Keystones Energy has been installing and looking after solar on the Sunshine Coast since 2015. We repair, service, maintain and clean existing systems regardless of who put them on the roof — including the growing number of systems whose original installer has since closed down.
Fault-finding starts with a free phone diagnosis. Tell us what the inverter screen or the app is showing and we will tell you whether it is something you can safely reset yourself, or something that needs a licensed electrician on the roof.
These are the six problems we are called out to most often on the Sunshine Coast. None of it replaces a proper test, but it will tell you roughly what you are dealing with before you pick up the phone.
| Symptom | Likely cause | What we do about it |
|---|---|---|
| System showing zero output | A failed DC isolator, a tripped breaker or switchboard fault, or a dead inverter. On older installs the isolator is the more common of the two. | We check the switchboard and both the AC and DC isolators before condemning anything, then test DC input voltage at the inverter against the original string design. |
| Inverter error code on the screen or app | Insulation resistance (ISO) faults usually mean moisture has found its way into a DC connector or junction box. Grid overvoltage faults mean the network voltage is above what the inverter is allowed to push into. | We read the fault log, insulation-test the strings to isolate the leaking section, and where the fault is grid voltage we record the readings, raise them with Energex and check the inverter settings against AS/NZS 4777.2. |
| Power bill went up despite having solar | The system has often been offline or derated for months without anyone noticing. It can also be a tariff or feed-in change, new shading from a grown tree, or a shift in how the household uses power. | We compare actual generation against what your array size and orientation should produce, check the meter and the monitoring, and tell you plainly if the problem is billing rather than the solar. |
| Visible cracking, browning or discolouration | Microcracks from hail or storm debris, foot traffic during other roof work, backsheet degradation on older panels, or delamination and frame corrosion accelerated by salt air. | We inspect and photograph every panel, test string performance to find the affected section, and check whether the panel is still inside its performance warranty and whether the manufacturer still trades in Australia. |
| Isolator tripping, water inside it, or a burnt smell | Rooftop DC isolators are a known and widespread failure point on older Australian installs. Enclosures crack under UV, water gets in, and the contacts arc. | We treat this as urgent. The system is shut down safely, the isolator and enclosure are replaced with compliant gear, and the cabling is re-terminated and tested. |
| Monitoring offline or the app shows no data | Usually a changed Wi-Fi password or a new router, a failed Wi-Fi dongle, or firmware that has fallen behind. Occasionally it is the first sign of a genuine inverter fault. | Often solved over the phone. If not, we reconnect the inverter, update firmware and set up alerts so the next fault is caught within days instead of at the next quarterly bill. |
If your system is producing nothing at all, or you can smell burning or see water sitting inside a rooftop isolator, switch the system off at the AC isolator and the main solar breaker and call us before doing anything else.
A solar service is an electrical inspection, not a wipe-over. Panels are the most reliable part of the system; almost every fault we find sits in the isolators, connectors, terminations, mounting hardware or the inverter. That is where the time goes.
An annual inspection is the standard advice, and we would push for that on coastal properties and on anything more than ten years old. Systems installed during the 2011 to 2013 rebate wave are now well past the point where their isolators and inverters should have been looked at.
You get a written report with photos at the end of every service, which is also the documentation you need if you later make an insurance or manufacturer warranty claim. More on ongoing care in our solar panel maintenance guide.
The honest version first: plenty of Sunshine Coast homes are sold more cleaning than they need. Two to four cleans a year is the usual guidance, and most properties away from the water sit at the lower end of that range.
On a reasonably pitched roof, clear of trees and a decent distance back from the surf, ordinary Sunshine Coast rainfall shifts most loose dust and pollen on its own. If your production figures are tracking where they should through the year, you are not gaining much by paying for a quarterly wash.
Bird droppings and lichen, which bake on and create hot spots that permanently damage cells. Sap and leaf litter under overhanging trees. Low-pitch roofs, where water pools and dries rather than running off. Dust after nearby construction. And any system that has not been touched in years.
Salt spray at Noosa, Coolum, Mooloolaba and Caloundra leaves a thin film that dulls output even when the glass looks clean, and rain does not fully lift it. The bigger issue is corrosion: salt attacks anodised frames, clamps and rails long before it affects the glass. Homes within about a kilometre of the water sit at the higher end of the range, roughly every three to four months.
When we clean, we are on the array anyway, so the visit doubles as an inspection: frame and clamp corrosion, connector condition, cracked cells, and anything sitting where it should not be. That is the part a general washing operator cannot give you, and it is why we would rather quote an annual clean and inspect than a quarterly wash.
