Before you pay a solar installer an advance

Do not pay a solar installer an advance until the written quote names the vendor's registration under PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, the make and model of every panel and inverter, whether the system gives you backup in a power cut, how many years of maintenance are included, who files the net-metering application, and a payment schedule tied to delivery and commissioning. The subsidy is paid to you, not to the installer, after the plant is commissioned, so every rupee you hand over before delivery is protected only by what is written down. ^[2]

This page is the one-page version of that rule. Print the checklist, take it to every installer you speak to, including us, and treat a blank against any line as the answer.

Print this checklist

• Vendor registered on the national portal. Under the scheme, the installer must be a vendor registered on the national portal, and you choose the vendor on pmsuryaghar.gov.in. Look the company up for your state and electricity board before the first payment; the Delhi Solar Portal links the same lists by DISCOM. ^{[msg-portal][delhi-empanelled-vendors]} How to read the list is on verify your PM Surya Ghar vendor.
• A written quote that names the make and model. Panel make, model and wattage; inverter make and capacity; structure, cables, earthing and protection. "Tier-1 panels" is not a specification.
• ALMM check. For a subsidised system, both the modules and the cells must be made in India, and for net-metering projects commissioned from 1 June 2026 the cells must be on ALMM List-II. ^[27] Check the named model against the list; ALMM List-II explained shows how.
• Backup: yes or no, in writing. An on-grid system switches off in a power cut. If you expect the lights to stay on, the quote must say hybrid and name the battery.
• Maintenance years, and what a visit covers. The number of years, the number of visits, and whether cleaning is included.
• Who files net metering. The name of the company or person that files the application, attends the inspection and follows it to activation, and whether that work is inside the price.
• Milestone payments in writing. What is paid at booking, what at delivery, what at commissioning, and what each payment buys.
• A GST invoice. GST on solar modules, cells and power devices is 5% (since 22 September 2025, down from 12%). ^[29] The invoice must carry the seller's GSTIN and the same make and model as the quote.
• Serial numbers at delivery. Photograph the serial number on every module and on the inverter when they arrive, and check them against the invoice and the warranty cards.

Why this page exists

The complaint we read most often in September 2026 reviews of rooftop installers was the same sentence in different words: the advance was paid, then nobody answered the phone. ^{[study-2026-09]} Behind it sit three smaller fears: that the crew will be unskilled, that the system will not give backup, and that the application will sit with the vendor while the subsidy waits.

The ministry has now written those fears into its rules. On 24 June 2026 MNRE notified a standard operating procedure for vendor violations under PM Surya Ghar. The violations it covers include "delays in project execution after receipt of advance payments", "incomplete installations despite receiving payment", "failure to provide warranties, technical certifications or consumer agreements", the "absence of mandatory protection systems such as earthing and surge protection" and "mismatches in solar module serial numbers". A vendor that fails to respond to a grievance or rectify a defect can be deactivated on the portal for one month, and the names of deactivated vendors are to be displayed on the national portal.

Two months later the ministry used the rule. On 27 August 2026 MNRE deactivated 66 registered vendors for one month after finding a backlog of pending applications from the April to June quarter, called the practice "artificial hoarding", and advised vendors not to retain a consumer's application for more than 60 days without valid reasons. ^{[indianpsu-vendors]}

Every line of the checklist above maps to one of those violations. We publish it because a homeowner who checks the vendor list, insists on named equipment and pays against milestones is a customer no installer can let down quietly, and because the fastest way for an installer to be believed is to write down what a fair contract looks like before asking for anyone's money.

Milestones protect both sides

A milestone schedule ties each payment to something you can see. The booking payment reserves the survey, the design and the order for material. The delivery payment falls due when the panels, inverter and structure are on your roof and you have recorded the serial numbers. The balance falls due at commissioning, when the system is generating and the net-meter application is in. The exact split belongs in the quote, and the quote should also say what happens to the booking amount if the survey finds the roof unsuitable.

The installer is protected too. Modules and inverters are bought against your order and a crew is booked for your roof, and a booking payment is fair for that. What is not fair is the largest payment sitting ahead of the event it pays for. If a quote asks for most of the price before anything is delivered, ask why, and ask for the answer in writing.

Timing matters because of how the subsidy flows. You pay the installer; after commissioning and the inspection, the government pays you, officially "within 30 days" of the claim; about 15 days on average. ^[2] A quote that shows the subsidy "deducted" from an invoice you cannot check is describing a flow that does not exist. The who pays whom page has the full sequence.

