Thousands of jobs at risk due to solar rule change
Official PDF Press Release is here.
Hundreds of solar businesses may be forced to close down impacting thousands of staff due to rule change on July 1st this year.
The Solar Energy Industries Association is calling on The Honourable Minister Chris Bowen to urgently intervene.
The proposed rule change will prevent some accredited solar storage specialists working alongside licensed electricians, changing a decades-old rule. Bizarrely, it will happen on the very same day that the new battery rebate is set to start with an expected 400% growth in the need for such tradespeople.
The rule change predominantly affects solar veterans who have been designing and installing solar storage technology under legacy accreditation without requiring AC electrical licenses, provided they partnered with an electrical contractor to sign off on a handful of aspects of their work.
For almost forty years, they have partnered with electrical contractors to meet the ever changing DC & AC electrical rules, and helped develop rules regulations and training programs.
Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) spokesperson Thomas Bywater said “Shutting down hundreds of specialist businesses just as the rebate starts and needs experienced professionals is ludicrous, especially as there is already a massive shortage in accredited installers with battery installation experience. It needlessly increases risks by using less experienced installers and could affect 2000 staff and
$300 million of business. It’s a threat to the success of the Government’s own battery roll out.”
Exasperating the issues, a large proportion of these solar businesses are in regional areas supporting communities with off grid solar storage for decades. Many even helped develop the accreditation, training and industry development programs that help regulate the industry.
“SEIA has been lobbying for more than twelve months to avoid this well-intentioned but misguided rule change,” said Bywater. “We call on Minister Bowen to immediately intervene and help us ensure the battery roll out includes our most experienced industry professionals”