Lessons Learned from an Industry Crisis
By Jenny Paradiso, and EO Southern Australia member and managing director of Suntrix Solar
The market for solar panels exploded in 2009 when Australian governments began offering subsidies to convince conservative buyers to invest in their future. The public was faced with a myriad of jargon – FITs, STCs, CEC, MPPT – but also a promise: This will cut your energy costs.
We formed Suntrix in 2009 because we were faced with the problems this opportunity created. Mixed messages, sales people more intent on a sale than a relationship and some companies offering poor quality components for high-end prices.
Ongoing cuts to feed-in tariffs changed the dynamic and then had an obvious impact: customers started to rethink their investment and orders slowed. Then the inevitable occurred and companies began to fail.
