Nearly 200,000 Solar Panel Systems Substandard in Australia

Nearly 200,000 solar panels systems on Australian homes may be of substandard quality, possibly needing inspections and retrospective work. This finding was reported by the clean energy regulator to a parliamentary committee which is investigating malpractice in the solar industry.

Random checks by the Clean Energy Regulator revealed that 19 percent of home installations may not have been installed properly. Since there are now more than a million of these systems installed on Australian homes, 190,000 of them could be substandard.

Another finding of the audit was that four percent of installations were downright unsafe and shut down on the spot. This means that 40,000 systems in the country could pose an acute danger to their owners. What is good to note though is that installers had reacted “promptly” to fix substandard and unsafe solar units that were reported in the survey.

Clean Energy Regulator executive general manager Andrew Livingston said that the regulator can’t compel installers to fix the faulty systems. However, the regulator can fine licensed agents that contract installers to do work AU$3,500 or they could lose their certificate over dodgy work.

The news follows the February announcement from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission about a spike in complaints about solar systems in 2012 from the previous year.