Queensland Solar Systems (QSS) and State Solar Services (SSS) acknowledged that it was likely that they had contravened the Trade Practices Act 1974, because they had claimed that installing a 1.5 kilowatt system could "wipe out" household energy bills, when in reality a system of this size would not be large enough to offset more than a third of energy consumption for most homes. It also claimed that the systems were available at heavily discounted prices, even though the products had never been sold at the higher prices advertised.

QSS and SSS also did not make it clear in the advertisements that the discounts were only available to customers who were eligible for Federal Government financial incentives in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates.

Clean Energy Council (CEC) Chief Executive Matthew Warren said measures to protect consumer confidence in the fast-growing solar industry were crucial to its long term success.

A statement released by the CEC said the investigation by the government's consumer watchdog will see a change for the better in the marketing for solar power systems.