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34 E L EC TR I C AL CONNEC T I ON
S PR I NG 20 1 6
THE GREAT SOLAR CRACK DOWN
A
ccording to an internal review
conducted by the Clean Energy
Council (CEC), not all solar panels
and inverters are made equal. And
some international suppliers of solar
equipment act questionably when it
comes to honouring warranties, if they
act at all.
While not at all surprising, these
findings have led to the introduction
of some tough (yet very welcome) new
measures that aim to substantially lift
the bar on the quality of solar power
products sold in Australia.
CEC chief executive Kane Thornton
says the changes are the latest in a
series of steps designed to ensure the
highest standards for people buying solar
power systems.
“Solar panels and inverters already
need to be independently tested and
demonstrate their compliance with
Australian Standards before they can be
sold here,” Kane says.
“These products are then included on
lists of approved solar power modules
and inverters, which are available from
the CEC’s Solar Accreditation website.
“Now, an independent testing program
is being introduced for solar panels
and inverters to ensure that the actual
performance of products being sold
in Australia live up to their marketing
claims. Products that are not up to
standard will be removed from the CEC’s
lists of approved products.
“Likewise, products can now be de-
listed if suppliers breach consumer law
– such as a failure to honour warranties
– effectively removing their eligibility for
government incentives.”
Kane says these changes will improve
overall product quality in the solar
industry by making sure customers
get what they pay for when buying
panels and inverters, and by penalising
companies that do the wrong thing.
“At the CEC, we don’t like misleading
marketing and we want to stop
customers from being misled, whether
deliberately or inadvertently,” CEC policy
manager Darren Gladman says.
“For a long time we wanted
to introduce a requirement for
independent testing. But in order to give
us some teeth, our system had to become
more robust.
“Two years ago, we were approached
by an importer of inverters who had
warranty issues with an overseas
supplier. The company was operational
but not responding to warranty claims.
While we agreed that this was a very
serious issue, the system the CEC had in
place at the time meant we weren’t able
to do much in response.
“This motivated us to review our
supplier agreement terms and conditions
and for the first time, include mandatory
requirements that would give us the
power to take action against suppliers
who disregard warranty applications.
“We are now able to remove suppliers
who act in bad faith from our lists so
they can’t claim small-scale technology
certificates (STCs).”
The changes to the panel listing
process are as follows:
>
New terms and conditions will allow
products to be de-listed from the
registers of approved modules and
inverters if suppliers breach consumer
law – such as a failure to honour
warranties.
>
An independent testing programwill be
introduced to ensure the alignment of
marketing claims, product performance
and safety. Products that fail this
programwill be removed from the CEC’s
list of approved products.
>
An independent product listing review
panel has been appointed.
From a performance perspective, the
THE CLEAN ENERGY COUNCIL
IS CRACKING DOWN ON
PANEL SUPPLIERS THAT MAKE
UNSUBSTANTIATED MARKETING
CLAIMS AND/OR AVOID THEIR
WARRANTY RESPONSIBILITIES.
PAUL SKELTON
REPORTS.
QUALITY ASSURANCE