What the CHOICE solar survey really means
Consumer advocacy group CHOICE recently published the findings of their investigation into solar power customer satisfaction. We’ve highlighted reports from CHOICE in the past because they have proven themselves a truly consumer-focused organisation.
Although we encourage all customers to read the findings for themselves, we decided to take a look through the report and flesh out some of the findings, and explain how they expose the underlying assumptions a solar company makes to ensure they stock excellent products and provide outstanding customer service.
According to CHOICE 700 respondents took part in the survey, including a mix of metropolitan and rural customers from all around the country. So without further ado here’s a few of their findings and some of our own thoughts on the results:
“A quarter of solar PV system owners have had issues since installation.”
We can only assume no customers surveyed had issues with their system before installation (although we’ve heard some stories!), this also means that an astonishing 75% of people have had no issues whatsoever with their solar system.
More than anything this underlines the importance of choosing a reputable company with capable and efficient after-sales support. Doing your research and reading online reviews for any company you are considering prior to signing up will expose any underlying issues with the products they supply and/or sales processes.
“German panels and inverters are considered better than Chinese ones.”
This conclusion is less factual, and yet reflects a commonly held opinion among solar customers. Although historically it was based on a solid foundation, the gap between the performance of Chinese and European solar panels has been shrinking and currently Chinese modules regularly out-perform their competitors without the hefty price-tag.
Despite being the most popular panels with respondents, customer satisfaction with Suntech panels was only 83%, which is actually less than the satisfaction rating for all other panels combined (85%). This is to say, the vast majority of people are extremely happy with the panels they chose regardless of where they were from.
German inverters on the other hand do offer greater reliability and performance, albeit at a higher cost. Consultants from Solar Sunwerx will happily offer SMA inverters (CHOICE’s most popular brand) to their customers because we know they offer superior performance.
“On average, (CHOICE) members paid $8,783 to buy and install their solar PV system after all discounts and STCs/RECs.”
This average figure will continue to decline in the coming years. Upfront installation costs for solar power systems have drastically reduced compared to ten or even five years ago, and will continue to fall as advances are made in PV technology and efficiency is improved.
Apart from showing the amount that consumers were willing to spend to reduce their energy costs, the installation cost needs to be weighed against the capacity of the particular system purchased.
“The most popular installer in our survey achieved a satisfaction rating of just 62%, significantly lower than other installers combined (79%).”
We won’t name names, but it illustrates that some solar providers don’t put the needs of their customers first and foremost. Again, in this case we would simply recommend customers do their research and look for a company with a good reputation and stands by the products they offer.
“12% of people experienced the most common problem reported: issues with the inverter. 10% of owners have had to replace their inverter since installation.”
Selecting an inverter that suits your needs and budget is crucial. Customers should always feel confident that their sales consultant has offered them a range of appropriate inverters.
It is also worth remembering that a lot of decent inverters such as SMA and SolaX feature ten year warranties, and no cost is incurred by the customer if an inverter requires replacement within the warranty period. It’s also clear that a reasonable number of faults could be recitified without requiring the inverter to be replaced (for example, shutting down the system then switching it back on can reset a good number of issues).
All told, these numbers remain quite promising. Considering there’s a 90% chance that a solar customer will avoid having to replace the main culprit for failure, it’s no wonder it’s predicted that one in every two homes in Victoria will soon have solar panels installed on their roof.
Rather than shy away from the CHOICE survey, even when it highlights some of the pitfalls of installing solar panels, we see it as a valuable tool that should both inform and instill confidence in any potential solar customer.
