Robert Johnstone Rutherford (71) was found unresponsive by his wife of 43 years, Janet, on October 22, 2018, outside their home in McBride St, Frankton.
In her findings, coroner Heidi Wrigley said Mrs Rutherford found her husband lying on the ground beside their property, with his left foot stuck in a ladder.
That evening, Mr Rutherford had returned home about 7.20pm, had dinner with his wife and then went outside to attend to some rubbish.
About 9.48pm, Mrs Rutherford wondered where her husband was and called his cellphone, which he had left inside.
Ms Wrigley said Mrs Rutherford went outside to look for Mr Rutherford, checked the garage, turned off a running hose and called out to him.
"Mrs Rutherford then went to the hose she had earlier turned off and saw that it was trailing through two side doors of their standalone garage.
"She found the hose was stuck in one of those doors.
"When pulling on the hose, Mrs Rutherford saw her husband lying on the ground in a small grassed area behind the garage and beside their house."
Mr Rutherford was on his side and unresponsive, with the ladder on top of him.
She called emergency services at 9.56pm and, following instructions, started CPR, continued by ambulance staff, which was unsuccessful.
Police also attended the incident and found a long brush attached to the hose beside Mr Rutherford on the wet, uneven ground.
Mrs Rutherford advised the solar panels could only be cleaned after the sun had set.
The ladder was examined. A "significant dent" in one leg was discovered, so when it was placed in a folded position only three legs touched the ground, while the fourth was about 6cm from it.
Mrs Rutherford was "fairly sure" the dent was not present prior to Mr Rutherford’s death — Ms Wrigley said Mr Rutherford also sustained fractures to his lower left leg, which might have been linked to "forces involved in causing the dent".
The coroner was unable to determine what caused the fall, but found several factors which increased the risk, including the use of the ladder in poor light and the hose he was using becoming stuck in the garage door.
The stability of the ladder might have been compromised by the uneven ground, or Mr Rutherford could have fallen due to an "undetectable medical event".
"Any one or more of these factors, or another unidentified factor, may have contributed to Mr Rutherford’s fall," Ms Wrigley said.
She did not make any recommendations or comment, but extended sincere condolences to Mr Rutherford’s "family, friends and local community for their loss".
