0:00

Jeff , I got a first job for you

0:02

to do that we ask for everybody

0:05

. That starts here and most people

0:07

enjoy it . Can you please touch

0:09

my ball ?

0:11

This ball .

0:12

Yeah , this ball . What did you think ?

0:13

It won't be the first time I touch your ball , marcus

0:15

. Well good , that's only

0:17

when you try to squeeze me for a better price in

0:19

the bath . Exactly .

0:21

Thank you so much . Okay , so that's

0:24

bringing the good vibe into the conversation

0:26

. Now

0:31

, Jeff , you're from Rocky Rockhampton

0:33

. That's a tough part of the world , isn't

0:35

it ?

0:36

There's not a lot of mucking around in Rocky in

0:38

relation to dealing

0:40

with people . The straight

0:43

up and down , no nonsense

0:45

, no bullshit approach

0:47

is appreciated

0:49

and recommended

0:52

.

0:53

Not many silver spoons about .

0:56

A lot of hardworking people . So you've got you

0:58

know there's a lot of miners in

1:01

Rocky and they use

1:03

Rockhampton as the hub for

1:05

the family . So you know , mum

1:07

and the kids stay there all day , every

1:09

day , and dad's in and out

1:11

all over the shop . So gone for a week

1:14

and back for a week and gone for a week . Rockhampton's

1:16

the beef capital of Australia . So

1:18

we have two of pretty

1:21

much the two biggest abattoirs in Australia

1:23

, primarily for the export

1:26

market , and so

1:28

processing of beef and the beef

1:30

industry itself is really important

1:32

to Rocky . So that's our two main sort

1:35

of industries is mining and beef

1:38

, and some of the

1:40

reefs are very , very accessible out of

1:42

Rocky .

1:43

So if it's such , a great place to work there

1:45

and to be there , and really nice

1:47

from the landscape . Wouldn't you want to kind of just

1:50

put your feet up instead of working hard in the

1:52

solar business ?

1:55

Well , solar for me is a

1:58

very necessary future

2:01

energy source . So

2:04

you know , and Rockhampton and

2:06

the Tropic of Capricorn in particular being

2:08

one of the most solar

2:10

abundant places on the planet to

2:14

not be using it is

2:16

a real shame . So

2:18

you know , one of the things that

2:20

we do in our business is

2:22

make high

2:25

quality solar systems for clients

2:27

as easy as possible , meaning

2:30

they

2:32

just have to reach out once and we make everything

2:34

happen . So it's a custom

2:36

bespoke solar installation

2:38

from start to finish is custom

2:41

built with ultra premium

2:43

products and stuff that

2:45

we put on the roof and , no , won't

2:47

need to be touched for 20 plus years . You

2:51

know , yes , we recommend regular

2:53

servicing and maintenance , like any , anything

2:56

. But the products that

2:58

we offer are that super

3:00

premium , high end product

3:02

that will be

3:04

producing high quality amounts

3:07

of energy for many , many

3:09

, many , many years . Not

3:12

the cheap and cheerful stuff that falls over

3:14

in four or five years time . But

3:16

this is stuff that you know , buy

3:18

once by quality and never

3:20

do it again .

3:21

So you would have started in solar . What

3:23

year did you start ?

3:24

Yeah , first installation was

3:27

early 2008 .

3:29

Wow , that's very early in the industry , so

3:31

that's 15 years ago 15

3:34

years of installing solar panels now .

3:37

My dad actually started our business back in

3:39

2004 . And

3:42

so next year is our 20th year of

3:45

installing solar . We started

3:48

off doing insulation

3:50

and solar hot water . So

3:53

, before you know , insulation

3:55

had the rebate and it was trendy . So

3:59

, like like a lot of things that happen so

4:01

, yeah , started with solar hot water and solar

4:03

solar insulation

4:06

. I then joined dad in

4:08

the business in 2008 and

4:10

I'm an electrician with

4:13

an electrical contracting background in

4:15

commercial and industrial

4:17

electrical and joined dad in

4:19

the business and then bought him out in 2009 . So

4:23

back at the start , it was me up on

4:25

the roof doing the installations and

4:30

we've now grown to , you know , a

4:32

team of 20 that

4:35

are all in-house employees .

4:38

So you don't like subcontractors , do

4:40

you ?

4:42

There's a place for everything , but

4:44

in relation to providing

4:46

, you know , high quality product , high

4:49

quality installation and

4:51

a long term

4:53

, guarantee and service

4:55

to our clients . The

4:58

only way you can do that is in-house . So

5:01

you know we run

5:03

two installation teams of

5:07

electricians and all the electricians

5:09

that work for me they all did their apprenticeships with

5:11

me , so these

5:13

are guys that have been with me now for seven

5:16

, eight , 10 plus years . The

5:19

good part about that is the

5:21

quality level . Or ever installations

5:24

is my quality level meaning

5:26

you know not taking shortcuts and simple

5:28

things like you know hiding

5:30

conduits within a wall cavity

5:33

. You know not sticking the conduit

5:35

down the wall because it's quick and easy for the

5:37

installer . So where are we ? Or

5:39

?

5:39

why use a conduit at all ? Just

5:42

run it in the wall .

5:44

Well , we see that too , but the Australian

5:46

standards have been upgraded

5:49

. Upgraded almost every two years

5:52

for the last 15 years .

5:53

That doesn't mean if I want to do cheap solar , I have

5:55

to stick to it .

5:58

Unfortunately , the

6:00

auditing process with solar is

6:04

leaves

6:06

a lot to be desired and

6:08

the number of jobs that are actually audited

6:10

and inspected on an annual basis

6:12

is incredibly low . And

6:15

unfortunately that does breed a

6:18

sometimes a cheap

6:21

and cheerful installation . So the

6:23

three monkeys are 100% and

6:26

we see it all the time , unfortunately . So you

6:29

know , being a long term

6:31

local business and

6:34

we , you know , we advertise on the TV so people

6:37

know who we are . We're

6:40

quite often , you know and

6:42

I'm talking two , three times

6:44

a week being asked

6:46

by what we describe

6:49

as a solar orphan . So

6:51

that is , you know they've gone and bought their cheap

6:53

and cheerful system from someone four or five years

6:55

ago . They're

6:58

now starting to have problems with it . You know

7:00

the company that sold it to them more

7:02

times than not is gone , gone or don't

7:04

care . Their local

7:06

installer you know the

7:09

cheapest bloke in town

7:11

who's done the installation , has

7:13

no interest in helping them . So

7:15

they turn to us and often

7:18

we see , you know , low quality

7:20

product breaking down after five or six

7:22

years and then

7:25

trying to do a warranty claim with the

7:27

Chinese warranty department and

7:30

not getting the responses

7:32

that the client deserves .

7:33

Can't you use Google translator ?

7:35

I'm not . I'm not all that . I'm

7:38

not all that flash at Chinese , like I

7:40

struggle a little bit with English sometimes . So

7:43

the yeah , unfortunately

7:46

, you know , dealing with Chinese warranty

7:48

departments in particular . Has

7:51

its challenges , not a high success

7:53

rate , that's for sure .

