LOOKING BACK LOOKING FORWARD
FRONIUS REFLECTS ON A DECADE OF OPERATIONS DOWNUNDER As Fronius Australia marks its tenth year in operation, the team reflects on some of the early challenges in Australia and looks forward to a bright future.
BELOW: Derek Butterworth from SAE Group took home the world’s only golden Primo, to be installed at the Living School, Northern Rivers, NSW, a new progressive co-learning school looking to develop a rapid solar charging station for the school’s future solar buses
40 WINTER 2020
FRONIUS HAS BEEN SELLING into the Australian market since 2000, officially opening the doors to its Australian subsidiary in Tullamarine, north of Melbourne in November 2010. Since then, Fronius inverters have been recognised for their quality, reliability and innovation. “When we first opened in Australia everyone was excited and relieved to have a local subsidiary,” recalled Solutions Manager, Rod Dewar, “Solar was going well, tariffs and rebates were high so it was a busy time. It was also challenging because while our IG products were optimal for the European market, the Australian market was facing some unique installation and climate challenges. “Without the subsidiary here for training and a general lack of industry experience at the time, many imported Fronius products over the previous decade were installed incorrectly. Additionally the market was moving towards transformerless inverters.”
Fronius responded in 2011 by releasing the IG TL. “It was very installer-friendly, easy to install with new, innovative communication features, and the 5kW version sold well. “But then there was a change in regulation ASNZS5033 that restricted voltage on residential roofs to 600 volts instead of 1000 V. That made that inverter extremely difficult to configure and was a major set-back for us.” Managing Director Keshia Noronho commented “Those challenging early years gave us the backbone we needed to be successful in the everchanging solar industry. I believe the success of Fronius Australia rests not only on having a great product, but also the value placed on great service and strong partnerships that was built up among the team in those early years.” With a new snap-in design and remote monitoring features, the release of the first Fronius SnapINverter in 2013, the Fronius Galvo, turned the tide for Fronius in Australia.
