Quick answer
Solar installers and battery retailers often run into a cash gap: stock and labour are paid upfront, customers get a point-of-sale discount from small-scale technology certificates, and the business waits to recover that value. Banks often see the sector as new and volatile and decline. Alternative lenders can fund stock, payroll and growth with lines of credit, unsecured loans, invoice finance or property-secured loans.
Key points
- Certificate-based discounts can leave installers waiting for money they've already earned.
- Supplier terms for panels, inverters and batteries are often short, while jobs take time.
- A line of credit or invoice finance can smooth the gap between paying and getting paid.
- Commercial solar contractors can fund project costs against signed contracts.
- Common gap
- Stock and labour before payment
- Best-fit products
- Line of credit, invoice finance
- Unsecured
- Typically $5k – $500k
- Credit check to enquire
- None
Solar and battery businesses are some of the busiest we talk to, and some of the most cash-strapped. Demand can surge almost overnight when incentives change, suppliers want payment before the stock leaves the warehouse, and every install needs a crew paid weekly. Meanwhile a chunk of the job’s value may be tied up in a certificate process that pays later. It’s a growth business with a built-in cash gap, and banks often don’t want to touch it.
Why solar businesses get declined
From a bank’s point of view, solar installers and retailers tick several uncomfortable boxes:
- Short trading history. Many installers are newer businesses, or have restructured as the market changed.
- Policy-driven demand. Sales can rise or fall sharply when rebates and schemes change.
- Thin margins and warranties. Long product and workmanship warranties look like future liabilities.
- Sector history. Some solar retailers have failed over the years, and credit teams remember.
- Lumpy cash flow. Big stock orders, then a wait for jobs to complete and payments to clear.
None of that means your business is a bad risk. It means a scorecard designed for steadier industries doesn’t fit.
The certificate cash gap
Under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, eligible rooftop solar systems and, more recently, eligible home batteries create small-scale technology certificates. It’s common for the installer or retailer to give the customer the certificate value as an upfront discount, then recover it by creating and selling or transferring the certificates later.
That’s good for customers and good for sales, but the business has already paid for the panels, inverter, battery and labour. Until the certificate value comes back, that money is sitting outside the business. Multiply it across dozens of jobs a month and the gap can be large. Our guide on the solar installer cash flow gap breaks it down step by step.
Finance that fits a solar business
| Need | Option that tends to fit |
|---|---|
| Smooth the gap between paying for stock and getting paid | Business line of credit |
| Commercial customers paying on 30 to 60 day terms | Invoice finance |
| A large stock order ahead of a busy period | Short-term unsecured loan, typically $5,000 to $500,000 |
| Vans, ladders, lifts and tools | Equipment finance |
| A bigger growth push or an urgent cash need | Property-secured loan, $20,000 to $5,000,000 |
Speed matters here, because a supplier deal or a run of jobs won’t wait. For straightforward files, funding is possible in as little as 24 hours once approved.
Commercial and contracting work
Commercial solar contractors installing on factories, farms, schools and offices face a different version of the same problem: large upfront equipment and labour costs, progress claims, and sometimes retentions held back for months. Lenders can fund against signed contracts, progress claim schedules or invoices issued to creditworthy customers. If your work looks more like construction, our page on construction business loans is worth reading too.
An illustrative example
A battery and solar installer in Geelong (illustrative only) saw enquiries jump after battery incentives expanded. The business had eighteen months of trading, a strong order book and a supplier offering a better price on a large battery order paid upfront. Its bank declined an increase to its overdraft, citing the industry and trading history. A specialist lender reviewed twelve months of statements and approved a $200,000 line of credit, drawn for stock and payroll and repaid as jobs were completed and certificate value came back. The owners used our cash gap calculator to size the limit before applying.
Growing without outgrowing your cash
Fast growth is the most common way a healthy solar business runs out of money. Every extra install means more stock and labour paid before the customer, and the certificate value, come back in. A business doubling its jobs can find its bank balance shrinking even while sales and profit rise. Lenders call this overtrading, and it’s worth planning for before it happens.
A few habits help:
- Know your average days from paying the supplier to having all the money back for a job
- Set your facility limit to cover that gap at your planned volume, not today’s
- Negotiate supplier terms as volume grows, even an extra week or two helps
- Take deposits from customers where your market allows it
- Review pricing when component costs or certificate values move
Finance should fund the gap, not paper over pricing that loses money on each job.
What lenders will want to see
- Six to twelve months of business bank statements
- Your installer accreditation and licences
- A summary of jobs booked and the average job value
- How and when certificate value is recovered in your business
- Supplier terms and any stock orders you’re planning
Keep the lights on and the crews busy
If the bank doesn’t get your solar business, tell us what you need. There’s no credit check when you first enquire, we don’t scatter your file across the market, and a real person who understands how solar cash flow works will call you. Please be accurate on the form about your monthly turnover and how long you’ve been trading so we can match you to the right lender first time. See if you qualify.
Frequently asked questions
Why do banks decline solar businesses?
Banks tend to see the sector as fast-changing, with thin margins, warranty obligations, policy-driven demand and a history of some retailers failing. Combined with a short trading history, which is common for installers, that often lands outside a bank's policy.
How do small-scale technology certificates affect cash flow?
Under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, eligible solar and battery systems create certificates. Customers commonly receive the certificate value as an upfront discount, and the installer or retailer recovers that value later by creating and selling or transferring the certificates. The wait in between can tie up a lot of cash.
Can I finance stock for a big run of battery installs?
Yes. A line of credit or short-term unsecured loan can fund stock purchases, repaid as jobs are completed and paid. For larger runs, property security or a supplier-backed arrangement can support bigger limits.
Do you fund commercial solar projects?
We can help commercial installers fund the costs of delivering signed projects, such as equipment, labour and subcontractors, using contracts, progress claims, invoices or property as support. We don't fund utility-scale solar farm developments.