7:54

But isn't it ? I mean , let's not play the Chinese card here

7:57

too much . Possibly half the mid export

7:59

from Rocket goes to China , so we

8:01

better be nice to everybody . But the reality

8:03

is , I think it's not so much if it's a Chinese

8:06

company or a Swedish company or whatever I

8:08

think it is . How long is the company in Australia

8:11

? Have they got a proper warranty department

8:13

? Are they actually backing their product ? Because

8:16

you do sell a Chinese inverted . The sun grow and

8:19

I hear quite good things about it .

8:21

Nothing wrong with the sun grow at all . So there's

8:23

a few more questions

8:26

that increase for soon , a

8:28

few things that we do before we offer

8:30

a product . So it's

8:33

not the cheapest price , 100% it's not

8:35

the cheapest price . So the

8:37

important thing for me and

8:40

this is selfish in that I

8:42

limit the liability on my business

8:44

as much as I physically can , and

8:47

the way I do that is I partner with

8:49

high quality companies . You know

8:51

, companies like REC , companies

8:53

like SMA , companies like Fronius

8:56

, who are not only the leading

8:59

manufacturers from a technology

9:02

point of view , they're also the leading manufacturers

9:04

from a warranty support

9:06

point of view , meaning that you know- .

9:09

They got stock in Australia .

9:10

Stock in Australia they have proper department .

9:12

They take your phone call 100% .

9:13

They react to it , people on the ground

9:16

who care . Which

9:18

is a big thing too is

9:20

that you know , when you lodge

9:22

a warranty claim , you want to dealt with quickly

9:24

and you want to dealt with

9:26

quickly so that the client , at the end of the

9:28

day , is getting what they paid for . And

9:31

unfortunately , you

9:33

know , with some of the largest of the

9:35

manufacturers , especially , you

9:38

know , tier one a misleading

9:40

term , tier one but

9:43

a lot of the large tier one

9:45

manufacturers . You know the way

9:48

they it's all about volume

9:50

, it's not about warranty .

9:52

So Get it out , get it out .

9:54

Move a roof and- .

9:56

Move on . Yep , okay , so

9:58

you started in solar

10:00

, basically really just to take

10:02

over your dad's business . What's the biggest

10:05

change you've seen in the last decade

10:07

?

10:07

The last decade in particular is

10:10

value is

10:12

what I've seen the biggest so like . When

10:14

I first started doing installations , a

10:16

6.6 kilowatt system was a $26,000

10:19

investment . You know the rebate back then was

10:21

over 10 grand . So we've

10:24

see now high quality products

10:26

and and far superior to what

10:28

we were doing 15 years ago , not

10:31

just in relation to the quality of the panel

10:33

and also that being backed

10:35

by , you know , a much , much better warranty

10:37

. The

10:39

monitoring options as well , and

10:42

that being a big thing is the change

10:44

there . So , you know , having

10:47

me as an

10:50

installer to be able to sit in my office

10:52

and provide tech support to a client

10:54

over the phone and

10:56

see what the inverter is doing and not have to

10:59

rely on the client's eyes to

11:01

do things , it's a game changer

11:03

for me and it like we

11:06

run two service fans so

11:08

that we've got guys on the road specifically

11:10

out there doing , you know

11:12

, solar maintenance and preventative maintenance stuff

11:14

. But also it

11:17

gives us the ability to , when

11:19

a client rings , to get someone on site

11:21

within 24 hours and

11:23

to be able to have a

11:25

remote view of what

11:28

the system's doing . As to whether or not

11:30

I need to , you know , spend

11:32

that money , because essentially that's what it is is

11:34

me spending money on a client's already existing

11:37

installation to send someone out there

11:40

and investigate ? You know

11:42

we've been a clean

11:45

energy council approved solar retailer since

11:48

2016 . So , before it become

11:50

trendy , before it become a requirement

11:52

for rebate programs , the

11:55

reason we entered into that was investing

11:58

back into the industry . Like

12:00

I've always been a strong

12:03

believer that to

12:05

sell solar you

12:07

need to have a license , meaning

12:09

you need to be an electrical contractor

12:12

, so that there's a higher level

12:14

of accountability there , and then

12:16

you've got the insurances in place

12:18

. So holding an electrical contractor

12:20

license first before being allowed

12:22

to sell solar panels to anyone at any

12:24

time .

12:27

But hang on , I'm a doorknocker

12:29

. I don't know much

12:31

about solar , but I know

12:33

that if you're a pensioner and I promise

12:35

you that you never pay for your electricity

12:38

bill again that the chances

12:40

for me to sell that solar system to you

12:42

is very high . So why do

12:44

you want me to stop on my winning formula

12:46

?

12:47

Winning . For who is the question ? You

12:50

know like we've

12:52

got a showroom in Rocky and

12:56

we get it every day . Someone

12:58

walks in and they bring

13:00

their power bill and my power bill is 200

13:03

bucks for the quarter . Like what

13:05

do you want solar for ? What

13:08

do you want solar for ? So if

13:10

the answer to that is I want to do

13:12

something for the environment , I want to clean it up for my grandkids

13:15

, great , no problem . More than happy to

13:17

help you . But if you're coming in to save

13:19

money on your $200 power

13:22

bill , I quite often tell people

13:24

just keep your money in the bank .

13:27

But what about if someone ?

13:27

with $800 ? $800 power

13:30

bill . I can definitely definitely help 100% , but

13:32

when we start talking about pensioners

13:35

, most of them don't . Most of them are

13:37

that sub $300 because they're living

13:39

conservatively . So they're

13:41

living frugally because they

13:44

haven't got a lot of coin

13:47

to waste now .

13:48

So , instead of you going Yippie-yay

13:50

, I'm going to tell him bull

13:52

, and I tell him this , and that you actually send

13:54

them away , because that's the ethical thing to do

13:57

.

13:57

Well , that's the ethical thing to do . Yeah , 100%

14:00

. But the

14:02

side effect of that is

14:04

I quite often

14:06

go to people's houses and say we've

14:09

got you out to talk to us today about

14:11

solar because you sent mum away

14:13

six months ago , a year ago . Your

14:15

mum didn't need it , but

14:18

the son or the daughter with

14:21

that $1,000 per quarter power bill , they're

14:25

the ones that come and have a chat as

14:28

a result of just doing the right thing .

14:30

So if I say to

14:32

you , I've got a $2,500 to $3,000

14:34

bill for electricity a year

14:36

, yeah . Can solar really

14:38

do something for me , because a lot of people

14:40

still believe sometimes that solar is just

14:43

a humbug from trendy greenies

14:45

from somewhere . Have you generally

14:47

seen a reduction in bills from

14:50

people who do put solar in and

14:52

use it wisely ?

