Questions & answers

Yes. Asking, answering, reading and searching are free, and stay free. There are no premium tiers, no paywalls and no ads.

No. Every question and answer is public and readable without signing in, and search works for everyone. You need a free account only to ask, answer, comment, vote or save a discussion.

Create a free account, confirm your email, then ask your first question — or browse by topic to see what has already been answered.

Personal is for homeowners, students, enthusiasts and anyone asking on their own behalf. Business is for solar companies, installers, manufacturers, dealers and consultants. It affects how you are shown to other members, not what you are allowed to do, and you can change it later in settings.

Other members — installers, solar engineers, business owners and homeowners who have already been through it. Nobody is paid to answer, and no answer is written by Solarcom staff.

Posting a question, answer or comment requires a confirmed email address. It is the cheapest way to keep throwaway accounts and spam off a forum that anyone can read. Reading, searching and voting do not require it. We send a six-digit code when you sign up; you can request a new one at any time.

Be specific. Your city or state, your monthly bill or units consumed, your roof area and whether it shades, and what you have already been quoted — those five things turn a question nobody can answer into one several people can. Photos of the roof, the meter or the quote help more than anything else.

The person who asked the question marked one reply as the one that solved it. That answer is pinned to the top of the thread. Only the asker can accept an answer, and they can change which one at any time.

Any signed-in member can like or dislike an answer. The net score orders the thread and drives the Top filter on the forum, so the replies that other people found useful rise without anyone curating them.

Yes, from the menu on your own post. Edits keep a history so a thread cannot be quietly rewritten after people have replied to it, and deleting a question does not delete the answers other people wrote under it.

Yes. Your questions, your answers and your profile are visible to anyone on the internet, signed in or not, and can be indexed by search engines. Your email address is never shown. Don't post anything in a question — a full address, a phone number, a bill with an account number visible — that you wouldn't put on a public page.

Yes. Continue with Google on the sign-in or sign-up screen. If you originally registered with a password, keep using that password — an address can only sign in one way.

Yes, both, in profile settings. Your username is the handle in your profile address; your display name is what appears on your posts.

Request deletion in account settings. The request goes to a person rather than being instant, so it can be checked and, if you change your mind before it is carried out, cancelled.

No. Email is used for account things — verifying your address, resetting a password, replies you asked to be notified about. See the privacy policy for what is stored and why.

Self-promotion — advertising your own business, products, services, property or yourself — along with spam and link stuffing, misleading claims about savings or subsidies, other people's personal data, unsafe electrical instructions, and anything unlawful. The community rules page sets each of these out in full.

Yes, and you're very welcome to — practical expertise is what the Business account is for. Say who you are when it's relevant to your answer. What you can't do is promote: no sales pitches, prices or offers for your own services, contact numbers, or links to your website or shop. An answer that reads as an advert is removed.

Use Report on the post or answer. Reports go to a moderation queue that a person reviews — they don't automatically hide anything, and reporting is not the same as disagreeing.

Yes. A suspension notice links to an appeal form, which you can use even while you cannot sign in. Appeals are read by a person.

That is the point of the site. The community is Indian, so answers deal in DISCOM net-metering rules, state policy, PM Surya Ghar and rupee pricing rather than figures lifted from American or European sites. Answers come from members, though — they are not checked or endorsed by Solarcom.

It depends on how much electricity you use, your tariff and slab, your roof, your state's policy and what installers near you actually charge — which is why no page can honestly give you one number. Post those details in the forum and people who have installed in your state can give you a realistic range. The solar calculator gives a rough starting estimate from your monthly bill.

Treat them as informed opinion from people who have done it, not as professional certification. Votes and the accepted answer are a signal, not a guarantee. Anything involving wiring, earthing or work on your meter should be confirmed with a licensed electrician or installer before you act on it — the community rules prohibit unsafe electrical instructions for that reason.

No. Solarcom sells nothing, takes no commission and runs no ads. We are not a marketplace and we don't generate leads for installers. Members recommend companies they have used; that is a recommendation from a member, not from us.

Not as a site — but ask in the forum with your city and system size and members who have installed nearby will tell you who they used and what it cost. Search first: the same question may already have been answered for your area.