How to spot a cheap energy quote

The cheap energy quote has one trick: a single attractive number with nothing behind it. No load calc, no named parts, no switchboard check, no Certificate of Compliance. It wins on price because it leaves off the work that costs money to do properly. This guide names the red flags in order and gives you a five-minute routine to verify any solar, battery, EV or commercial quote before you sign.

The villain: one number, nothing behind it

A quote that is just a price and a product name is hiding its omissions inside the headline. The low number is not the product of efficiency; it is the product of leaving things out. The skill is not finding the cheapest quote. It is finding which quote is cheap because it is genuinely lean, and which is cheap because three lines are missing.

Red flags, in order

These are ranked by how much they cost you when they turn out to be true. The first three are where most of the money and most of the risk hide.

• No load calc. The system size was picked, not derived, which usually means it was sized to the rebate.
• No switchboard check. The board was never inspected, so an upgrade is either skipped or coming as a mid-job surprise.
• No Certificate of Compliance mentioned. The compliance paperwork is unaccounted for, which is the part that protects you legally.
• Unnamed hardware. "Tier 1 panels" and "premium inverter" instead of make and model, so a cheaper unit can be swapped in.
• Rebate as a vague reduction. "Government rebate applied" with no dollar figure, so you cannot tell how much reached you.

We show you the load calc, the cable sizing and the CEC and compliance paperwork before you sign. The cheap quote leaves all three off and competes on the number that is left.

The five-minute verification routine

Before you compare any two quotes on price, run each through the same five checks. It takes about five minutes and it reorders most shortlists.

• Load calc? Is there a consumption analysis and a system size derived from it.
• Named hardware? Are the panels, inverter or charger named by make and model.
• Switchboard check? Does the quote state your board's condition and price any upgrade as a line.
• Rebate as a figure? Is the STC or incentive shown in dollars, not as a vague reduction.
• CoC promised? Is a Certificate of Compliance part of the deliverables.

A quote that passes all five is comparable. A quote that fails three is not cheaper, it is smaller, and the gap is the work it left off. For the full anatomy of a good quote, see what a solar quote should include, and for the board specifically, what triggers a switchboard upgrade.

Then, and only then, compare on price

Cheap is not the enemy. A genuinely efficient installer can be thorough and competitive at once. The enemy is comparing a complete quote against an incomplete one as if they were the same job. Once every quote passes the five checks, the cheapest one that still shows the load calc, the named hardware, the board check, the rebate figure and the CoC is the right one. That is comparing like for like, and it is the only comparison worth making.

The cheap energy quote relies on you reading only the number. Read the five lines behind it instead, and the real price, including the parts the cheap quote left off, comes into view before you sign rather than after.