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 the answer has to be better information.
Before spending thousands of dollars, homeowners should understand more than price and specifications.
How long has the retailer operated?
Which legal entity is taking your money?
Who supports the product in Australia?
Who carries the warranty?
Who actually installs it?
Has your equipment been allocated?
What happens to your deposit if installation is delayed?
What happens if the retailer, supplier or manufacturer fails?
These questions should form part of an informed purchasing decision.
But education has limits.
A homeowner can research a company’s history, reviews, product approvals and warranty arrangements.
They cannot realistically audit its financial position before transferring $15,000.
And they can’t see what happens to their money the following morning.
Perhaps that’s something our industry should consider.
Should money paid by homeowners for solar and battery equipment be protected until that equipment has actually been purchased and allocated to them?
We already use trust accounts and protected-funds arrangements in industries where businesses temporarily hold significant amounts of other people’s money.
Perhaps there’s a model worth exploring for solar and batteries.
It may not be a conventional trust account.
But imagine if the equipment component of a customer’s payment couldn’t simply become general working capital.
There are plenty of questions to resolve: deposits, installation costs, STCs, rebates, administration and when funds should be released.
And protection at retailer level may not be enough.
I know a retailer with money caught up in the recent RedEarth administration after placing a significant equipment order.
So perhaps the bigger question is:
How should a homeowner’s money be protected as it moves through the solar and battery supply chain until the equipment they’ve purchased is actually secured?
I don’t pretend to have the regulatory model worked out.
But I think it’s a conversation worth having.
Better consumer education must be part of Australia’s transition to household electrification.
But perhaps there are also some risks homeowners shouldn’t be expected to carry alone.
Sources
- The protected-funds idea is raised as a question for industry discussion. Australian solar retailers are not currently required to hold ordinary customer equipment payments in trust accounts.
- Trust accounts and protected-funds arrangements are used as a general comparison. This article does not claim that an existing scheme from another industry could be transplanted directly into solar and batteries.
- The RedEarth example is based on Bagatelle Energy’s direct knowledge of a retailer that placed a significant equipment order before RedEarth Energy Storage entered voluntary administration, and now has funds caught up in that process.
Read Part 1: A 10-year warranty. Will they be there in year 10?