The vendor list is the first filter

Registration is the one check that costs nothing and removes most of the risk. The rule is that the installer must be a vendor registered on the national portal, and you choose the vendor on pmsuryaghar.gov.in. ^[4] If the company is not on the list, the scheme's own condition is not met, whatever the quote promises. Verde Solaire is a registered PM Surya Ghar vendor in both Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Registration also gives you a lever. The August 2026 deactivations were for applications held too long, and the June procedure covers complaints "submitted by consumers through the national portal or directly to the vendor management unit". If your application shows no movement for weeks, the portal help page explains what each status means and what to ask the vendor.

The quote must name the equipment

A quote is a specification with a price on it. Verde Solaire's own pre-installation checklist, published on 17 September 2026, asks the homeowner to verify the module make and specifications, the inverter make and capacity, the mounting structure, the cable specifications, electrical protection, earthing, monitoring and product warranties before work begins. That is the level of detail to expect from any installer, and it is what makes the ALMM and serial-number checks possible.

Named equipment is also what lets you hold an installer to a promise. Jai Kumar Manghnani, whose 10 kW system at his Greater Kailash home was installed by Verde Solaire, wrote: "We had agreed for 530W Mono Perc Adani solar panels for my solar energy system, but they installed a better bifacial solar panel of Adani without charging anything extra from us." A substitution can only be seen to be an upgrade when the original was written down. The solar panels page explains what the names on a quote mean.

Backup, maintenance and net metering, in writing

Three things go wrong after the money has changed hands, and all three are avoidable with one line each in the quote.

Backup. A subsidised on-grid system feeds the grid and shuts down when the grid fails. A home that needs power through a cut needs a hybrid inverter and a battery, priced separately. Rooftop solar or inverter battery sets out when each makes sense; the quote must say which one you are buying.

Maintenance. The procedure names "delays in addressing consumer complaints under Comprehensive Maintenance Contracts" as a violation, which can only be enforced when the contract states the years and the visits. Ask for both, and for what a visit covers. Where a warranty is published, note the term: Verde Solaire's July 2025 price posts stated 25-year performance warranties on all three panel types. ^{[vs-post-143]}

Net metering. Installation is the short part; the net meter is where systems sit idle. The quote should name who files, who attends the inspection and who chases. Verde Solaire's published Delhi and Noida guides say the company handles the full net-metering process and the application follow-up. ^{[vs-post-143][vs-post-142]} Arun Sibal, whose system is at his New Delhi house, wrote that the only delay was the electricity board's meter, "which was actually not in control of Verde", and that "Verde people always kept me in the loop regarding the net meter status." If your system is installed and waiting, installed but not activated covers what to do next.

How Verde Solaire structures payment

Every enquiry starts with a free site evaluation and no-obligation proposal, and the quote that follows names the make and model of each component. Payment is set out in the quote in stages tied to booking, delivery and commissioning; the split is printed there, not here, because a figure on a web page is not a contract. Invoices are GST invoices under GSTIN 09AAGCV4977Q1Z6. In its July 2025 price posts the company also published a loan route in which the customer paid ₹10,000 to start and financed the balance through the PM Surya Ghar concessional loan; ask for the current terms in writing before relying on it. ^{[vs-post-143]} The full process is on how we work, and the warranty terms on warranty and after-sales.

If you have already paid

Keep the quote, the payment receipt and the message trail together. Ask, in writing, for a delivery date and for the application status on the portal. If there is no answer, file a complaint through the national portal or the vendor management unit; under the June 2026 procedure a vendor that does not respond to a grievance can be deactivated for a month, and the ministry has shown that it will act. A call offering free solar in return for a processing fee is a different problem, covered on free solar scam calls.

Sources and dates

• Vendor and equipment rules: the PIB backgrounder of 13 March 2025 and the BSES Rajdhani FAQ of September 2025. ^[2][4]
• ALMM List-II date and the give-it-up exemption: MNRE clarification reported on 9 June 2026. ^[27]
• GST: the rate change of 22 September 2025. ^[29]
• MNRE vendor procedure: Energetica India, 24 June 2026. Vendor deactivations: IndianPSU, 27 August 2026. ^{[indianpsu-vendors]}
• Homeowner complaints: the September 2026 study of installer reviews. ^{[study-2026-09]}
• Verde Solaire's checklist post of 17 September 2026 and its price posts of July 2025, fetched 18 September 2026.

Get the printable checklist

The one-page "before you pay the advance" checklist on WhatsApp, with the vendor ID check explained.

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