Solar Victoria Runs Misleading Ads They Wouldn’t Accept From Installers

If there is one thing I hate, it’s dodgy solar installers who mislead the public with deceptive advertising and fake deals.  It harms customers who are just looking for decent quality solar and it hurts honest installers by damaging the reputation of the entire industry.  It really gets my goat, and I am extremely protective of my goat. 

But when a state government engages in misleading ads it’s fine and I don’t mind at all. 

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No… wait a minute!  It’s actually worse!  I can try to avoid dodgy companies and if I do get burned I’m free to have nothing to do with them in the future.  I’m also protected by consumer law.  But governments have a monopoly on the whole governing thing.  If your government is dodgy you can’t decide to go with another government you found in the Yellow Pages.  You can’t get on the phone and go:

“Changhua County, Taiwan?  Hi.  My state government isn’t very good.  They’ve been putting stuff up on the internet which is stupid and misleading.  Also, we’ve got some COVID and we’re not very happy about that.  Could you do our governing for us?  Thanks.”

So which state government has got me all riled up and has my goat concerned for its safety?  Why it’s the Victorian Government of course!  Other state governments can be dumb and Territory governments can be crazy, but only Victoria sends shivers down my spine when they try to help people.  This is on account of the thoughtless way they drove perfectly good solar installers out of business through a horribly implemented scheme meant to benefit the industry. 

What Have Solar Victoria Done Now?

Victoria has decided to encourage rooftop solar power.  When they first started they really screwed it up, but I’m not going to go into that now.  Instead, I’ll keep my grief and bitterness over what they did bottled up deep inside.  Then, late tonight after the moon has set, I’ll rip open my chest, pull out my heart, and wring out a full cup of vinegar.  All I’ll say for now is things are better than what they were. 

Solar Victoria¹ currently has two incentives² to encourage people to get rooftop solar panels: 

• A solar subsidy equal to half the cost of a system up to a maximum of $1,850.  
• An interest-free loan equal to the subsidy amount that is repaid over 4 years.  

This means that homeowners and landlords who meet the requirements can save up to $1,850 on the cost of a solar system they put on a rental property and get an interest free loan of $1,850. 

I am going to restate what this means in a very simple way and it’s going to seem like I am belabouring the point, but I feel as though I have to put it very simply to get it through Solar Victoria’s virtual skull.

If a homeowner gets the maximum subsidy of $1,850 and the $1,850 interest-free loan, then what they will have to pay upfront will be reduced by $3,700.  They will have to pay back the $1,850 loan over the next 4 years, but they won’t have to pay back the $1,850 subsidy.  This means they will have saved $1,850 off the total cost.  They will not have saved $3,700 because half of that is a loan that has to be repaid. 

This is pretty straight forward and most people are able to understand it. 

Even I get it and I was educated in Wonwoomba.³  But it must be too hard for Solar Victoria, because this is what they put up on the internet for all to see:

A “potential upfront saving of up to $3,700” is definitely not what’s on offer.  The maximum saving is $1,850.  What Solar Victoria has written above is misleading and stinks for the following reasons:

1. People are not going to save up to $3,700 on a system.  They are going to save a maximum of $1,850 because the rest is a loan that has to be repaid.  If money has to be repaid it’s not a saving. 
2. Calling it an “upfront saving” does not make this okay.  That would mean people would immediately save $3,700 and not have to pay any back.
3. For some reason, Solar Victoria is trying to rope in more people in with misleading information.  This is nuts because you don’t need to use a rope when you’re giving money away.   

Unfortunately, the above image was not a one-off mistake caused by overindulging in the Friday afternoon cocktails all Australian public servants are issued.  (Or was that only at my primary school in Wonwoomba?).   Evidence that Solar Victoria don’t math or finance good is all over their Facebook pages:

This Is A Serious Problem

You might think I’m making a mountain out of a molehill…

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…but this is serious stuff.  While we’re used to politicians doing idiotic things ranging from eating a raw onion to swimming down a shark’s gullet, we expect the enforcers of the rules to act with the utmost integrity and there’s no excuse for what Solar Victoria has done.  

Solar Victoria is giving away free money for solar panels and providing interest-free loans.  They have nothing to gain from fooling people into accepting free money.  All they are going to do is disappoint the people who will find out they can only save a maximum of $1,850 off a solar power system, and potentially cause real problems for those who make the mistake of taking a government organization at their word.

Many Victorian homeowners — and especially landlords — were born overseas and have English as a second language.  This creates a communication barrier that Solar Victoria is making worse by their choice of language.  I’m sure they’re not intending to discriminate against non-native speakers, but it is the result.  Trust me on this, I know what I am talking about.  My own father speaks English as a second language and he once said to me…

“The other day I got up in the middle of the night and made some sausage rolls.  They were all the same length except some were longer than others.”

When I started laughing at him, he got mad and said…

“You think I’m stupid, don’t you?  You think I’m a stupid Dutchman who knows fucking nothing, but the truth is I know fuck all!”

Solar Victoria Insists On Standards They Don’t Adhere To

Their conduct is made all the more galling by the fact installers permitted to make use of the state’s solar subsidies are prohibited from using this kind of misleading language by a code of conduct Solar Victoria doesn’t appear to follow.

Solar Victoria insists installers must be members of the Clean Energy Council Approved Retailer scheme and they are all required to follow the Approved Solar Retailer Code of Conduct.  The most relevant part is 2.1.1, sections (a) and (f): 

I find it unacceptable that they’re not doing (a) for their own state scheme, while on top of that they are also being (f)ing misleading.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/solar-victoria-misleading-ads/