Return policy

Goods sold through the SolarAssistant shop are sold by the Solar Assistant entity shown on your invoice: Solar Assistant Software (Pty) Ltd (registration number 2020/838280/07), registered in South Africa, or Solar Assistant Software Corp., registered in the United States ("we", "us"). The same return terms apply worldwide; where South African consumer law applies, this policy is written to meet the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECT Act). It applies to physical goods only; SolarAssistant licences are covered where they form part of an order for goods.

Orders are dispatched from our warehouse in South Africa (for South African orders) or from our warehouse in the United States (for most other countries). Returns must be sent back to the warehouse that dispatched your order — we will confirm the address when you request the return.

Before you return anything

Please contact support first. We will confirm which warehouse to send the goods back to and get your return moving; goods sent back without telling us take longer to refund and are more likely to go astray. Include your order number and, for damaged or defective goods, photos of the product and packaging.

If you cancel before dispatch

You may cancel your order at any time before it is dispatched, for a full refund of everything you paid, including shipping. Any SolarAssistant licence included with the order is voided as part of the cancellation. Once an order has been dispatched it can no longer be cancelled and the return rules below apply instead.

If we need to cancel your order

Occasionally we may not be able to fulfil an order we have already accepted. There are two cases:

  • A pricing error. If a price was displayed incorrectly and the error was an obvious one, we may cancel the order rather than supply at that price. If we do, we correct the displayed price and tell everyone who may have seen the wrong one.
  • Stock we cannot supply. If we cannot supply the goods, we will tell you and offer you the choice of waiting for stock or cancelling.

If we cancel, you receive a full refund of everything you paid, including shipping, as quickly as our payment provider allows, and any licence included with the order is voided with it. We will not ask you to pay more than the price you were shown for an order we have already accepted.

Change of mind

Within 7 days of delivery. You may cancel for any reason, without penalty and without giving a reason. We refund everything you paid, including the original shipping charge. You pay only the cost of sending the goods back to us. The goods do not need to be unopened.

Between 8 and 30 days after delivery. We will still take the goods back, on these terms:

  • The goods must be unused, undamaged, and in their original packaging with all accessories, cables, and documentation included.
  • You are responsible for the cost and risk of return shipping to the warehouse that dispatched your order.
  • The original shipping charge is not refunded.
  • There is no restocking fee.
  • We refund the purchase price of the goods once we have received and inspected them.

Damaged on arrival, wrong item, or missing parts

If your order arrives damaged, is not what you ordered, or is missing parts, tell us as soon as you can. Reporting within 10 business days of delivery helps us claim against the courier, but reporting later does not affect your rights. We will replace the goods or refund you in full, including original shipping, and we arrange and pay for the return.

Goods that arrive damaged or faulty are also covered by the warranty below.

Lost packages

If your order has not been delivered within six weeks of dispatch, please contact support.

Defective goods (warranty)

If the goods fail within 1 year of delivery due to a defect, you choose the remedy: a repair, a replacement, or a refund. We arrange and pay for the return, at our risk, and there is nothing for you to pay.

Support may offer to work through basic troubleshooting with you first — it often solves the problem faster than a return would — but this is your choice, not a condition of your return.

If we repair the goods and the same failure, or a new defect, appears within 3 months of that repair, we will replace the goods or refund you rather than repair them again.

The warranty covers defects in the goods. It does not cover damage or failure caused after delivery by:

  • normal wear and tear;
  • electrical surges, lightning, or incorrect wiring;
  • water, heat, or corrosion damage from the installation environment;
  • misuse, abuse, or failure to follow the documentation;
  • modification, or repair work carried out by someone we have not authorized.

Refunds

Refunds are issued to the original payment method through our payment provider, in the currency of the original payment. We process refunds within 14 days of receiving and inspecting the returned goods, and in any event within 30 days of your cancellation. Cancellations before dispatch are refunded immediately. Depending on your bank or card issuer, it may take a further few days for the money to reflect.

Any SolarAssistant licence included with a refunded order — a perpetual licence, SolarAssistant Pro, or both — is voided when the refund is issued. If the licence has been commissioned on a device, that device is no longer licensed: it reverts to a trial, and Pro features are no longer available on it.

If goods returned as damaged or defective are found on inspection to be undamaged and working, we may return them to you and recover the shipping costs, or deduct those costs from the refund.

Limits on change-of-mind returns

These limits apply to change-of-mind returns after the first 7 days. They do not limit your rights for goods that are damaged, defective, or not what you ordered.

  • Goods damaged after delivery, or returned with accessories or parts missing — we may decline the return or deduct the value of the missing items from the refund.
  • Goods that have been used or installed.

Your statutory rights

Nothing in this policy limits any right you have under the CPA, the ECT Act, or other law that applies to your purchase and cannot be excluded.