If we get up there and the panels are already clean, we will say so. If your panels are safely reachable from the ground, our DIY versus professional cleaning guide walks through doing it yourself properly.
Whoever does it: cool panels only, plain water and a soft brush, no pressure washers, no abrasives, no harsh household chemicals, and never walk on the panels.
Panels routinely outlive the inverter that runs them. A string inverter is generally the first major component to go, well inside the twenty-five year performance warranty on the panels, so a large share of the Sunshine Coast systems we are called to are either on their second inverter or due for one.
Some faults are genuinely field-serviceable: blocked or failed cooling fans, surge protection devices, loose terminations, corroded DC inputs and firmware problems. A failed main power board generally is not, and we will say so rather than sell you a repair that will not hold.
Several manufacturers still support units long after the installer has moved on, and where there is a supported path we will chase the warranty or an out-of-warranty exchange for you. Others have left the Australian market entirely, which means no parts and no claim, and replacement is the only honest answer.
Your inverter was sized for the array you had at the time. If you want to add panels, add storage later, or the array has already changed, a hybrid or battery-ready inverter is often better value than dropping in the same unit again. Any replacement also has to meet current AS/NZS 4777.2 requirements and be approved for connection.
We work with Fronius, Selectronic, SMA, Enphase, Deye, Sigenergy, Sungrow and Jinko equipment. If an inverter replacement is on the cards and storage is anywhere in your plans, it is worth pricing battery storage at the same time, because doing both in one visit avoids paying twice for the same switchboard and metering work.
This is one of the most common calls we take. Something goes wrong, the owner digs out the paperwork, and the company printed on it no longer exists. The usual assumption is that the whole warranty died with them. That is not quite right.
Panel and inverter warranties are manufacturer warranties. They sit with the manufacturer or their Australian distributor, not with the retailer who sold them, and they often survive the installer going under. What you genuinely lose is the installer workmanship warranty, and the only person who knew how the system was put together.
We take these systems over. That means identifying what is actually on the roof, since most owners have no records left, recording model and serial numbers, working out what manufacturer cover remains, lodging the claim on your behalf where there is one, and servicing the system from there.
A solar array is a live DC generator whenever the sun is on it. Switching the inverter off, or flicking the solar breaker in the switchboard, does not make the roof safe — the panels and the DC cabling between them stay energised.
In Queensland, working on the DC side of a solar system is licensed electrical work. Isolating, disconnecting, opening enclosures or handling connectors is not a handyman job, whatever the quote says.
Cheap cleaning operators work with water directly over degraded connectors and cracked isolator enclosures, which is exactly where these systems fail. If something goes wrong up there, you want the person holding the hose to hold an electrical licence too.
Keystones Energy Solutions is Clean Energy Council accredited and a licensed Queensland electrical contractor. Owner Dan Walters has more than eighteen years in solar, and the business holds a 5.0 star rating from 31 Google reviews.
Yes, and it is a large part of what we do. Brand and original installer do not matter. To get moving quickly, send us your address, a photo of the inverter and the switchboard, and any error code showing on the screen or in the app.
Not necessarily. Panel and inverter warranties belong to the manufacturer or their Australian distributor and frequently still stand. The workmanship warranty from the installer is the part that goes with them. We can identify the equipment, check what cover is left, and help you lodge a claim through our warranty and service page.
It depends entirely on what is wrong, so we start with a free phone diagnosis and give you a price before anything is booked in. A monitoring dropout is often sorted on the call for nothing. A failed inverter or a panel replacement is a quoted job, and you get the number in writing first.
Two to four times a year is the general guidance for the Sunshine Coast. Properties away from the coast with a decent roof pitch and no overhanging trees sit at the lower end, and rain handles a good deal of it. Homes within about a kilometre of the water need it closer to every three to four months because of salt film. Watch your production data rather than the calendar.
If you can reach them safely from the ground, or from a low and gently pitched roof, yes. Clean in the early morning while the panels are cool, use plain water and a soft brush, rinse thoroughly, and stay away from pressure washers, abrasive pads and household chemicals. Never walk on the panels. Steep or two-storey roofs are not worth the risk.
If the panels still test well and the fault is the inverter or the isolators, repairing is almost always the better spend. If the panels are cracked or degraded, the manufacturer no longer exists, and you are weighing up a battery anyway, a new residential system can work out cheaper than repairing the old one piece by piece. We give you both numbers and let you decide.
We cover the Sunshine Coast, Noosa and the Gympie region, roughly 80 km around our base at Cooroibah. Call 0423 157 290 or email sales@keystonesenergy.com.au, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
