There has been a marked increase in the uptake of residential and commercial solar since 2007 when the Rudd Government increased Federal funding for Solar Homes and Communities Plan (SHCP) by $150 million. The number of applications for the rebate grew from 420 per week in May 2008, to approximately 6,043 per week in May 2009. In mid 2008 the National Solar Schools Program (NSSP) was also introduced, a program so popular that it was temporarily suspended in October 2009 when annual funding targets were met earlier than anticipated.
This is clearly a positive trend in terms of moving Australia towards being a less emissions intensive nation. There are concerns, however, that a small proportion of solar installations across the nation do not meet the standards reflective of the solar installation industry as a whole.
The Solar Best Practice Program
In response to this, the Australian Solar Energy Society (AuSES) and the Australian Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) have embarked upon the development of a best practice program that will formulate a set of best practice standards, and eventually provide best practice accreditation. The Solar Best Practice Program (SBPP) is being established to protect the professionalism of quality solar installers, and to ensure that end consumers are receiving high quality products.
The SBPP is still in its infancy. AuSES and SEIA are currently inviting industry players to contribute their ideas about what constitutes best practice, and to offer suggestions about how best to roll out the program industry-wide. Ged McCarthy from SEIA says that the initial industry response to the program has been positive. “There are a lot of industry players who are looking forward to a best practice program that will make them stand out from the crowd,” says Mr McCarthy.
The SBPP will cover all aspects of photovoltaic installation, explains Mr McCarthy – from the sales pitch of the solar system, to the design and installation of the system. Under the SBPP there would be no high pressure sales techniques allowed, no misleading advertising and no overstating outputs of systems, says Mr McCarthy. Some less-than-ideal installations have been able to take place and not be detected because, to date, there has been little physical checking of the systems installed. To avoid this in the future, the SBPP will also include mandatory site inspections.
The SBPP will not be mandatory, rather it is a voluntary program that will run in conjunction with the Clean Energy Council Accreditation Scheme and any other future licensing schemes. Mr McCarthy explains that there are no aspirations to make the SBPP mandatory, rather it will be aimed at the public to encourage them to trust the SBPP brand, and opt for installers that are accredited members.
The Solar Acquittal Inspections Program
The Federal Government has also been spurred into action to address the fact that a few faulty systems may have been installed under its solar programs.
Recently the Federal Government launched the Solar Acquittal Inspections Program (SAIP). This program will involve the inspection of up to 5,000 solar installations by the end of 2011. As well as acquitting the expenditure of public money, the inspection program is intended to uncover non-compliance and fraudulent activity that has taken place under the SHCP and the NSSP. The Government has not released an estimate of the cost of the SAIP, but has indicated that, while the acquittal was budgeted for, it is going to be carried out on a larger scale than was anticipated owing to the significant growth in the solar energy sector.