14:53

100% . Yeah , now

14:55

you

14:58

can overcapitalize on solar . Now

15:01

, what I mean by that is , you

15:03

know , most power

15:05

bills that I see are somewhere

15:07

between $600 a quarter in winter

15:10

up to around that sort of $1000

15:12

summer bill when you're running air conditioner . Now

15:15

, being in an

15:17

Ergon territory , there are restrictions

15:19

that are imposed on a large solar system

15:21

and you can definitely overcapitalize

15:24

on solar . Now , I'm

15:26

not going to name them , but you know , you see the

15:28

mobs on the TV generally

15:31

using X cricketers . I mean , they

15:33

know a lot about solar , but

15:36

they're flogging 13 kilowatt systems

15:38

and a one size fits all solution

15:40

. Now , more times than not , that

15:42

13 kilowatt system the only person

15:44

that actually benefits from that extra capacity

15:47

in the solar system .

15:48

Can we finish the sentence ? Is

15:50

the solar sales company ? Is the solar sales

15:52

guy ?

15:53

exactly . It's definitely

15:55

not the , not the homeowner . So you

15:57

know , the rough guide that I give people

16:00

is that if you've got that sort of $600

16:02

to $1000 power but we should be talking about

16:04

a six or a 6.6 kilowatt system

16:06

anything larger than

16:08

that in Ergon territory is

16:10

what's known as export

16:13

limited . So the amount of energy

16:15

you're allowed to sell back to the grid is limited

16:17

by Ergon and it's a blanket , hard and fast

16:19

rule . There's no negotiating around it . It

16:21

is what it is . What

16:24

that means is that your next

16:26

level up from a 6.6 is an eight kilowatt

16:28

system and then you go to a 10 and then you go

16:30

to a sort of a 13 . To

16:34

get the performance and the generation

16:36

out of an eight kilowatt system you have to have a power

16:38

bill up over $1200 a quarter . So

16:41

that sort of $1200 to $1500

16:43

a quarter power bill is you need

16:46

that size bill to actually get the benefit

16:48

and performance out of the eight kilowatt system . Your

16:50

next level up again your

16:52

10 kilowatt system . You need that power bill

16:54

to be somewhere between sort of $1700

16:57

and a couple of grand a quarter . That's

16:59

rare to see a power bill that hard .

17:01

And to explain to anybody who's watching this . The

17:03

reason is that what you generate to

17:05

what you're using it's out

17:07

of alignment 100% . And if you generate

17:09

more than what you actually use so

17:11

you paid for panels that you really generation

17:13

never benefit and with export

17:16

limiting it just goes in the puffer

17:18

smoke and goes nowhere is it Probably

17:20

that .

17:22

So , for instance , installing a 10

17:24

kilowatt solar system on someone's roof

17:26

, most homes use

17:29

two , maybe three kilowatts

17:31

an hour when running a laundry

17:33

, a laundry , a conditioner and baseload , so

17:37

fridges and everything else in the run . So

17:40

I may have sold you 10 kilowatts with

17:42

a solar , but you've got two kilowatts

17:44

on the roof producing energy for

17:46

direct use within the home . You've got five

17:49

kilowatts at Ergon will allow you to export

17:51

to the grid , so the system produces

17:53

seven kilowatts . You've

17:55

got three kilowatts on the roof doing absolutely nothing

17:57

. The only person that's benefited

18:00

from that additional three kilowatts is the

18:02

person that sold it to you , definitely not the homeowner

18:05

. And that gets exaggerated

18:07

again when we start talking about , you know , 11

18:09

, 12 , 13 kilowatt systems is . I've

18:13

seen systems installed by

18:15

your cheap and cheerful 13

18:18

kilowatts . So we've got systems with 10 kilowatts

18:20

worth of inverter on it and the system sitting

18:22

there all day producing six kilowatts because

18:25

the rest of it is is clipped off , not to

18:27

be allowed to do 100% . Don't believe what

18:29

the sales guy tells . You Do your own homework

18:31

. Talk to an electrician , talk to someone

18:33

with a license , but

18:36

also look at data as

18:38

well . So we've got

18:40

some some good brochures that we produced

18:43

specifically in relation to export

18:45

limitation . So you know , export

18:47

limitation is mandatory in Ergon

18:49

. Unfortunately , when I

18:52

go and see a lot of clients , they've

18:54

had two or three quotes already and

18:56

not a single sales guy has spoken about

18:58

export limitation .

19:00

So to make it very clear , export limitation

19:03

means Ergon only lets

19:05

you send that much solar out

19:07

in the system , five kilowatts per hour . If you

19:09

have a bigger pot that you generate because you're

19:11

out and you've got a seven , eight kilowatt system , it

19:13

doesn't generate . It does generate

19:15

the seven or eight , those three that

19:18

you're not allowed to export . They just

19:20

vanish and and you get

19:22

nothing for it . That's very interesting

19:24

because that would have a big impact on

19:26

the return of investment on the system 100%

19:29

, it would be . So if we're not telling that to the end

19:31

customer , that's , that's

19:33

not really the right thing to do ?

19:35

is it Exactly that ? And so

19:37

you know , if someone's expecting

19:39

to get their 50 , 60 kilowatts

19:41

of generated energy a day

19:43

out of their their 10 kilowatt system and

19:46

the thing's doing 30 because it's bouncing

19:48

off the export limit of all day long , yeah

19:50

, the math really starts to

19:52

not add up .

19:53

Gives all a bad name really 100% it does

19:55

and it's it's .

19:58

it's a question of integrity that

20:00

if , if you're telling

20:03

a client only what you

20:05

want them to hear to make the sale

20:07

, rather than educating the

20:09

client to the

20:11

full idea of what solar's

20:13

about and how to get the best out of it and

20:16

what size system best best suits

20:18

them , it's

20:20

negligent . And you

20:22

know , one of my highest values is integrity

20:25

. So when I it

20:27

makes me angry to

20:29

hear some

20:32

of the lies that I hear coming

20:34

from solar sales .

20:35

You do the solar sales a lot .

20:37

I'm . I am the only sales guy I have .

20:39

Okay . So you would come to an end

20:41

customer . They've already got three quotes . The

20:43

end customers heard three times the same story

20:45

. Which is bigger and better ? And then you say

20:48

to them listen , they've given you a V8 , but

20:50

you're living in a 40 K zone .

20:52

Yeah , so I show real

20:54

data . So , because of

20:56

remote monitoring of systems

20:59

, I have the permission of

21:01

several of our clients to actually

21:03

show the real data

21:05

from their system live .

21:07

So what they export , what they import and

21:09

everything right , right , right the consumption , the

21:11

generation , the export and usage

21:14

.

21:14

Yeah , Okay .

21:16

A lot of times this cheap solar system , the day after the install

21:18

looks very much the same as an expensive

21:21

system . Yep , so

21:23

in a ping pong game where I come up with

21:25

the way to make a solar install cheaper

21:27

which has long-term fatal

21:29

consequences , but the customer wouldn't

21:32

have any idea that is happening .

21:34

Yeah .

21:34

I'll give you the first one . I use plastic

21:37

cable tie instead of steel cable ties

21:39

within your UV region

21:41

. Within two or three years . They're all very

21:43

brittle , they're full off , they go

21:45

into the roof , not in the roof . They go into the gutter

21:47

, they wash down . Then I'll block

21:49

your gutter . Your buttock runs over . You

21:52

possibly get it inside the house as well and

21:54

got some chiprock damage , all for

21:56

a saving of maybe for the whole install of

21:58

10 , 15 bucks . Correct , that's

22:00

how a cheap system makes it cheaper . You give me one of yours .

