Around 1,100 solar companies have registered in Sri Lanka since the rooftop programme began. By 2025, roughly 600 were still trading.
That figure comes from PUCSL’s own 2026 analysis of the rooftop solar industry, and it is the single most useful thing a commercial buyer can know. A ten-year warranty is only worth as much as the company standing behind it. PUCSL puts it plainly: firms enter the market when tariffs are favourable and exit when they are not, leaving customers “stranded without service support or warranty access.”
That matters more now than it did a year ago. Feed-in rates were revised in July 2024, June 2025 and again on 25 August 2026, and the current schedule is valid only until 24 February 2027. A market whose economics are reset roughly twice a year is a market where firms come and go — and where the company that installs your system may not be the company you need in year eight.
There is no grading system in Sri Lanka that separates a competent commercial EPC from a company that paid a registration fee. PUCSL acknowledges this gap directly, citing the “absence of a formal installer grading or certification mechanism.” Until that changes, the due diligence falls to you.
Here is what to check, in the order that matters.
1. The registration that actually exists
There is one registration a solar contractor must hold: SLSEA registration as a Solar PV Service Provider, issued by the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority.
SLSEA publishes the full directory of registered providers as a downloadable PDF on its Soorya Bala Sangramaya pages. Look your contractor up in the current edition — not an archived one. Registration must be renewed annually, and SLSEA can suspend a provider from the listing for a year, or cancel it entirely, for non-compliance.
To register, a company must show incorporation under the Companies Act, at least one qualified engineer with a certificate of competency, technicians at NVQ level 3 or above, manufacturer authorisation letters for the panels and inverters it supplies, IEC certification for that equipment, workers’ compensation insurance and audited accounts.
Two things it is worth being clear about:
CEB does not publish an approved-installer list. If a contractor claims to be “CEB approved,” ask what they mean. CEB’s own net metering application forms do not even have a field for an SLSEA registration number.
A PUCSL licence is a different thing. PUCSL licenses electricity generation, transmission and distribution — utilities and generators, not contractors. Where PUCSL licensing touches you is as the prosumer: the building owner may need a licence or exemption depending on the installation.
SLSEA’s directory carries its own disclaimer that it is not responsible for the accuracy of the listing. Treat it as a necessary filter, not a recommendation.
2. The engineer who signs
Under PUCSL’s framework, the installation must be certified by a Chartered Engineer registered with the Engineering Council of Sri Lanka, who signs a declaration that the system meets all technical and legal requirements.
Ask for that engineer by name, and ask whether they have actually visited your site. PUCSL’s 2026 analysis notes that “some installation certifications issued by Chartered Engineers lack adequate technical diligence” — a regulator’s polite way of saying the signature is sometimes a formality.
For any system above 10 kW, PUCSL guidelines require commissioning testing by an independent third-party inspector. Every commercial system clears that threshold. This is a requirement, not an upsell.
3. The warranties are written down — check the bid against them
This is where most buyers assume they are negotiating custom terms when in fact there are published minimums. PUCSL’s guidelines for solar service providers specify:
- Module performance — under 10% degradation in the first 10 years, under 20% over the following 15
- Module product / workmanship — 5 years
- Inverter — 10 years minimum
- Overall system, from the installer — 10 years
- Generation guarantee — 90% of modelled annual generation, based on PVSyst or equivalent
A bid that falls short of these is not offering you a keener price. It is non-compliant.
Three separate warranty documents should arrive at handover: the manufacturers’ warranties for the key equipment, the installer’s warranty for the system as a whole, and a workmanship or weather-tightness warranty. That last one matters on an industrial roof and is routinely left out.
Red flags: an inverter warranty under ten years; an installer warranty offered instead of the manufacturer’s rather than in addition; a generation guarantee with no PVSyst model behind it; or no named OEM warranty documents at handover.
And then ask the harder question — how long has this company been trading, and can it show audited accounts? Against a 45% attrition rate, a ten-year warranty from a three-year-old company is a document, not a protection.
4. Size: the contract demand rule
PUCSL guidelines are unambiguous. The installed capacity of the generating facility must not exceed the contract demand of the existing installation, where installed capacity means the maximum power of the inverter, not the DC array.
