There are more solar installers in North Bengal every year, and their quotations rarely look alike. One gives a single number on a single page; another runs to forty lines. Here is how to tell which company to trust with a roof you will live under for twenty-five years.
None of these checks needs an engineering degree. Each is a question you can ask at the first meeting, and a good company will answer it in writing. Use them on us too.
The company
1. Authorised by the panel maker
Ask for the channel-partner or dealer certificate from the module manufacturer. Panels bought through the maker’s own channel are serial-traceable and their warranty is straightforward to claim. Panels that passed through three traders often are not.
2. A local office and its own service team
The people you meet before the sale should be the people who come when a string is down in year four. Ask where the office is, who does the installation, and who you call after handover.
3. Registered for the subsidy, if you want it
For PM Surya Ghar the installer must be a registered vendor for your DISCOM on the national portal, and the panels must be DCR. Check the vendor list on the portal before you pay an advance. See PM Surya Ghar step by step.
The proposal
4. A make and a rating for every component
Panels, inverter, mounting structure, DC and AC cables, earthing, lightning arrester and distribution boxes. “Standard make” is not a make. Two quotations far apart are usually the same plant with different things left out.
5. Inclusions and exclusions side by side
Who pays for the net meter, the DISCOM fees, the inspection, civil work, a crane or a roof repair? If the proposal does not say, assume it is you. Our quotation checker lists the lines most often left out.
6. Sized from your bills, not your roof
The right size comes from twelve months of units. In West Bengal, surplus banked under net metering is wiped on 1 April, so a plant bigger than your yearly use gives units away. See how many kW your home needs.
7. A generation band with the monsoon in it
On the plains of North Bengal a well-built plant makes about 3.4 to 4 units per kWp per day, averaged over the year. A promise of 4.5 to 5 units every day is a brochure number. Ask for month-by-month figures from a simulation of your own roof, with winter and the monsoon shown as they are.
8. Time-of-day bills understood, for businesses
On a West Bengal time-of-day bill, solar surplus can be set off against off-peak units but never against the 5 to 11 pm peak. A company that sizes a factory plant without splitting your bill into blocks will oversize it. Read sizing a factory plant.
The build
9. Earthing and lightning protection, done separately
The foothills see frequent thunderstorms. Look for separate earth pits rather than one shared pit, and a lightning arrester sized for the array.
10. A structure designed for wind and hail
Ask what wind the structure is designed for and how it is anchored to your roof: galvanised steel or aluminium, fasteners that will not rust, and enough height to clean underneath.
11. Paperwork filed for you
The net-metering application, the inspection and, for plants of 100 kW and above in West Bengal, the Chief Electrical Inspector’s approval. Ask who files each one and what happens if the DISCOM asks for changes.
After the sale
12. Warranties and maintenance on paper
Module serial numbers registered with the maker; the module and inverter warranties handed over at commissioning; and the maintenance terms written down, including what happens when the free period ends.
The checks on one page
| Ask | A good answer | A warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Are you authorised by the panel maker? | Shows the certificate | “We can get any brand” |
| What make is every part? | A full bill of quantities | “Standard make” |
| What is not included? | Exclusions on the same page | Silence, then extra bills |
| How much will it make? | A monthly band from a roof simulation | One flat number per day |
| Who files net metering? | “We do,” with the steps | “You apply, we install” |
| Who do I call in year four? | A named local team | A call-centre number |
How Solarverse answers them
We are an authorised Waaree channel partner with a store on Sevoke Road, Siliguri, and our own team. Every proposal names the make of every component, lists the exclusions beside the scope, sizes from your bills and gives month-by-month generation from a 3D simulation of your roof. We file the net-metering papers and include one year of free maintenance from commissioning.
Do not take our word for it. Put our quotation through the same twelve checks, or send any installer’s quotation to us for a free second opinion. We work across North Bengal, Kolkata, Sikkim and Bihar.
Quick answers
Which is the best solar company in Siliguri?
The best one for you is the one that passes these checks in writing: authorised by the panel maker, a local office and service team, a full bill of quantities, a generation band that includes the monsoon, and net metering filed for you. Solarverse Solutions on Sevoke Road is an authorised Waaree channel partner and puts all of this in every proposal, but check any installer, us included, against the list.
How many solar quotations should I compare?
Two or three is enough, if you compare them line by line: makes, ratings, structure, earthing and exclusions. Our free quotation checker works on any quotation.
Is a cheaper solar quotation always worse?
Not always, but a big gap usually means something is missing: a lighter structure, thinner cables, a shared earth pit, no lightning arrester, or the net-metering fees left for you. Ask every installer for a full bill of quantities and compare like with like.