22:03

I see rooftop isolators being installed

22:05

now , still out in the weather .

22:08

They're supposed to have a cover , don't they ?

22:09

Yeah , a seven-sided cover to protect

22:12

them from the weather and protect them from UV . And

22:15

I still see them out there in the sun . So

22:17

that is a point of failure and

22:19

it will fail . You know , it's a piece of plastic . At

22:21

the end of the days , it's not a matter of if it will

22:23

fail , it's a matter of when it will fail , especially

22:26

when it's sitting there in the rock-empton

22:28

sun .

22:29

No , look , if you had plastic , a plastic container

22:31

sitting on the roof in without

22:35

a metal cover of protection . I give you

22:37

a guarantee within four or five years it

22:39

will crack . What happens when it ?

22:41

cracks . When it cracks , the isolator

22:43

fills with water and then you've got a massive , massive

22:45

fire hazard . So

22:47

you know DC power , so

22:49

power from solar panels can't

22:51

be shut down , can't be turned off . So

22:53

if the sun comes out , it is producing

22:55

power . So if you're now pushing that power

22:58

into a basically

23:00

a bucket of water , which is essentially what

23:02

you've installed on the roof , which is supposed to be your safety

23:04

switch- 100% .

23:06

So you've turned the safety switch into a bucket of water .

23:08

You've got a problem .

23:09

Yeah , I can see that . Okay , I'll come

23:11

back with mine . I see the

23:14

cheap and cheerful systems put

23:16

in the panels in the back of a van or in the back

23:18

of a trailer and then it's bounce

23:21

time and when they get on the roof they actually

23:23

have a lot of micro cracks , so they already have a problem

23:25

before they get on the roof .

23:27

Yeah so , and micro

23:29

cracking is solar panels . They

23:31

look robust but they're not . They're

23:33

actually quite fragile , Not so

23:35

much the glass or the aluminum frame but the

23:38

silicon cells inside . And

23:40

rough handling of solar

23:43

panels causes micro cracks , causes

23:45

problems . So this is bouncing around

23:47

in the back of the youth , this is

23:50

, you know , putting them on your shoulder to

23:52

carry them up the ladder , bouncing against

23:54

the cells as they go up the ladder . Yeah , really

23:56

good . And it doesn't show up

23:58

in day one , it shows up around year four

24:00

or five , and this is when you know old

24:03

mates disappeared , Someone

24:06

like us turns up and the things got micro cracks

24:08

all over it . We go back to the manufacturing

24:10

and the first thing they do is install error

24:12

. This is an air problem , this is bad

24:15

handling at the installer and sorry , mate

24:17

, you already void .

24:18

So the end customer is usually the one that's bitten

24:21

in the bum , is it ?

24:22

Unfortunately .

24:22

yes , I've got another one whereby I save

24:24

a bit of money on the brackets and I put a few less brackets

24:26

on it and the customer won't know really

24:29

any different , but maybe after a big

24:31

windstorm you will know the difference . Oh

24:33

yeah , is that a favorite ?

24:35

Oh yeah , and I see it all the time . You know

24:37

installations that are where

24:39

someone's used tilt frames to tilt

24:41

a panel and rather than getting the

24:44

450

24:46

millimeter long leg , use the 200 millimeter

24:48

long leg because it's five bucks cheaper a

24:50

leg . I only put half the amount of

24:52

legs on that's required , and then

24:55

the panels start flip

24:57

flopping . Yeah , yeah , and cracking

24:59

cells all the way along and after

25:02

a big storm being completely useless

25:05

.

25:05

Wow , okay , what about the one

25:07

where you have a

25:09

silicon Is really

25:11

the favorite tool of the cheap

25:13

installer .

25:14

It certainly is .

25:15

What do you see ?

25:17

So you know , your two dollar tuba silicon

25:19

. Yeah , you see that a lot . We

25:23

only use Cicaflex . So this we're

25:25

talking $20 plus tuba silicon

25:27

. The reason being is our installations

25:30

, we're doing them to be up there for

25:32

the next 30 plus years , 30

25:34

plus years . Our

25:36

installations are not designed to come off the roof

25:39

in five years time . You

25:42

two dollar tuba clear silicon , no

25:44

UV rating . You

25:46

quite often see , you know , no waterproof

25:49

deck types or boots around

25:51

any of the penetrations .

25:53

Yeah , silicon it's , it's

25:56

a it's a wonder cure

25:58

for every big thing to do with water

26:00

, at least for 12 months .

26:02

Exactly that , and long it's

26:04

a concrete warranty with silicon . So

26:06

step off the concrete , your warranty's gone . So

26:09

, whereas you know and this is

26:11

a big thing with you know , a good installer

26:13

, a bad installer , it's the little things

26:15

like the Cicaflex , the

26:18

, you know nylon coated

26:20

stainless cable ties . You

26:23

know an engineered

26:25

mounting solution . So , with

26:27

an engineering certificate , this is how

26:29

it's installed and it's installed correctly

26:31

, like Rocky's in a cyclone

26:34

region .

26:34

Wow .

26:35

So the last cyclone we

26:38

had come through in in 2015 . Now

26:40

you know we lost

26:43

, yeah , we lost , 12

26:45

panels in the cyclone , 12

26:47

that was still attached to the

26:49

roof when

26:52

they found the roof . So it wasn't wasn't

26:54

the mounting system that failed , it

26:57

the roof , and took our panels with it . So and

26:59

that's you know , hand on heart , what we

27:01

lost in the cyclone .

27:02

So , and that's you know , thousands

27:06

of in-stores but are there other systems

27:09

that actually did not survive that particular

27:11

? Yeah lots lots

27:13

and lots and lots so that gave better work for

27:15

you Um you know , natural

27:20

weather events are Common

27:23

in rock Hampton especially

27:25

.

27:25

You know it's a it's a harsh environment and

27:28

, unfortunately , cheap solar

27:31

doesn't like it . So you

27:34

know , we had a big

27:36

hailstorm back in 2020 , where

27:38

a lot , of , a lot of the cheap and cheerful

27:40

solar systems have been replaced , thankfully

27:42

.

27:43

Unfortunately , some were replaced

27:45

with like-for-like solutions by

27:47

insurance companies and

27:52

they just didn't stand up because the way

27:54

they were installed or the the wind

27:56

loading on the panel wasn't up to scratch .

27:59

Poor installation , poor weather proofing , poor

28:02

quality product to start with . All

28:04

results in , in , you know , installations

28:07

being replaced and the side

28:09

effect of that Everyone's

28:11

insurance goes up . The major differences

28:14

between a cheap solar installation

28:16

and a Quality

28:19

solar installation is the quality of the

28:21

products being being used . One

28:24

of the major cost-saving methods

28:26

that I see installers using is

28:28

labor , meaning

28:31

Not installing with electrician

28:33

. Yes , using electrician to

28:35

the electrical connection , but the guys

28:37

on the roof at a ta's

28:39

, so their trade assistance or

28:42

roof workers in particular , so

28:44

that is , 19% of the

28:46

solar installation is done by someone that's

28:48

not qualified not qualified

28:50

as an electrician , not

28:52

qualified as a solar installer , but

28:55

a purely a roof worker working

28:57

at significantly cheaper rates

28:59

than what an electrician is to

29:02

cut costs and . But it also

29:05

cuts quality and and this is

29:07

this is a problem . So

29:09

you've got a Cheap contractor

29:11

using cheap labor , producing a cheap

29:14

result and no one responsible

29:16

for it .

