A report from the Clean Energy Council clearly shows the Australian solar industry has a strong focus on safety and quality.
Claims were made recently by some media outlets of widespread problems with solar equipment, but the evidence states otherwise.
Even three in-depth reviews of the Renewable Energy Target, the umbrella program supporting the installation of small scale solar power systems, have not raised any concerns about the general safety or quality of solar power systems supported by the scheme.
More than 1.3 million solar panel systems have been installed throughout Australia so far and according to information from the Clean Energy Regulator , just 0.125 per cent of all certificates issued through the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme have related to replacement house solar panels.
During the past 12 months, there have been 67 complaints relating to solar arrays lodged with the Clean Energy Council. Of those, eight were related to products
More than 173,000 solar panel systems were installed in 2014 and yet only 24 complaints about panels were lodged via an industry complaints portal run by the Australian PV Institute.
Since the Clean Energy Regulator began its inspection scheme in 2011, 13,015 independent inspections of solar PV systems have been carried out. Of those, 3.86 per cent (503) were assessed as ‘unsafe’. Over 80 per cent of systems assessed as ‘unsafe’ were in relation to DC isolators, a complex issue described in the CEC’s report.
“The solar industry rejects any notion of lax safety standards in the sector, especially those based on isolated accounts that ignore the industry’s strong track record,” said Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton. “The current regime of product standards, accreditation, audits and inspections ensure rigorous standards when it comes to safety.”
The Best Practice Regulation Of The Australian Solar Industry paper outlines the current regulatory framework for the Australian solar industry that has been developed over more than a decade and describes the range of initiatives underway to continue to refine this regime.
“Like any other electrical product, isolated quality issues will arise from time to time,” said Mr. Thornton. “The industry continues to work with key government, regulatory and industry stakeholders to address these, and ensure the regulation regime continues to be refined and keeps pace with the latest developments in the sector.”
One of the recent initiatives is the Clean Energy Council’s Solar PV Retailer Code of Conduct, developed to provide consumers peace of mind when making a solar power system purchase decision. National solar provider Energy Matters was among the first Australian retailers to sign on to the Code.
