Solar Panel Complaint Letter: Who to Contact and What to Write

To write a solar panel complaint letter, identify the business responsible, describe the problem with dates and evidence, and ask for a specific remedy. If it remains unresolved, the correct escalation route depends on whether the dispute concerns installation, an energy account or finance.

Searching for “how to write a letter to the solar ombudsman” can be misleading: there is no single UK scheme covering every problem with solar panels. Do not address your letter to an assumed organisation or send it to the Energy Ombudsman solely because solar panels generate electricity.

Choose the correct complaint route first

Installation, workmanship, sales promises or aftercare

Start with the installer or seller named on your contract. Check its complaints process and current consumer-code or ADR membership. Technical certification, consumer-code membership and finance regulation are not the same thing and do not create identical complaint routes.

For a Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC) member, RECC's current instructions are to confirm membership, contact the member in writing and give it at least four weeks to investigate. If you remain unhappy after the final response, or receive no response, RECC directs consumers to Green Homes Dispute Resolution. Do not assume this route applies to a business that is not a member.

Electricity billing, export payments or supplier accounts

If the complaint concerns your energy supplier, use its complaints procedure. Check whether the issue falls within the Energy Ombudsman's scope and whether eligibility conditions have been met. An export-payment query and a defective installation can involve different businesses, so separate the facts rather than sending an identical demand to everyone.

Our energy supplier complaint guide explains the first stage. If the dispute is eligible for escalation, use the Energy Ombudsman letter template.

Finance, credit or representations by a regulated financial business

If you financed the installation, identify the lender and check its complaints procedure. Eligible complaints about a financial business may reach the Financial Ombudsman Service. Do not assume that every cash purchase, installation warranty or installer dispute falls within that service.

See our Financial Ombudsman complaint form and postal guide for the official free form, response periods and referral deadlines. Obtain independent advice if you are unsure which business or route is responsible.

What to include in your solar complaint

• Your contract, invoice and installation references, and the installation address.
• A dated account of what was promised, what happened and when you first reported the issue.
• Relevant photographs, inspection findings, monitoring records or correspondence. Do not attempt unsafe electrical checks yourself.
• The remedy you want: for example, an inspection, a proposed repair plan, an explanation of charges or another justified correction.
• Copies of earlier replies and an evidence list. Keep original documents and avoid unnecessary sensitive data.

Distinguish a documented performance guarantee from a sales estimate. Compare actual generation over an appropriate period and explain your evidence rather than claiming every shortfall proves a breach. If there is an immediate electrical or fire risk, seek urgent help from the appropriate qualified professional or emergency service instead of relying on a complaint letter.

Solar panel complaint letter example

[Your name and contact details]
[Date]
To: [Installer, seller, supplier or lender]
Re: Formal complaint, contract/reference [reference]

I am complaining about [specific issue] concerning [installation or account].
The relevant contract or installation date is [date].

What was agreed: [relevant promise or contract term].
What happened: [dated facts and supporting evidence].
My previous contact: [dates, references and replies].
What remains unresolved: [specific points].
The impact on me: [actual loss, disruption or other effect].

I ask you to [specific remedy] and explain your proposed action in writing.
Please confirm my complaint reference and the next steps in your process.
If you consider the complaint closed, please explain your final position
and identify any applicable independent dispute-resolution route.

I attach copies of [relevant documents].
Yours faithfully,
[Your name]

Adapt the example to your facts. Our formal complaint template can be opened in the editor for personalisation. Asking for a reply by a particular date does not replace the relevant scheme's waiting period, create a deadlock letter or guarantee a remedy.

If the complaint remains unresolved

Check the current scheme rules, membership and deadlines before escalating. Send a concise chronology, the business's final position if available and your evidence list. Our ombudsman complaint letter guide helps structure an escalation; the deadlock letter guide explains why a customer-written complaint is not itself deadlock.

Independent consumer complaint routes can be free. You do not need to pay Send Letters Online to use them. If you prefer a physical letter, we offer optional UK printing and postage from £2.99. We are not an ombudsman, installer-certification body, claims representative or legal adviser.