29:16

I Think those installers

29:18

do actually have a name .

29:21

They do have a name .

29:22

Yes , you want to say it not particularly

29:25

. Yeah , we're trying to keep

29:27

this one PG . Well

29:29

, you ready the one that

29:31

I know that is PG is called

29:34

roof monkeys correct . Yeah

29:36

, is that the one that were you thinking off

29:38

, or even a worse term ?

29:40

There's a few terms . There's a few terms

29:43

I'm aware of .

29:45

I think the labor is very important because you can

29:47

have the best system in the world . If it's installed

29:49

crap , it doesn't help

29:51

. But you also

29:54

forgot that I can use plastic

29:56

cable ties . I can use less brackets

29:58

. Yeah , I can use silicon instead

30:01

of sick or flex . Correct , I have

30:03

Oversized the system . It won't fit

30:05

, so I hang it over the gable , which is terrible

30:07

in a cyclone zone . Yeah , I put it too

30:09

close to the gutter so it runs over the gutter

30:11

and the water now starts hitting down . They're

30:13

all those issues that

30:15

I see also myself when I do inspections

30:18

literally daily , and

30:21

the poor end customer doesn't even know

30:23

that he's been sold the pup .

30:25

Yeah , till it's too late . Yeah , and

30:28

the care of an installation . You know things

30:30

like external conduits being

30:32

ran Around and over

30:34

gutters , an external conduit

30:36

running down from a wall that has

30:39

a cavity in it we're you know . For a

30:41

little bit of extra effort , the

30:44

conduits could be concealed , cabling can be concealed

30:46

. The client ends up with a nice looking high

30:48

quality Installation

30:51

, rather than something that looks like

30:53

it's being tacked on to the house .

30:55

I mean , I've seen people saving $800

30:58

a quarter on the electricity bill , but

31:01

the house is now $20,000 uglier

31:03

.

31:04

Yeah , you quite often see that , unfortunately

31:07

, and and aesthetics is one of the things

31:09

that we consider a lot In doing a bespoke installation

31:12

is the things got to be functional , it's got to work , but

31:16

it's also got to look good so

31:18

that you stand back and are proud of the installation and

31:23

how you've left the home . Look

31:25

at the end of it . You know solar

31:27

panels . These days , a

31:29

lot of solar panels are coming with

31:31

a pure black face and they can be sexy

31:34

as hell if you do them right . I'm a solar customer .

31:35

I want to buy system from you . How do

31:37

you actually explain to me what to expect ?

31:39

the installation process we

31:42

do from start to finish is done in

31:44

house . So from the sale to the

31:47

installation , booking to the installation to the

31:50

after sales service

31:53

. So At the consultation

31:55

we

31:59

run through the process from start to finish . We

32:01

handle all the applications and approvals for the system from

32:04

Ergon . We make it as easy

32:06

as possible . So

32:08

the only thing you have to do is accept

32:10

our quote and we will make the rest happen With

32:12

nothing for you to do and

32:15

no hidden costs or expenses .

32:20

But is it going to take a day , two days , three

32:22

days ? It depends on the size of the system .

32:23

So You're standard 6.6 , 8 kilowatt

32:26

system is generally a one-day installation . It

32:29

can be a two-day install for battery

32:32

installs . So generally with a

32:34

with a solar battery system We'll

32:39

do the solar panel work in one day

32:42

and then come back the following day for testing , commissioning and completion of

32:44

the battery setup . So you

32:46

must have had installs that are challenging , that are

32:48

difficult .

32:50

Maybe brittle tiles or something like that . What's

32:52

one of the more complicated

32:54

jobs you did the most ?

32:58

complicated installation we did was a 515

33:02

kilowatt solar system on a manufacturing

33:04

facility in rockhampton , completely bespoke

33:06

, designed

33:08

from start to finish

33:11

To not only be functional

33:14

but also Aesthetically pleasing at the end of

33:16

the day . Multiple

33:19

roofs , multiple buildings , multiple electrical

33:21

connections yeah , challenge from

33:23

an engineering point of view as well as

33:25

installation

33:28

.

33:30

Okay , and what about just normal

33:32

residential jobs ? Are they just always run of the mill

33:34

, or do you find sometimes Possums

33:37

love to chew the cables , or what are

33:39

the challenges ?

33:40

the most challenging installation we find

33:42

is Wind

33:44

loading more than anything . So

33:46

, because we are in a cyclone region and

33:48

because we are so close to the coast , having

33:52

a system well engineered and well installed

33:55

so that it's maintaining that Wind loading

33:57

integrity and

34:00

something that will go through a category five

34:02

cyclone , as the cyclone

34:04

we had in in 2015 was , they're

34:09

the . They're the challenging ones right

34:11

, right .

34:11

So overall , the and the

34:14

irony is that with a cheaper system you won't tell the difference

34:17

Of how many brackets

34:19

and how well it's engineered till really the cyclone comes .

34:23

Yes , unfortunately , it's

34:25

hard to tell a good solar installation from a

34:27

poor one , simply by

34:30

looking at it . It's

34:33

not until you start taking panels off . That sort of exposes the Issues

34:36

of an installation . You know , I quite

34:39

often see that the , the cheap installer

34:41

, makes it look all right from the

34:43

ground , but you

34:45

get on the roof and the , and it's an absolute mess Cables

34:48

all over the place , incorrect

34:52

spacing on on feet on the roof , so how

34:54

it's actually mounted to the roof and

34:58

generally , you know , poor , poor

35:00

control of water flow

35:03

as

35:05

well as waterproofing for the integrity of the roof itself . Now

35:07

I hear that solar panels don't have any moving part .

35:10

Inverter is a built like a tank . Why

35:14

do I need after-sales service ? You

35:17

go and buy a brand new car .

