 kW system' whose panel wattages add up to 4.2. Count it yourself: number of panels multiplied by the wattage on the datasheet equals the real array size. If the total does not match the headline number, everything else in the quote deserves the same suspicion.

A cousin of this trick quotes the array honestly but promises generation from its theoretical peak, a number your roof will meet for a few minutes on a perfect day. Insist on daily average estimates for your location and orientation, in writing.

7. The advance that disappears

Large advances to unknown companies are how the worst stories begin. A reasonable structure ties payments to visible milestones: a modest booking amount, the bulk against material delivery to your site, and the balance at commissioning. A company that needs most of your money before a single panel reaches your roof is financing something, and it is not your project.

The five-minute verification checklist

Before signing anything: check the panel model against the public ALMM list; check the company is a DISCOM-registered vendor, which subsidy work requires; call the service number on the letterhead and see who picks up; search the company name plus the word complaints; and ask for two customers older than three years, then actually phone one. No honest installer objects to any of these. Objection is itself the answer.

If you have already been cheated

Document everything: quotation, payments, chats, photos of what was installed. Complaints can go to the district consumer forum, and subsidy-related fraud can be reported through the PM Surya Ghar grievance channels and to KSEB. If the hardware is salvageable, an audit by a competent installer can usually rescue the system even when the seller has vanished. We perform these audits regularly, and the earlier we see one, the more of the owner's money we can save.