Solar Matters Reviews

A man named SAM ABDOU operating as Solar Matters was used to upgrade our system at Clifton Springs vic 3222 in August 2018 from 3kw of panels to the inverters capacity of 5kw. The original system was installed in 2012 by a firm called CEC HOPPER based in Hamilton using a Growatt Sungold 5kw inverter and 16 Nice Sun 190w panels. The system operated fine for 6 years. We believe Solar Matters was not the best choice for us for upgrade as it was a Melbourne single person operator who normally does small jobs but we chose him because he took the time to come and look at our system in person on a Sunday at the time and assured if we needed any maintenance in the future he would be available to come from Melb. Although he did a good job he actually sublet the work to another solar installer who we do not know the name of and both they and he were here for the installation. We believe he may no longer be in business as he does not show on web sites, we only have a name SAM ABDOU and phone number 0419367866 and address of 1/239 Koroit Creek Rd Williamstown on the STC assignment form which was filled out by one of the sublet persons (there were 3 of them). It would have been better to have used a local Geelong area installer close to where we live Clifton Springs on the Bellarine Peninsula. There was an issue when summer came after the upgrade in August 2018, the system was only generating slightly more than the original 3kw of panels. When i contacted the installer Solar Matters it took a long time to convince him he needed to come and check the system, he made excuses trying to avoid traveling here i assume because he was in Melb and it was a long way for him to come and check but he had assured us before accepting him that he would be available for future maintenance. After i became more aggressive in speaking to him he agreed to come and look. He contacted the installer whom he sublet to and both parties attended although separate time. Sam of Solar Matters came first and discovered they had not switched on a set of panels. who exactly failed to turn them on we do not know. Sam did not contact the other sublet persons to inform them the issue was fixed and they turned up later the same day and were not impressed they had not been informed. The system worked fine after the other set of panels were switched on and no issues for 2 years after the upgrade but then original inverter failed and was out of warranty. We engaged a local solar business to look at it and he determined the inverter was "cooked" and replaced it with a Goodwe. The only issue with that is they did not give us a choice to choose an inverter and few days after installed i discovered it was not battery capable should we have chosen to have a battery added later.We would have to purchase a Goodwe SBP series controller to enable a battery to be added which is almost as much as a inverter. We would not do that now as we have not found solar to be cost effective. It has cost us total of $12522 since 2012 and we have only recovered approx $5000 in solar tariffs, had we been on the premium tariff it would have been worth it, a battery would cost upwards of another $10000 plus totaling outlay of $22522, that would pay for a very lot of electricity, at our ages 72 - 77 not worth paying out anymore.