35:18

Do you get it serviced ? Why

35:20

do you get it serviced ? You want to maintain

35:23

the output . You want to maintain the quality

35:25

of your product but

35:27

also the quality of the output , and you

35:29

do that by having it regularly checked . Now , with

35:32

our solar systems , we recommend a three yearly service

35:34

, that's it every three years Proper

35:37

licensed electrician on the roof , testing

35:40

, inspecting , providing

35:42

a written report and giving

35:44

the panels a clean at the end of it . There's

35:47

, you know , solar service companies out there offering

35:50

solar servicing , but

35:52

what all they're really doing is washing

35:54

your panels . They're not testing , they're not checking

35:56

, they're not , you know

35:59

, comparing the installation back to the the

36:01

current Australian standard requirements and

36:03

making sure that everything's compliant

36:05

, and also possibly don't look back

36:07

at what the output is this year compared to the previous

36:09

year and the previous year , because that's

36:11

how you could also tell that there might be an issue , because

36:13

you have dipped down in performance , and

36:19

they probably wouldn't even know where to look at those data . No , and

36:21

this is , is the real important function of external monitoring Is

36:23

that if you have a high quality system with a high

36:26

quality monitoring service that comes with

36:28

it and

36:31

most are free they come with the , the inverters to be able

36:33

to compare that Year

36:38

in , year out performance , month by

36:40

month and for the life of the system so that if there is an issue and you know the

36:44

systems we do generally there's not

36:46

, because you know degradation on a high quality solar system

36:49

is small . Degradation

36:51

on a cheap system is significantly large and

36:54

you will see the results in the in the monitoring

36:56

service and you will see the results

36:58

in the in the monitoring . The most important

37:01

thing when installing a solar system is modifying

37:03

your energy use behavior to do

37:05

as much as you can during daylight hours

37:08

. Things like the washing

37:10

machine , the dryer , the dishwasher

37:12

, the vacuum , the iron , any type

37:14

of pump pull pumps . Yep pull pumps , especially

37:16

air conditioning and cooking . The

37:19

more of those appliances you can use during

37:21

daylight hours , the more benefit you're going to get out of

37:23

the solar system .

37:25

And it's not major changes , it's

37:27

little things like vacuum during

37:30

the day but not at night .

37:31

Exactly that doing the ironing during the day

37:33

, not at night . Using your

37:35

air conditioning smarter . So most

37:38

modern air conditioners have some

37:40

form of delay start or auto start

37:42

. So the trick

37:44

with that is preload the

37:46

air conditioner . What I mean by that is Auto

37:49

start the air conditioner at 11 o'clock

37:51

in the morning . Run it all day for free . You

37:54

walk into a cool house at five o'clock rather

37:56

than turning your air conditioner on at five o'clock and

37:58

having to pay for that power to

38:00

cool the house down . The air conditioners

38:02

already done the heavy lifting and pre cooled the home

38:04

for free .

38:06

But that means , from the numbers on , about

38:08

two grand a year return

38:10

After four , four and a half years

38:12

I've got my money back 100% with the cheap

38:14

system it's . So it's maybe three years . So for

38:16

that one and a half years extra weight

38:19

at the end result

38:21

I can possibly get 10 , 15

38:23

years , that two grand extra

38:25

. So really it's one

38:27

and a half grand , two grand , even three

38:29

grand . Pay extra For 30

38:32

plus grand more . That's a good investment

38:34

.

38:34

Solar and good solar is a very good

38:36

investment . So you're talking it around

38:39

Around 30% return

38:41

on investment for a good , good

38:43

solar system . Yes

38:45

, the cheap system will return quicker , but the

38:47

problem with a cheap system you

38:50

five or six we're talking about replacing

38:52

it , we're not talking about it lasting 20

38:55

, 25 , 30 plus years but if I'm a

38:57

cheap solar system sales guy , I will still

38:59

tell you .

39:00

In the last 20 years , Hmm of course . So

39:02

how do I know the diff ?

39:03

the piece of advice I give people the most , and

39:05

that is do not believe what a solar sales

39:07

guy tells you . Talk

39:10

to an electrician , talk to someone with a license

39:12

, talk to someone that's been around for

39:14

more than two minutes . And there's

39:16

plenty of solar companies that , if

39:18

you actually search their ABN , the

39:21

company's been around for 18 months

39:23

and they're offering 10 or

39:25

even 20 year workmanship

39:27

warranties and the business hasn't been around Long

39:30

enough .

39:30

So what's your workmanship warranty ?

39:32

We offer a five-year comprehensive , unconditional

39:35

warranty . So that is . Anything

39:37

goes wrong with their solar installation , we will

39:39

repair , replace it Five

39:42

years at no cost . What's ?

39:43

right ? Look , I can easily

39:46

offer 10 year workmanship warranty if I

39:48

plan to be on the around for two hundred

39:50

percent you can .

39:52

And and that's the difference is our warranties

39:54

coming from a long-term solar installer

39:57

us . So you

39:59

know we're local , we install

40:01

it , we monitor it , we maintain

40:03

it and we're here to help when something goes

40:05

wrong . If something goes wrong , it's

40:08

it's not like you

40:10

buy it cheap From

40:12

the Blake up the road . He

40:14

finds the cheaper guy to

40:16

do the install and then when

40:19

you start having a problem , there's no one there to help you

40:21

and and the yeah , the plane game

40:23

starts and old mate blames old

40:25

mate and at the end of the day , the client

40:27

gets more and more and more frustrated and

40:29

no , no result .

40:32

Have you ever sold any product

40:34

that the manufacturer at the end didn't

40:36

back you and you actually had to put a hand in your

40:38

pocket to back and back the customer

40:41

up ?

40:41

In the early days yeah , I , there

40:44

was a couple of solar systems from

40:47

a couple of branches that's still

40:49

around today , the

40:51

the

40:53

largest of the tier one manufacturers , and you

40:56

know learning the hard way . I

40:58

took systems off the roof and replace

41:00

them At our cost not

41:03

many because unfortunately

41:05

the system failed quickly

41:07

and the

41:12

support from the manufacturer wasn't there . So

41:15

you know , I learned . I

41:17

learned quickly and I try to might not

41:20

make the same mistake more than once , and

41:23

when a manufacturer burns us as

41:25

the installer , I

41:27

can't recommend it anymore .

41:29

Right , but you actually decided to

41:31

cost your own money to keep that customer

41:34

happy and to keep your reputation in

41:36

town .

41:36

Is it being a local business

41:39

, you know employing local people

41:41

Reputations key to

41:44

us . You know most of our clients

41:46

come from referral . So

41:48

this is you know , we've

41:50

done John's house , we've

41:52

done John's sister's house , we've done John's

41:54

brother's house , we've done mum and dad's house , we've

41:57

done the Sun's house . You know a lot

41:59

of our work comes from referral

42:01

and we don't get referral by treating

42:04

people badly .

42:06

With echo smart , you're not only getting a

42:08

good gear , you're getting an install

42:10

that's done by an electrician not a roof monkey

42:13

you were getting but

42:15

also the after-sales service , because

42:17

if your system is down , I know cases

42:19

where the inverter took three months to come

42:21

back from overseas , yep , and

42:23

all that time You're not making electricity , mm-hmm

42:26

. So what's the average time that it

42:28

takes you guys to get a system back going ? If it's

42:30

one of yours and it's quality , and there's

42:32

something going wrong , what do you take ? What do you take ?

42:34

So yeah , unfortunately

42:36

inverters fail sometimes . You

42:39

know we've been installing SMA inverters

42:41

for the last 15 years , so

42:43

top of the range German inverter , literally

42:46

I can count on two hands

42:48

. The warranty claims I've done in in

42:50

15 years is in bugger all when

42:55

we have a warranty claim Companies

42:58

like SMA , companies like Frognius We've

43:01

generally got the inverter replaced within seven days

43:04

. So that is , you

43:06

know , on site within 24

43:08

hours , processing the warranty claim

43:10

on the spot , the gears

43:12

moving before we've left site . The

43:15

replacement gear right , right

43:17

.

