Solar panels are safe

Solar panels are safe, says industry

The solar industry says NSW householders shouldn't panic after an audit found almost 20 per cent of panels in Sydney's northwest had major defects.

The Australian Solar Energy Society says the faults won't cause house fires or electrocutions and can hopefully be fixed for free in a few minutes.

Society chief executive John Grimes says most defects identified by the Fair Trading audit relate to DC breaker switches which have unclear markings.

They are used by electricians to isolate panels during maintenance.

"They're not something that a customer would ever be using," Mr Grimes told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

"These are not issues that are going to cause house fires or electrocutions today."

Mr Grimes said all of the faults, including the incorrect installation of DC breakers allowing water to enter the box, could be easily fixed.

"They are one, two, three minute fixes on the property," he said.

"Our intention is to provide that as a free service."
The audit found there were just two fuse-box fires reported across NSW. Mr Grimes said that compared with 35 house fires caused by halogen down-lights annually.

Nevertheless, the society chief admitted the audit results were "troubling" and proved better industry regulation was needed.

"It's time for us to transition the accreditation and policing of the industry to the electrical licensing authorities in each state and territory," Mr Grimes said, noting they had real "teeth".

He agreed with Premier Barry O'Farrell that the design of the NSW solar rebate scheme was to blame for the high rate of defects.

"There was a government-designed system that created haste," he said.

This is not exactly what the AFR reported on page 3 of todays by Marcuss Priest & Michaela Whitbourn. It is all in the way that it is reported. You have to ask the question when you read what the media reports the news.