Your Solar Installer Went Out of Business

The single most expensive rule is this one: SEAI lets you change the company named on your grant offer only if the works have not started. Once someone has been on your roof, that door is shut, and the form that releases your grant money has to be signed by an installer. That is the position on SEAI's own solar grant page, and it is why a folded installer is a paperwork problem as much as a money problem. Meanwhile the consumer side is bleaker than most people expect: if a liquidator has been appointed, Revenue, the banks and the company's own staff are paid before any customer. Below is what each route actually gets you, in the order worth trying.

First, Confirm It Is Actually Gone

Phones going unanswered for three weeks is not the same thing as a liquidation, and the two need different letters. Check the Companies Registration Office register at core.cro.ie under the exact company name on your contract, not the trading name on the van. Citizens Information also suggests the obvious physical checks: the premises and the website, in case a notice has been posted with contact details for whoever is now handling things.

Words matter here because they change who you write to. Administration, examinership, liquidation and receivership all describe a company at risk of or already going out of business, but only some of them come with an appointed liquidator or receiver you can make a claim to. If a name has been appointed, that is the person your claim goes to, in writing.

While you are checking, look up the company on SEAI's registered contractor search and on Safe Electric. A company that has quietly come off either register tells you something about timing, and you will need to know whether the electrical work was signed off by a Registered Electrical Contractor regardless of what happened to the business.

Where Your Grant Stands, in Three Scenarios

SEAI's solar grant is paid after the works, not before, so the timing of the collapse decides almost everything.

1. You have a grant offer but works have not started

This is the recoverable case. SEAI's rule is that to change your chosen company you cancel the existing application and create a new one naming the new company, and it states plainly that this can only be done if the works have not started. Email solarpv@seai.ie to cancel, then reapply.

One catch worth knowing before you do it. SEAI says applicants are eligible for the grant amounts in effect at the time of application, so if you cancel and recreate an application after the rates have changed, you get the new rate rather than the one you were originally offered. The maximum solar PV grant is €1,800 and stays at €1,800 for 2026, so a reapplication today costs you nothing. A reapplication that slips into a year where the rate has moved is a different calculation. Our grant step-down analysis covers the planned trajectory.

2. Works started, never finished

This is the hard one, and it is worth being honest that the published rules do not spell out a clean answer. What they do say: the change-of-company route is closed once works have started, and the documents SEAI needs before it pays include a Declaration of Works completed and signed by the installer, an Inspection, Test and Commissioning Certificate, a Safe Electric certificate, a completed ESB Networks NC6 form, a post-works BER and an invoice describing the works.

Several of those can only come from whoever actually did the work. That is the real bind, and it is not one you can resolve by reading the website harder. Write to solarpv@seai.ie setting out the dates, what was installed, what was not, and what documentation you hold, and ask for SEAI's position in writing before your window closes.

3. Works finished, paperwork never submitted

More common than it sounds, because uploading the documents is the installer's job and it is the last thing they do. SEAI says the solar PV company submits the documentation electronically and asks homeowners to make sure they do it as soon as the installation is complete.

If the work is genuinely done and certified, you are chasing documents rather than a rebuild, so start from the safety file. SEAI requires your contractor to give you one, and it should already contain the Declaration of Works, the invoice, the contract, proof of payment, supplier warranty and guarantee documents, product certification and commissioning reports. If you have that file, you are holding most of what SEAI wants. If you do not, ask the liquidator for it in the same letter as your money claim — it costs them nothing to release and it is worth €1,800 to you.

Which Warranties Survive and Which Die With the Company

This is the distinction that decides whether you have lost your cover or just lost your first point of contact.

Citizens Information's advice on faulty goods after a business closure is exactly this: check whether the product came with a manufacturer guarantee or warranty, check the terms for whether it is still valid and whether your fault is covered, then follow the stated claim process and contact the manufacturer directly. Serial numbers and the original invoice are what manufacturers ask for, which is another reason the safety file matters.

If a new owner has bought the business, do not assume anything. Citizens Information is blunt that a new owner may not be responsible for completing orders placed with the previous owner, may not honour vouchers, and may not repair products sold by the previous owner. Ask in writing whether they have taken on the previous company's liabilities.

Getting Money Back, Best Route First

Try these in order, because the fastest one is also the one people leave until last.

Chargeback, if you paid by card

If you paid a deposit or the full amount by credit or debit card, contact your bank or card provider and ask whether it will reverse the transaction because the goods or service were not provided. Citizens Information names chargeback as the step to take in exactly this situation, and the CCPC publishes guidance on disputed card transactions. Card schemes run to their own time limits, so ring before you write anything else.

A written claim to the liquidator or receiver

If a liquidator or receiver has been appointed, the company is no longer run by its owners and your claim goes to them in writing. Citizens Information says to include what you paid for, exactly how much you are owed, and what you want them to do: delivery of the item, or a full refund.

Then the part nobody enjoys reading. There is no guarantee the claim succeeds, because there are rules on the priority of debts, and you will generally be treated as an unsecured creditor. Revenue, banks and company employees are secured creditors and are paid first, so there may be nothing left by the time customers are reached. Make the claim anyway, because it is a letter, and it is also how you ask for the safety file. But do not build a plan around it.

Small claims, for contained amounts

The small claims procedure handles claims of €2,000 or less for a fee of €25, and it explicitly covers services not completed or not carried out as agreed, including a deposit paid for a service that was never provided. Both parties have to be living or based in Ireland, the claim must be made within six years of the purchase, and the €25 fee cannot be claimed back.