43:18

So it is quite important to you that

43:20

the customer doesn't stay out of power for a long

43:22

time , correct , I suppose , being rocky people

43:25

that let you know if they're not happy .

43:27

Yeah , and , and we

43:29

have an office . We're not hiding anywhere , right

43:32

? So you know , we're there from 8 o'clock in

43:34

the morning Until 5 o'clock

43:36

every day . Someone in the office

43:38

to To greet you and

43:40

welcome .

43:41

what's going on ? Yeah , you

43:43

know , the whole government rebate is

43:46

partly there to help the environment

43:48

, so let's all frigate about that .

43:50

Yeah .

43:51

But all those cheap solar panels , a

43:54

lot of them end up on the tip .

43:55

Yeah , unfortunately , how is ?

43:56

that all going for the environmental benefit

43:59

buying that product ? How does it make you feel taking

44:01

them off ?

44:02

It's exacerbating the problem .

44:06

So the government is giving money to actually

44:08

make the problem bigger , is it ?

44:09

Yeah , they're encouraging the cheap installers

44:11

to continue doing what they're doing so

44:14

rather than encouraging

44:17

quality installers Installing

44:20

quality product . You

44:22

can get the same rebate on a 6.6

44:24

kilowatt cheap system as you can on a

44:26

on a large system oh

44:28

sorry , on a high quality system , the

44:32

difference being that the high quality system you

44:35

claim the rebate once . A

44:37

cheap system , you know , over a

44:39

20 year period , if the rebates

44:41

still around , in 10 years time , you

44:43

know you may be claiming that rebate three

44:46

or four times . So this is three or four times

44:48

that the government's paying out .

44:49

So as a homeowner , I don't just

44:51

get the rebate once . If I've got a crap system , I

44:53

can claim it again .

44:54

So that's the silly thing

44:56

about it that if , if you're replacing

44:59

a system and an entire system

45:01

, both inverter and panels you can claim

45:03

the rebate indefinitely on an installation

45:05

.

45:05

Well , that's a loophole . They can you fight . I can

45:08

drive three trucks through that . Yeah , that

45:10

actually encourages crap over quality

45:12

and it certainly does , unfortunately .

45:14

But um the

45:17

government scheme , I

45:20

don't know what that is . It's like the ability

45:23

of you know solar sales guys

45:25

no license , no insurance

45:27

, just start up a business . You

45:29

know 18 months .

45:32

So have you seen companies come and go in rocky

45:34

?

45:36

Yes , um , unfortunately there's

45:39

there's been Hundreds

45:42

and hundreds and hundreds

45:44

of solar companies that

45:46

have disappeared here in australia 800

45:49

, I actually got the 800 800 companies

45:51

have come Sold cheaper stuff

45:53

.

45:53

Found the warranty were biting in the bum . After

45:56

a couple of years found that I can't make money

45:58

on this warranty stuff and they

46:00

close and solar shine goes and solar

46:02

shinier opens a couple of weeks later

46:04

, one of our major competitors a

46:06

couple of years back disappeared .

46:09

So , um , what happened in that particular

46:11

case ? These guys were importing

46:13

Rooftop isolators

46:15

direct from china themselves . Um

46:18

, they

46:20

were also importing panels and inverters

46:22

from china themselves . They

46:25

were marketing their product as high

46:27

quality . At that point in time

46:30

we were installing lg panels , so you

46:32

know , some of the best stuff money could buy . Um

46:34

, they were comparing their quality product

46:37

with , you know , the

46:39

lg's . So

46:43

, two to three times a week we get now get contacted by

46:45

their clients With

46:48

either fire issues as in the

46:50

root , their isolator got recalled

46:52

and it's now called fire and

46:54

their high quality , super high quality solar panel that are

46:56

bringing in from china themselves Is

46:59

failing . So

47:02

, and this was , you know , a well known

47:04

local brand that Was

47:07

a sales company .

47:08

And then you are the bloke who have to tell

47:10

these poor customers the truth

47:13

. And sometimes they get so cranky I've

47:15

seen it myself they let the frustration

47:17

out on you .

47:19

That's not common . Um , the

47:22

reason being is uh

47:24

, you know we're

47:26

honest with their advice . Um

47:28

, we're electricians and

47:30

they

47:33

know it's not us .

47:36

So they do actually take on board whatever you've

47:38

got to say to them .

47:40

Being a company with a license and something to lose

47:43

, yeah , and

47:45

unfortunately we hear a lot of regret stories

47:48

that you know . We

47:50

had a quote from you at the time but we

47:52

went with these guys . Yeah . Because

47:55

being around for 15 years and me

47:57

doing the quoting is I've

48:00

got a really good memory . And then at most

48:02

people that buy that cheaper system , we

48:05

have a conversation again in five years , six years

48:07

time , you're sitting at the same

48:09

kitchen table . The same kitchen table .

48:11

I've been talking about you know what

48:13

if and what , but got it those

48:16

systems that you just talked about , can they

48:18

be safe ?

48:19

Unfortunately . No , you

48:21

know . Rooftop isolator

48:24

issue , yeah , 100% that

48:26

can be replaced . But what we're finding

48:28

is with those particular systems . Yes

48:30

, the rooftop isolator is failing now , but

48:33

when you investigate further , there's

48:35

micro cracking all through the cells , the

48:38

inverters running at half capacity

48:40

or less . You know

48:42

, the system has been suboptimal

48:44

for a long period of time . It's

48:47

just the client is now to become aware of it .

48:49

Because they actually had a decent electricity

48:52

bill for wise and thought maybe solar is not

48:54

that good , is it ? Is

48:56

it ? It's not working .

48:59

Slowly creeping up , slowly creeping up and finally getting the

49:01

point of something wrong . Can you come and

49:03

help us and have a look for me .

49:05

Are you finding the number of battery cells has gone

49:07

up in the last few years , and what's the reason ?

49:10

Yeah , they're becoming more , more common

49:12

battery systems . It

49:14

really depends on why

49:17

a client wants a battery . So

49:20

the main motivation

49:23

we find for people

49:25

installing battery is energy

49:27

independence . The

49:30

quality of the grid supply over

49:32

the next few years , especially

49:36

in regional Queensland , is

49:38

going to be tested and

49:41

a lot of people are preparing for

49:43

potentially the worst , as , in

49:45

you know , long term power

49:48

blockouts due to the

49:50

distribution network failing , and

49:54

a battery system will provide that . That

49:56

guarantee .

49:57

What's advice you give to anybody getting a battery

49:59

?

49:59

Yeah , so the way we help

50:03

people get the best out of their

50:05

solar battery system is through education

50:07

. So the battery systems

50:09

that we offer you know your Tesla

50:11

, the BYD , the LG

50:14

. They will provide an indefinite

50:16

long term blackout protection

50:19

, meaning you

50:21

can live indefinitely with those systems

50:23

as long as you're conservative Right

50:25

.

