Time and again, government’s spread taxpayer-funded sugar and then act surprised that it attracts crony-capitalist ants. At times, deadly ones: the Rudd government’s home-insulation scheme led directly to multiple apprentice deaths as unscrupulous cowboys rushed to get in on the grift. The trillions thrown at ‘Net Zero’ are having much the same effects.
A few years ago, the Climate Cult were ga-ga for a so-called ‘solar roads’ installed in Normandy. Innovative! The green future! Well, the last was true, but not in the way they wanted us to believe. In February this year, road crews spent weeks digging the whole thing up. That’s after sections were pulled up and replaced twice, in 2020 and 2021. At a cost of $5 million for just two-thirds of a mile, the road barely produced half its touted output in the first year – a year later, even that had halved. A year later, it halved again.
That’s far from the only harsh reality to hit flagship ‘renewables’ projects long after the activists and legacy media shills have moved on to the latest shiny ‘renewable’ bauble.
Up to 402 million tonnes of discarded solar panels are projected to accumulate globally by 2060, according to new research involving Adelaide University.
If you thought the government throwing taxpayer money at solar panels was bad, throwing even more at batteries is proving to be even worse.
Chris Bowen’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program has already bankrolled more than half a million systems. Thirty per cent off the top. What could possibly go wrong? Enter the solar cowboys, cheque books open and quality control left at the door.
Adrian Goodfellow thought a solar panel, battery and inverter system worth almost $30,000 would cut his electricity bills and transform the way he powered his home.
But almost five months after it was installed, the system remains switched off. He alleges the installation was botched, making it unsafe and leaving him with a hefty repair bill […]
Mr Goodfellow purchased the 41.94 kilowatt-hour battery system through Solar Power Nation, a high-profile retailer operating in five states and endorsed by celebrities including former cricket captain Michael Clarke, Olympians Kyle Chalmers and Sally Pearson, as well as current NRL and AFL players.
His out-of-pocket costs were $10,600, in part due to the federal government’s popular Cheaper Home Batteries Program, which covers about 30 per cent of the battery’s costs.
And now, half a year later, the whole lot sits switched off, unsafe, and still leaking money. Cracked concrete slab papered over with silicone. Panels on the wrong bit of roof. Battery not even level. An independent review called the work substandard and flagged immediate safety concerns. The Building Commission NSW has so far been about as useful as a solar panel in a coal mine.
And there’s half a million more where that came from.
More than 500,000 batteries have been installed under the federal scheme since it began midway through last year.
But in December, the government announced changes to the rebates, reducing the discounts for larger battery systems.
This created a surge in demand and put pressure on retailers and installers to complete jobs quickly.
Can somebody give me a ‘perverse incentive’?
Hundreds of complaints have flooded regulators in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. More than 240 in NSW alone since 2024. Unfinished jobs. Ghosting. Deposits taken for systems that never arrived. Another customer, Amin Khorram in Brisbane, waited eight months for a second inverter he had already paid for. Only when a tribunal hearing loomed did it magically appear.
The company was kicked out of the voluntary New Energy Tech Consumer Code after six upheld breaches covering everything from dodgy contracts to safety standards. Clean Energy Council CEO Jackie Trad called it ‘significant failures’, which is a bit of pot-kettle syndrome, frankly.
Meanwhile the corporate shell game continues. The original company sold the name and assets for a pittance, then went bust leaving more than six million in debts. The liquidator is eyeing possible insolvent trading claims. Solar Power Nation insists the unhappy customers are mere outliers and points to its Google star rating. Of course it does.
“The government rebates are paid independent of the quality of the outcomes,” [Goodfellow] said.
And there’s the problem: The sugar is spread, the ants swarm and the taxpayer and the householder are left cleaning up the mess years later. This is the inevitable product of policy that prioritises volume of installations over whether the things actually work, last or can be safely connected to a house.
“I think there’s heaps of disasters hanging on people’s walls and we won’t know the full extent until two or three years down the track.”
Well, at least they haven’t killed any apprentices, this time. Not yet.
