Solar panel installations are growing, but consumers have little...

  1. tbirdsrgo
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    03/08/21
    09:01
    Post #: 54980874
    Solar panel installations are growing, but consumers have little recourse if things go wrong - ABC News

    "Just two two short years after Wayne Minett forked out $12,000 for solar panels, he made the tough call to rip them off the roof.

    Their system had been plagued with issues from the beginning and they barely saved any money on their electricity bill.

    But the final straw was a phone call from the local power network saying his set-up wasn't working at all.

    "The power provider said: 'Your inverter is not working, there's no power coming back to the grid'," Mr Minett said.

    The inverter is the crucial piece of equipment that converts rooftop solar output into electricity that can be used in the home.

    "I went out to have a look at it. It was all completely off. There was nothing on the screen," Mr Minett said.

    "I tried a few 'turn off, turn on', reset things. Nothing happened."


    Mr Minett's wife Sam watched on as he tried to get help from the company they bought the panels from, only to find they had gone out of business.

    Mr Minett even tried to track down the German company that had made the inverter.

    "I rang the facilitator, [they were] nowhere to be found. I googled the maker of the inverter, [in] Germany, nowhere to be found," Mr Minett said.

    "I rang the ombudsman, he or she said it's not to do with them, ring Consumer Affairs, they were apologetic but said ring the ombudsman."

    Ms Minett was just as frustrated.

    "I was getting angry, Wayne's getting angry, and I'm suggesting to ring up so-and-so and he says, 'I've had enough'," Ms Minett said.

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