Who Are You Trusting? 3 parts
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Part 1 29 September 2026
A 10-year warranty. Will they be there in year 10?
A 10-year warranty is more than a number on a datasheet. It is a promise made by an organisation. What should homeowners consider about the companies…
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Part 2 6 October 2026
You paid for the battery. But where is it?
What happens to your money between paying for a battery and having it installed? Three homeowner experiences reveal the fulfilment risk that does not appear on…
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Part 3 13 October 2026
You paid for the equipment. Should your money be protected?
Over the last two posts I’ve looked at risks homeowners rarely see when buying solar and batteries. So what should we do about them? Part of…
Life after handover 3 parts
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Part 1 8 September 2026
600,000 systems. Nobody left to call.
As at 31 July 2026, the Clean Energy Regulator records 4,501,887 small-scale solar PV installations in Australia. Australia crossed four million rooftop solar installations in November…
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Part 2 15 September 2026
An installation warranty is only enforceable while the retailer exists.
In my last post: Australia has passed four million rooftop solar installations, and more than 600 companies with “solar” in the name had entered liquidation or…
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Part 3 22 September 2026
Ask who comes when it fails.
Across my last two posts: more than 600 Australian solar companies liquidated or deregistered between 2011 and 2018, and an installation obligation that sits with the…
Battery installation quality 3 parts
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Part 1 19 August 2026
The rebate worked. The installs didn't.
Australia installed more than 460,000 home batteries in a single year. The federal battery rebate did exactly what it was designed to do - it created…
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Part 2 24 August 2026
One state inspects every install. The rest don't.
In my last post I shared that more than 6 in 10 inspected battery installs were rated substandard. Here’s something most people outside the industry don’t…
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Part 3 1 September 2026
A safe asset, or a fire risk on a wall.
Over my last two posts I’ve laid out the battery story: more than 6 in 10 inspected installs rated substandard, and one state – Victoria –…
Commercial installations 3 parts
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Part 1 28 July 2026
The hardware is the predictable part
Utility-scale solar lands within about 1% of budget — better than almost any other generation technology. So why does Australia's regulator find one in five rooftop…
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Part 2 4 August 2026
Why installations fail
One in five rooftop solar installations is substandard — but not because the industry lacks good people. The same issues come up again and again, and…
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Part 3 11 August 2026
What actually closes the gap
Three things separate a project that runs to plan from one that doesn't. None are complicated. All are easy to skip when a job is under…
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