50:26

So the solar during the day fills the battery .

50:28

I use it at night .

50:30

On a rainy day . It backs me up too , but I

50:32

actually have only a given reservoir

50:35

and I can't be greedy 100%

50:37

, so it's like a bucket of water .

50:39

So you've got that bucket of water , and

50:42

how quickly you drink it depends on your

50:45

thirst .

50:46

Except there's a difference to the bucket of water that

50:48

through the solar system . Every day I

50:50

get two cups filled up again Exactly

50:52

, and as long as I don't go crazy and drink more

50:54

than what I get , the bucket should actually

50:56

last forever .

50:57

So if we're talking blackout protection in particular

50:59

, you know heavy use appliances like

51:01

laundry , air conditioners or electric

51:05

element cooking hot

51:08

water heating . And I'm like

51:10

air fryer yeah

51:13

, so healthy , it's great

51:16

and also energy hungry .

51:19

But as long as I don't go overboard with those .

51:22

Yeah , so heavy use appliances limiting

51:24

their use and you will live indefinitely

51:27

. So the important thing in a blackout

51:29

, keep the fridge running , keep

51:31

your phone charged , TV's

51:33

, ceiling fans especially in rocky ceiling

51:36

fans keep that air movement when

51:39

your battery is full . Sure , a little

51:41

bit of air conditioning , use conservatively

51:43

, but as soon as the

51:46

sun goes down , turning that air conditioner

51:48

off .

51:49

And just like running on the fans and

51:52

a bit of PlayStation sometimes .

51:54

Yeah , well , you've got to keep the kids entertained , yeah

51:56

.

51:57

Now the whole solar industry has really

51:59

evolved from one and a half kilowatt to 6.6 . Now

52:02

we've added batteries . Are you doing already

52:04

EV ?

52:05

chargers . It's not as

52:07

common as the major cities at

52:09

the moment . The reason being is the

52:12

range of electric vehicles is

52:15

still limited . As

52:18

technology involves , evs will

52:20

become more prevalent . We

52:22

are doing EV charging now and

52:26

we are installing solar systems

52:28

that are EV charging compatible . You

52:31

know brands like Fronius , brands

52:33

like SMA that are

52:35

coming out with products that are designed

52:38

to work with the solar system . I see

52:40

in five or six years time that every solar system

52:42

will install , have some form of battery connected

52:45

to it . Ev

52:48

charging is still going

52:51

to be growing . One of the big

52:53

issues , bigger issues with EV chargers

52:55

is you generally drive your car to work , so

52:59

it's having the ability to recharge

53:01

at work rather

53:03

than at home or

53:06

having a battery at home that you could then use

53:08

to recharge the car . So

53:11

the next five or six years , I personally

53:13

believe there'll be a lot of growth in battery

53:15

newer technologies

53:18

, better technologies , more reliable technologies

53:20

at a cheaper price point .

53:23

And then what about the next thing , where smart homes come , where

53:25

I can check through my app what's going

53:27

on with security , where I can turn lights on

53:29

and off , where I can turn my aircon

53:31

on at one o'clock because now there's

53:33

a lot of solar and I want to pretty cool the house . Is

53:36

that already stuff you install or is that still

53:38

the future ?

53:40

Smart homes are the future , so

53:43

having everything controlled from an app , everything

53:45

on one app , so that it

53:47

all talks to each other , it's

53:50

definitely the future . It's not something we're

53:52

currently requested

53:54

at the moment , so not being

53:56

requested , but

53:59

we're in the right position to be

54:02

able to offer that in the future . We

54:05

currently offer solar

54:07

hot water , solar power , solar

54:10

battery , as well as being general

54:12

domestic electricians , so

54:14

LED lighting , efficient

54:18

air conditioning and

54:21

small amounts of home automation security

54:24

systems as well .

54:25

So basically , because you're

54:27

in a smaller town , you can't just

54:29

start saying we're only doing that narrow

54:32

gap solar , so you really have to be

54:34

an electrician and an expert in a wider

54:36

field . Is that how it works ?

54:37

Yeah , 100% . So , being

54:40

a holistic business , is

54:42

important . So not just doing the solar

54:44

but also offering general

54:46

electrical is

54:48

an important service

54:50

that we're providing to our clients .

54:52

What's the one thing that people should look out

54:55

for when they go for solar and batteries

54:57

.

54:57

The most important piece of advice I could

54:59

give someone in relation to installing

55:01

a solar and or solar battery is

55:03

local meaning

55:06

local person , local

55:09

install team . All done in-house

55:11

, high quality products , someone

55:14

that's going to be their support you if something

55:16

goes wrong in five or

55:18

six years time . So local , experienced

55:21

, high quality products .

55:23

And have you seen really high quality products installed

55:25

crappily and the outcome was

55:27

still bad ? Does that happen ?

55:29

Yeah , it does . So

55:31

you can generally

55:33

tell by the price . So if you're getting

55:35

a high quality product at a super

55:37

cheap price , it means they're cutting corners

55:40

somewhere . So one

55:42

of the biggest ways to cut a corner is labor

55:44

. So roof monkeys , one

55:47

electrician to sign it off at the end . But

55:49

your system being installed poorly equals

55:52

poor results .

55:53

So I could have a Mercedes . But

55:56

if I do red thread tires , the result

55:58

might not be so good .

56:00

Well

56:03

, a Mercedes installed by a

56:07

roof instead of an electrician

56:09

, yeah yeah .

56:13

At least the brakes are still good .

56:15

Well , hopefully , hopefully it turns

56:17

off .

56:17

Hopefully it didn't work on the brakes .

56:21

And that's another thing that I see a lot

56:23

of is sales

56:28

companies offering a high quality inverter , offering

56:31

a Fronius , offering an SMA , but the panel

56:33

is garbage , so meaning

56:37

it looks good here but

56:39

on the roof is complete nut , a rubbish

56:42

. So a Fronius inverter

56:44

, an SMA inverter , top brand

56:46

inverter , but if you're paying

56:48

, bugger all and you're

56:50

getting a top brand inverter . What's

56:52

on the roof ?

56:54

I don't know what other comparison I can do , but you

56:56

got abattoirs , so do they sell a

56:59

mutton as lamb ?

57:01

I'm not sure .

57:03

I wasn't accusing the aperture . I'm just saying that's

57:06

a similar type of thing , isn't it ? You tell people

57:08

, you give them that , but actually it's something else

57:10

.

57:11

Rocky's , the beef capital of Australia . Oh

57:13

, sorry , I talk about lambs , then we don't have a lot of

57:15

lamb , but yeah , being

57:18

, you know , selling , selling

57:20

a very old cow , a very

57:23

old dairy cow or something , is wagyu .

57:26

That's where you make the profit .

57:30

Not great for the reputation but good for the bottom line

57:32

for a short period of time , oh , finally . Rocky for two years Exactly

57:34

.

57:35

Exactly All right With

57:37

that . Thank you so much and for another 15 years in solar

57:39

.

57:40

Thank you , marcus Great .

57:43

What more energy answered is that yourenergyanswerscom

57:46

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57:48

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57:50

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58:03

.