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.
Print the checklist, take it to every installer including us, and treat a blank against any line as the answer.
Print this checklist
- Vendor registered on the national portal. 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; the Delhi Solar Portal links the same lists by DISCOM. 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. 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. Who files the application, attends the inspection and follows it to activation, and whether that 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 a rooftop solar plant is about 8.9%: 5% on the panels and inverter (70% of the contract value) and 18% on the rest of the material and installation (30%). The invoice must carry the seller's GSTIN and the same make and model as the quote.
- Serial numbers at delivery. Photograph every module and inverter serial number on arrival and check them against the invoice and warranty cards.
Why this page exists
Advance payments go to solar installers every day, and the common fear is: pay first, then nobody answers the phone. Behind it sit three smaller fears: an unskilled crew, a system that gives no backup, and an application that sits with the vendor while the subsidy waits.
The ministry has written these risks into its rules. On 24 June 2026 MNRE notified a standard operating procedure for vendor violations under PM Surya Ghar. The violations it names include "delays in project execution after receipt of advance payments", "incomplete installations despite receiving payment", "failure to provide warranties, technical certifications or consumer agreements", missing protection systems such as earthing, and mismatched module serial numbers. A vendor that fails to respond to a grievance can be deactivated for one month, and deactivated vendors' names are to be displayed on the national portal.
Two months later the ministry used the rule. On 27 August 2026 MNRE deactivated 66 vendors for one month over pending applications from the April to June quarter, called the practice "artificial hoarding", and advised vendors not to hold an application for more than 60 days without valid reasons.
Every line of the checklist maps to one of those violations. 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. The balance falls due at commissioning, when the system is generating and the net-meter application is in. The quote should also say what happens to the booking amount if the survey finds the roof unsuitable.
The installer is protected too: modules are bought against your order and a crew is booked, so a booking payment is fair. 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 delivery, ask why, in writing.
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. A quote that shows the subsidy "deducted" from an invoice you cannot check describes a flow that does not exist; who pays whom has the full sequence.
The vendor list is the first filter
Registration is the one check that costs nothing. 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 June procedure covers complaints submitted through "the national portal or directly to the vendor management unit". If your application shows no movement for weeks, portal help explains what each status means.
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, cable specifications, electrical protection, earthing, monitoring and product warranties before work begins. Expect that level of detail from any installer.
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 the names on a quote.
Backup, maintenance and net metering, in writing
Three things go wrong after the money has changed hands, and each is avoidable with one line in the quote.
Backup. A subsidised on-grid system 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 compares the two; the quote must say which one you are buying.
Maintenance. The procedure also names delays in acting on consumer maintenance-contract claims as a violation, which can only be enforced when the contract states the years and the visits. Ask for both. Verde Solaire's July 2025 price posts stated 25-year performance warranties on all three panel types.
Net metering. Installation is the short part; the net meter is where systems sit idle. The quote should name who files and who chases. Verde Solaire's published Delhi and Noida guides say the company handles the full net-metering process and the follow-up. 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. See how we work and warranty and after-sales.
If you have already paid
Keep the quote, receipt and message trail together. Ask in writing for a delivery date and the portal status. If there is no answer, complain through the national portal or the vendor management unit; the ministry has shown it will act. A call offering free solar in return for a processing fee is a different problem, covered on free solar scam calls.
Questions people ask
Start with a clear plan for your savings
Get a free roof assessment and a written quote for branded equipment. We will also explain the loan, installation, net-metering and subsidy steps.