More and more articles are appearing on TV and in newspapers about shoddy solar systems.
Although I’m disappointed, I’m not surprised.
Too many people buy on price, unsurprisingly they get exactly what they pay for.
Here’s a letter I sent to all the state energy ministers earlier this week:
Dear Minister,
Last week I held training seminars in Brisbane, Tweed, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth attended by a number of solar installers.
After the completion of training we discussed issues confronting our industry in 2019.
None of us are happy with the standard of installations.
We don’t believe we need more regulation and guidelines, only that the existing regulations are enforced.
In most States, there is no or very little inspection of electrical work.
Around 1% of solar installations are inspected by the Clean Energy Regulator. These inspections have revealed a high level of non-compliance with regulations and guidelines.
The consensus of the training groups was that 100% inspection of all solar and battery installations should be mandatory.
Feedback from Tasmania is that their model has been successful in raising the standard of installations and ‘cleaning out the shonks’.
The Tasmanian model has Techsafe subcontracting to the Department of Justice to carry out 100% inspections.
We would prefer inspections to be carried out by inspectors directly employed by the Electrical Safety Office in each state.
We recognise that this could be a costly exercise and agree that a $250 fee per inspection is reasonable.
There are no barriers to entry in this industry.
Anyone can set up a Facebook page or a webpage, advertise and sell solar systems.
Most of these sales companies have no license to trade as an electrical contractor. Most of them do not display their license on advertising because they don’t have one.
Typically these sales companies sell cheap, shoddy systems with a high failure rate. When the warranty pressure becomes overwhelming they disappear or phoenix to continue under a new name.
We ask that the regulations around unlicensed electrical contracting be strictly enforced.
Yours faithfully
John Inglis
21 January 2019
I have also started a petition on Change.org. If you agree that electrical safety should be enforced, please sign the petition.