This has a practical consequence worth knowing: a moderately oversized DC array against a smaller inverter is permissible, and often good design. An inverter rating above your contract demand is not.
If you want to exceed it, you must first apply to increase your contract demand as a consumer — a tariff and connection-charge decision with cost implications well beyond the solar project. Treat it as a separate workstream.
If an EPC proposes a roof-rental or third-party ownership structure sized above your contract demand, ask which approval route they intend to use. The Net Plus Plus scheme that allowed this was discontinued in March 2025, and PUCSL’s analysis notes that no replacement framework for third-party commercial installations has been established.
5. Equipment and installation standards
Ask for certificates, not brand names.
Modules should carry IEC 61730-1 and the Sri Lankan SLS 1544 and SLS 1553 series. Inverters need IEC 62109 and SLS 1543 — and SLS 1680 if the system is hybrid. DC cable should meet IEC 62930 or SLS 1542.
One detail worth writing into your tender: inverter grid-code and harmonics certification from an accredited laboratory is only valid for 18 months. Ask for the certificate date, not just its existence.
Two areas where Sri Lankan conditions bite harder than the brochures suggest:
Lightning and surge protection. PUCSL guidelines require an IEC 62305 risk assessment, and the guideline includes annual thunder-frequency data by region for exactly this purpose. DC-side surge protection is compulsory where cable runs exceed a calculated threshold — which, on a commercial roof, they almost always do. A bid without DC-side SPDs is a compliance failure, not a saving.
Earthing. The guideline targets earth resistance below 10 ohms, sizes the earthing conductor at 1.56 times maximum short-circuit current, and specifically requires one continuous earthing conductor per row, warning against short jumper cables between module frames. That last point is a checkable workmanship failure you can look for yourself during installation.
Regulators and equipment engineers have been raising DC arc faults as a fire risk in Sri Lankan installations, attributed to faulty wiring, loose connections and poor workmanship. Arc fault detection and rapid shutdown devices are being recommended, though not yet mandated.
6. Storage: a new question to put to every bidder
Until August 2026 there was no approved rate for exporting from a rooftop battery, so storage was a purely behind-the-meter decision. The PUCSL decision effective 25 August 2026 changed that, and hybrid proposals will now arrive carrying revenue assumptions.
Two things to check. Does the bidder’s battery sizing comply with the PUCSL cap — usable capacity in kWh no more than five times rated continuous inverter power in kW? And which rate is the proposal modelling, over what term? The storage tariff sits on a schedule valid until 24 February 2027, and a twenty-year business case built on a six-month rate needs its assumptions written down.
A contractor who cannot answer both has not read the framework.
7. Where to complain if it goes wrong
Worth knowing before you sign, not after.
Grid, tariff and connection disputes go to your utility first, then escalate to PUCSL, which runs a free dispute resolution service and can direct a supplier to fix the problem or award compensation in applicable cases. Complaints about the installer or the equipment go to SLSEA, which holds the de-registration power.
One exposure to understand: non-compliance can result in your system being disconnected from the network — regardless of who caused the defect. The regulator’s remedy lands on your building, not on your contractor.
The five questions worth asking every bidder
- What is your SLSEA registration number, and when did you last renew?
- Which ECSL-registered Chartered Engineer will sign the declaration, and have they seen this site?
- Can I see the inverter’s grid-code certificate, dated within 18 months?
- What is your installer system warranty, your generation guarantee, and the PVSyst model behind it?
- How long have you been trading, and can you show audited accounts?
Any contractor confident in their work will answer all five without hesitating.
Talk to First Energy
First Energy has delivered solar across Sri Lanka for a decade — domestic, commercial and industrial rooftops, and utility-scale plants. If you are shortlisting contractors for a factory or commercial roof, we are happy to be measured against every question on this list. Get in touch for a site evaluation.
Sources: PUCSL Analysis on Rooftop Solar Integration and Industry Growth (2026) · PUCSL Guidelines for Solar PV System Installation for Solar Providers · PUCSL Guidelines on Rooftop Solar PV Installation for Utility Providers, Rev 1 · PUCSL Regulatory Framework for RTSPV and BESS, July 2026 · PUCSL rooftop solar PV tariff schedule effective 25 August 2026 · SLSEA Registered Solar PV Service Providers Directory · PUCSL Consumer complaints · Daily FT.