Energy Matters
Leading Light
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-By John Boley
Energy Matters is a leading supplier and installer of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. It’s a young company and was formed after three friends sat around a kitchen table. One was working in solar energy, another was working with computers/websites and the other was in banking/finance. They were all unhappy with their current jobs and hopeful their combined strengths would lead them to something better.
As CEO Jeremy Rich confirms, that has happened in no uncertain way. Especially since solar energy is now becoming extremely cost effective. “We are close to hitting parity,” he says. Many of the experts have already been convinced by the growing bank of evidence in the form of cost equations, and the more conservative, slower-moving pragmatic people who have been sitting on the fence and saying they know ‘this kind of technology will save me money but when?’, they just need assurances. “They are about to jump off, but they need just a little more confidence to get them across the line. The savings are clearly there to be had, it’s just a matter of making it simple and taking them on the journey.”
In fact, according to a statement made in September by the Australian Photovoltaic Association, the drop in cost of producing power from solar panels has made solar power competitive with coal-generated grid power. Solar power generated by PV cells has become so cheap and efficient that they now produce electricity for the same price that is charged by the electricity grid, the APA figures show, making Australia one of the first countries in the world where solar has achieved grid parity.
Despite controversy over feed-in tariffs, which have been blamed for Australia’s rapidly rising electricity costs, rooftop solar PV installations are now able to generate electricity at or below the cost of grid power, rendering solar competitive with coal even without subsidies, according to Photovoltaic Association spokesman Dr Muriel Watt. “It’s competitive with coal if you add what you need to do to bring the coal-fired electricity to where you want to use it,” she said. “So it’s coal plus the network. I think it’s a really good investment and that’s just looking at it from the price of electricity now.”
Energy Matters advises on what system would best suit a particular location and installs PV, and also manufactures “Sunlock” brand railing systems on which to place PV cell arrays, making it a complete system available to homes and businesses.
Jeremy says the company can focus on both commercial and domestic sectors and their different requirements because it has set up separate divisions to deal with each. However, “retail homeowners pay the highest price for electricity so they are the ones for whom the equation has become most starkly clear.” Business clients, he says, are paying less for their electricity so traditionally domestic has been the market. Now that solar prices are coming down dramatically and electricity prices “are rising like a rocket, the commercial sector is also now becoming a very attractive market where everyone is able to get savings by putting on solar. It’s starting to take off.”
As far as the cost equation is concerned, there is a balance to be struck, says Jeremy, between rising electricity costs and reducing incentives and subsidies, as well as the reducing cost of the solar PV installations themselves. “It’s a triangle, so to speak. And very dynamic.” But he is convinced “there has never been a better time to buy solar in terms of return on investment and costs, so even though subsidies have been reduced, everything is working in solar’s favour at the moment.”
If required, Energy Matters can supply a mix of different renewables. But at the moment solar is providing the best savings for consumers and wind is only accessible in certain locations – farmers for example could have wind power installations, or facilities located in remote areas. “But it’s not as big a market to go at as solar PV. We find today that with the turbines we are using, solar is far more attractive.” That is partly because Energy Matters is not concerned with power transmission. “We are not doing the large utility scale solar farms, we are only doing the distributed solar applications. We do distributed power systems. So we put the power where the energy is required,” (as opposed to transmitting the power as in most wind applications or mini-grids). Jeremy says the company prefers to take advantage of the absence of line losses and “give people the opportunity to generate their own power instead of buying it from someone else.”
At present, “we find that most consumers are better off with solar. That’s where solar PV efficiencies have taken us in the last couple of years.”
In this highly dynamic marketplace, economics of scale have been achieved and competition within the market is driving down margins. The rapid growth is fuelled by these two factors together with rapidly evolving technology which is fast increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic panels and cells.
Energy Matters markets brands such as Sanyo and REC, which is a top Norwegian solar panel manufacturer, “probably our biggest seller at the moment. Number two rated panel of the year for performance by a leading industry magazine that does real-world testing.” Sometimes, says Jeremy, data in spec sheets gives only part of the story; “you don’t know the whole story until you put the panel on the roof and actually begin to generate electricity from it. That’s the best way to test a panel.”
Energy Matters can deal with consumers and businesses nationwide. It maintains a procurement office in Tianjin with a business partner, “so we have a base in China which is key in sourcing products.”
Energy Matters also works closely with Aegis Global. According to Virginia Streit, Energy Matters’ public relations manager, “we have a great business relationship with them, we work very closely with Aegis to ensure we have the best staff in our sales team and are able to provide them with all the tools and training they require to give our customers the best service.”
For consumers seeing such rapid growth, is now the time to jump, or should they wait for the next breakthrough? “With solar, you will be saving money today. Most consumers cannot afford to wait, they need to mitigate the effects of rising prices, they can’t afford to keep on getting a higher bill every quarter so they are forced to put solar on today and save money.” It’s a complex equation – maybe the cost would come down further in a year’s time but Jeremy argues that you would have missed the savings of the year you waited.
“Would you prefer to start saving money today or wait a year and start saving money? Most people would prefer to start now!” Yes, it is possible to upgrade systems once installed. “They pay for themselves in a couple of years and you can update to newer technology as it comes along, if that’s the way you want to go.” Or you can keep on using the panels you have installed because the warranties on panels is a long one, typically 25 years, so there is no need to rush to replace.
In a commercial setting, the company is working with some developers who are installing solar PV in new housing projects as part of a way to differentiate and provide greater sustainability – builders and developers is a growing market. Jeremy reminds that if you change more than 25 per cent of your home in Victoria “you have to put solar and/or a water tank on”, so that is an extra driver – and a mandatory requirement.
So what does the future hold for Energy Matters? “We want to keep on putting across the good consumer experience, and getting businesses to keep on rolling out the technology and homeowners to continue to tell their friends about the experiences they have with solar. We always pride ourselves on having a top customer experience and getting word of mouth to grow the business.”
The company also uses the internet to maximum advantage, and its website receives around 200,000 unique visitors a month. Energy Matters has been recognised among Australia’s most progressive organisations, winning the 2011 Australian Business Awards in the categories of e-Business and Recommended Employer. Commenting on the win, Energy Matters’ general manager of innovations, Max Sylvester, said: “This is a great honour for our company. When we started Energy Matters six years ago, we were told people wouldn’t buy solar panels and systems online. Now it’s a common practice.
“Energy Matters is striving to empower positive change in our nation by helping Australians install money-saving, clean, renewable energy systems for their homes and businesses. People can find all the information they need about going solar or generate an instant solar quote at any hour of the day through our web site at www.energymatters.com.au, and they can join Australia’s solar revolution from the comfort and convenience of their own homes with a few mouse clicks. Going solar is becoming increasingly simple thanks to the internet, and we’re continually innovating to make it even more so.”
Self-sufficiency has already been achieved by Energy Matters and Jeremy suggests “we are seen as industry experts.” Turnover for this year should be “over 120 million dollars,” but the market for solar is very dynamic and fast growing “so in five years time there is no reason why it could not be ten times that size as solar begins to make a real impact in energy generation globally and in Australia especially as a low cost clean energy source. The market is going to be huge and we hope that we can take a good piece of that, given our technical capability and customer service.”
