Image by Getty Images via @daylifeForget storm-chasing roofers, what about government subsidy chasers? "When things are for free, every man and his dog gets accreditation and starts installing," says Solar Shop Australia managing director Adrian Ferraretto. And effectively, solar installation is close to free (especially the 1.5 V version).
We all remember the insulation debacle. Subsidies so high that it covered 120%-150% of a standard house's installation costs, so it wasn't just free it was a larger profit for the installers. Installers (both experienced and opportunistic) received lots of training and information about how to do it 'The Australian Government Way' and then set about getting jobs. Coverage of the subsidies was high so there was no shortage of customers, and for a while there it was an easy ride for most insulation installation businesses. So good, that trickier jobs like double stories or flat roofs were left by the way side, installers choosing instead to cherry pick the easy jobs.
Opportunistic businesses popped up all over the place, from insulation batt importers to tele-marketing firms that canvassed for customers over the phone, to teams of marketers going door to door or dropping millions of leaflets through the mailbox. Take up was so high that the market ran out of imported batts. Talk about a massive stimulus package!
The subsidies available initially could be used for either insulation or solar, but not both. Solar carried a hefty excess so most people chose to use their subsidy for insulation - something they could get completely for free and know that solar costs would reduce over time as the technology development costs reduced.
Nowadays, Australians can get up to $6000's worth of rebates for installing solar power to their homes, and a new beast is rearing it's head. Reports in the media of shoddy installation jobs and cheap versions of panels being used are increasing, and while Peter Garrett defended the program back in February, a program of checks and audits has been implemented. No one's house has burned down (yet) and so GreenGate seems to have halted temporarily.
So are we seeing a new version of the insulation debacle yet? Is it just a matter of time or will it not happen at all? The stars aren't quite aligned - the rebates don't always mean a FREE installation, the marketing activities hasn't kicked off to quite the same level, and the safety issues seem likely to have a lower impact and also less likely to happen at all.
Liz Brock is the resident blogger for http://www.servicecentral.com.au - Australia's first online services marketplace. We write articles relevant to the trades and home services industry for both trades businesses and consumers looking to find quality tradespeople locally.
The original article is on our blog here http://www.servicecentral.com.au/resources/articles/Is-solar-the-new-insulation-debacle/434
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Brock
http://EzineArticles.com/?Is-Solar-the-New-Insulation-Debacle-in-Australia?&id=4656810
No comments:
Post a Comment