The Government’s renewable energy regulator has knocked back up to 10% of the renewable energy certificates applied for by potential solar panel installers because they aren’t up to scratch with current regulations, the agency told a Senate Estimates Committee yesterday.
But while solar operators say the Government’s more aggressive approach to regulation is welcome and will help maintain industry standards, some argue the agency needs to communicate better with installers in order to actually inform them of new laws.
“It’s alright to wave a big stick, and I understand the need to make sure the industry is regulated. But we need to be told what’s going on, and I don’t believe there is a particular forum for that yet,” says City Solar financial controller Glenn Coles.
The head of the Government’s Renewable Energy Regulator, Andrew Livingstone, told the Senate yesterday that the agency had knocked back three million renewable energy certificates because those particular installers were not abiding by current regulations.
“In the last 12 months we have been invalidating more RECs than before because we have definitely increased our level of checks pre-validation,” he said.
“People are not providing the right compliance information so we have failed the RECs. I have judged that we need more validation and more accreditation work taking place.”
Solar operators believe the crackdown is a way of making up for law regulation during the insulation debacle, when shoddy installers caused fires and in some cases deaths from incorrect and dangerous installations.
Amber Ferguson, who owns panel wholesaler Carbon Management Solutions, says the regulations are welcome.
“We are heading towards regulating the industry which is a fantastic thing,” she says. “The regulations require you to be an electrician, and you must be one to install these systems.”
“There are large companies who will do whatever they can to make sure the job gets done, and only do what is required by law and no more. They don’t have the customers’ best intentions in mind and I believe the Government is doing the best thing here.”
But Glenn Coles believes installers aren’t being told of new laws and often get knocked back for breaching regulations they never knew existed.
“The feedback we are getting from our installers is that they are not getting the information they need to perform their jobs well and correctly.”
“If they come down with new regulations, that’s fine, but there needs to be a forum where all the relevant people have been notified. We’ve had installers who say they were failing inspections due to regulations they knew nothing about.”
Coles says installers need to be given regular updates, just as tax agents receive regular emails from the ATO or ASIC.
“Regulations are fine. But you have to notify them correctly, and that’s not happening.”
Ferguson says while the regulations aren’t a problem for the solar industry, but rather the volatility of business is keeping companies on their toes.
“We go through a bust, then a boom, and that’s the way it’s happened for years. I’m glad to see the population increasing with solar power installers, and that regulations are backing that up however.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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