Training powers up
A CHRONIC shortage of trained solar panel technicians has led a Gold Coast company to start its own training operation.
According to solar supplier One Power director James Strathdee the industry was facing a nationwide shortage of trained installers.
“Electricians can do an accredited solar panel installation course but they don’t come out with the practical knowledge of how to do the job,” he said. “They come out knowing the rules and regulations around doing the job.”
This, combined with 2018 seeing a huge upswing in the number of homes having solar panels installed, led Mr Strathdee and his team to develop an in-house training program to address the shortage. It was a move which has enabled the business to raise industry standards, grow its team and their reach.
“Nationwide the industry is really struggling to find trained technicians,” he said.
“It got to the point where we just needed to do our own training.”
He said the scheme was training one person a month and, to keep up with demand within the industry, would expand to five people a month next year.
“For people like us who need bulk amounts of installation work done we found the only answer was to train people ourselves and make sure these people were capable of doing the job.
“We’re looking to expand to supply other businesses in the industry because there’s a real gap at the moment.”
He said last year the company was doing about 40 installations a week, with an average of 24 panels a job.
The initiative is just one of many for the rapidly growing company, which has changed from Chinese panels to high quality Italian-made panels.
Mr Strathdee said Australia’s solar industry was begging for an alternative to the Chinese-made panels that are installed on the majority of homes across the country.
“We don’t have a lot of other options inside of Australia to supply panels that don’t come from China,” he said.
The Italian-made panels are being imported exclusively by Brisbane-based One Stop Warehouse, with the first three containers due to dock in Australia around the start of November.
The manufacturer – Peimar – has specialised in the design, research and manufacturing of high-quality solar panels in Brescia, Italy since 2007, and offers the longest warranties in the world.
One Power supports a team of 29 from its base at Miami, while Elite Installations employs 17 full-time office and road staff.