A full solar install sits well above the ceiling, so this route fits a lost deposit or a remedial job you had to pay someone else for, not the price of the system. It also has real exclusions worth checking against your own situation: hire purchase and leasing agreements are out, so a system on a finance plan is not a small claim. And if the company is already in liquidation, a judgment against it joins the same creditor queue as everything else. The Courts Service publishes the full small claims rules.

If you bought the system on finance

Keep paying. Citizens Information is clear that where you still owe money on something bought on credit, such as hire purchase, you have to keep making the payments even if the business closes, because the credit comes from a finance company separate to the retailer. Stopping repayments to make a point damages you, not them. Raise the dispute with the finance provider separately and in writing.

The Electrical Safety Piece, Which Is Not Optional

Solar PV is electrical work, and electrical work in an Irish home has to be done by a Registered Electrical Contractor. The CRU puts it in four words: it is the law.

When a Registered Electrical Contractor carries out work in your home they must give you a Completion Certificate, which shows the work is safe and up to standard, and the CRU says you should always ask for one. SEAI wants a copy of the Safe Electric certificate as part of the grant claim too, so the same document does two jobs.

If you never received one, or the contractor refused to give you one, that is itself grounds for a complaint to Safe Electric, as is being unhappy with the technical and safety standard of the work. The scheme is run on the CRU's behalf, so the complaint route survives the company's finances. Our guide to SEAI complaints and appeals sets out which body handles which part of a dispute, and how Safe Electric and SEAI registration differ explains why one certificate is a legal requirement and the other is a scheme condition.

What To Do This Week

1. Check the CRO under the exact company name on your contract, and note whether a liquidator or receiver has been appointed.
2. Ring your bank about chargeback on any card payment, today, before the scheme's own time limit bites.
3. Email solarpv@seai.ie with your application reference, the install dates, what was and was not completed, and what documents you hold. Ask for their position in writing.
4. Request the safety file from the liquidator, or from any former staff member still responding, in the same letter as your money claim.
5. Claim direct on manufacturer warranties for the panels, inverter and battery, with serial numbers and your invoice.
6. Complain to Safe Electric if there is no Completion Certificate or you doubt the standard of the electrical work, before any other electrician touches it.

If you are starting the job again from scratch, the vetting questions change once you have been through this. Ask who signs the Declaration of Works, how quickly they upload documents after commissioning, and who underwrites any extended warranty they are selling you. Our guide to vetting a solar installer covers the rest, and the grant application guide walks the paperwork in order.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I transfer my SEAI solar grant to a different installer?

Only before works start. SEAI's rule is that to change the company named on your grant offer you must cancel the existing application by emailing solarpv@seai.ie and create a new one naming the new company, and it states this can only be done if the works have not started. Note that a new application is assessed at the grant amounts in effect when it is created, not when you originally applied.

Does SEAI guarantee the installers on its register?

No. SEAI states that it does not approve, guarantee, or warranty a company or their works, and that any dispute must be resolved between the homeowner and contractor. Registration is based on adherence to SEAI's technical standards and code of practice, tax compliance, insurance cover, and having a standard contract in place with the homeowner. It is an entry standard, not a warranty on the finished job or on the company's solvency.

Will I still get my €1,800 grant if the installer folded mid-job?

It depends on how much was completed and certified, and the published rules do not give a clean answer. SEAI pays after the works, on receipt of a Declaration of Works signed by the installer, an Inspection, Test and Commissioning Certificate, a Safe Electric certificate, a completed NC6 form, a post-works BER and an invoice. Several of those can only be produced by whoever did the work. Put the specifics of your case to solarpv@seai.ie in writing rather than assuming either outcome.

Do my panel and inverter warranties still work?

Manufacturer warranties are between you and the manufacturer, so they generally survive the installer's closure and you claim on them directly with serial numbers and your original invoice. A workmanship warranty on the installation itself was the installer's own promise and generally goes with the company. Check who underwrites any extended cover or service plan the installer sold you, because that is the one case where the answer varies.

How do I get my deposit back if the solar company went into liquidation?

Start with chargeback if you paid by credit or debit card, by asking your bank to reverse the transaction because the service was not provided. Then make a written claim to the liquidator setting out what you paid for, how much you are owed and what you want done. Citizens Information warns that you will generally be treated as an unsecured creditor, behind Revenue, banks and company employees, so there may be nothing left by the time customers are reached.

Can I take a solar company to the Small Claims Court?

Only for €2,000 or less, at a fee of €25, and the procedure does cover a service that was not carried out as agreed or a deposit paid for a service never provided. Both parties must be based in Ireland and the claim must be within six years. Hire purchase and leasing agreements are excluded, so a system on finance does not qualify, and a judgment against a company already in liquidation joins the same creditor queue as every other claim.

What is a Completion Certificate and what if I never got one?

It is the document a Registered Electrical Contractor must give you after electrical work in your home, showing the work is safe and up to standard. The CRU says you should always ask for one. Not receiving one, or a contractor refusing to provide one, is explicit grounds for a complaint to Safe Electric, as is being unhappy with the technical and safety standard of the work. SEAI also requires a copy of the Safe Electric certificate as part of the grant claim.

How do I check whether a solar company has actually gone out of business?

Search the Companies Registration Office register at core.cro.ie using the exact company name on your contract rather than the trading name. Citizens Information also suggests checking the premises and the website for a posted notice with contact details. Administration, examinership, liquidation and receivership all describe a company at risk of or already going out of business, and only some involve an appointed liquidator or receiver you can claim against.

Should I stop my finance repayments if the installer has gone?

No. Where you still owe money on something bought on credit such as hire purchase, Citizens Information says you must keep making the payments even if the business closes, because the credit is provided by a finance company separate to the retailer. Raise the dispute with the finance provider in writing as a separate matter.