Lachlan Hick, Natimuk Solar owner, said the current system was "unmanageable" for solar retailers and caused problems for consumers.

Under the state government's Solar Homes Package, households can be refunded up to $2,225 for the cost of a solar panel system or $1000 for a solar hot water system, after installation is completed.

In the Lowan and Ripon electorates, 754 solar systems have been installed under the program.

The government stopped handing out rebates in April when the program became fully subscribed, but it has plans to reintroduce it from July 1 with changes.

These include that the rebate will be paid to the companies installing the systems rather than the households, who will instead have access to zero-interest loans so they can install half-price solar with no upfront costs.

Mr Hick said the changes wouldn't address the key problems, and such schemes left him and other retailers worse off in the long-run.

"When the scheme first came, there was such a demand that there was no stock available for local installers, which meant the only people that had the panels, inverters and mounting equipment were the exceptionally large companies," he said.

"The next issue was when the inquiries did come with the grants, we would get 30 or 40 phone calls a day, normally we would get one or two, which was an unmanageable increase. Then when they paused the scheme in April, we went back to getting one or two calls a day, so if I had have taken on more staff to cope with the surge, we would have had to sack them all."

Mr Hick said his company had installed 20 solar systems in the last month the Solar Homes rebate was available, and none in the month since. He said he had to cut down two staff members' work hours, and himself took a job as an electrician on a gas plant in Western Australia to pay the bills over the last month.

"I've bought $130,000 worth of stock which is sitting in a warehouse waiting for the rebate to come back on July 1," he said. "If I've got to make a financial commitment to continue this business, to build a warehouse and get a forklift, there's another $100,000 worth of expense. Am I better off investing that in a more consistent business?"

Mr Hick said this was not the first time a solar rebate scheme had been applied and then removed to the detriment of retailers. He said the federal government administered Small-scale Technology Certificates, where owners of solar systems could create and trade certificates in exchange for cash also had this impact.

He said there were also consequences for consumers.

"Because I've been doing this for a long time, a lot of people feel comfortable calling me when they can't get in contact with their original installing company," he said.

"I get a lot of calls for help when people's systems go faulty and the company they purchased the system through is no longer around, and I certainly get an increase in those after the rebates are taken away. If the system that has been sold by a company that hasn't been able to maintain business (folded) through the lull, they're left without someone to go to for warranty."

Riley Cook, Laser Electrical Horsham's housing and solar projects manager, said the business had to find staff roles in other departments after the rebate was capped.

"This new system where they effectively pay us rather than the end user still means the prices will effectively be the same. I think the reason they shut it down to start with was didn't really have a plan in place to manage large quantities of applications," he said.

A spokeswoman for Victoria's Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio said the government was processing existing applications in the system and working with industry to complete the outstanding installations..

The spokeswoman said landlords and renters would need to work together to have a system installed, and details of this part of the program would be announced shortly. She said the average wait time from the start of the application process to completing final payment was eight to 10 weeks, including the time taken to install the solar system.

The spokeswoman recommended Wimmera residents shop locally if possible, look for long warranties and online reviews and get several quotes.

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