The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) have proposed to grant authorisation for an Australian voluntary solar PV retailer code of conduct for five years.
The proposed Code was developed by the Clean Energy Council Limited (CEC) in consultation with industry participants including Energy Matters, consumer groups and regulatory bodies.
“The purchase of solar PV systems is generally a one off but can be complicated and may involve dealing with a number of different parties,” ACCC Deputy Chair Michael Schaper said.
“The Code will promote consumer confidence in the PV sector by providing consumers with information to assist in purchasing decisions and also promote compliance by PV retailers through sanctions and public reporting mechanisms.”
While the ACCC notes existing consumer protection legislation regulates the conduct of businesses such as PV retailers, it accepts the Code may assist in improving solar retailers’ compliance with consumer protection legislation and as a result could reduce the number of consumer complaints.
In addition to the statutory guarantees under consumer law, Code signatories will also need to provide a minimum retailer’s warranty period of five years on the operation and performance of the whole PV system including workmanship and components.
The Code will be administered by the CEC Accreditation Team with independent oversight and monitoring executed by the Code Review Panel.
The ACCC is now seeking submissions on the draft determination; which can be viewed at www.accc.gov.au/AuthorisationsRegister. The ACCC will accept submissions until 18 July 2013.
Assuming the Code receives final ACCC approval, the CEC will then commence formally inviting and processing applications to sign on to the Code.
A brief summary of the Code’s contents can be viewed here. Solar companies interested joining the initiative should contact the Clean Energy Council for further information.
