Australia’s tiny pool of locally manufactured solar panels has shrunk significantly this week, with news that the entire module range of New South Wales-based outfit MSquare Energy has been de-listed by the Clean Energy Council.
In a notice sent out to members last week, the CEC said: “All PV modules of MSquare Energy Pty Ltd will be de-listed on 28 March 2022 due to breaches of the CEC Approved PV Modules Terms and Conditions.”
This was confirmed to One Step Off The Grid on Thursday, with the addendum that “the Clean Energy Council will not be offering further comment on this matter.” Which means we do not know, for now, what the breaches were that led to the de-listing.
The Clean Energy Council currently maintains a list of compliant solar photovoltaic (PV) modules that are approved for installation under the federal government’s Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES), for use by the Clean Energy Regulator and state electricity regulators.
According to the CEC wesbite, the equipment listed has “shown sufficient evidence that it meets the required safety standards for use within Australia. Evidence of compliance has been examined and verified by the Clean Energy Council.”
The CEC may de-list a product, however, where the terms and conditions of listing have not been satisfied or have been breached – as determined by its Product Listing Review Panel.
The Panel, which is an independent entity with industry and consumer representation, is also responsible for hearing appeals against decisions to de-list a product – which may be why it’s important not to go into details of the MSquare case just now.
One Step Off The Grid has sought comment from MSquare, including on whether an appeal to the decision would be made, but had not heard back in time for publication.
Whatever the circumstances of the de-listing, it is a disappointing development considering MSquare had positioned itself as one of just two companies currently producing Australian-made solar modules – the other being South Australia-based Tindo Solar.
According to the company’s website, and information previously supplied to One Step, MSquare considers itself to be “the largest Australian-made solar panel manufacturer” with a fully automated factory at Toongabbie in Sydney.
A Solar Choice article published in August of last year notes that MSquare started up in Australia in 2019, originally applying its name to a solar panel produced by a Chinese manufacturer.
In 2021, those China produced panels were de-listed from the CEC’s approved product list, paving the way for Msquare’s Australian-made 350W solar panel and future product lines, which have been certified as Australian-made and have been tested to IEC standards by TÜV.
In September of last year, Msquare told One Step its panels up to 445W were CEC approved to be sold and installed in Australia, and that it had also recently got CEC approval for its M10 modules up to 550W.
The company’s director, Manan Tailor, said it had been successfully exporting its panels to overseas markets including the US, while in Australia they were being distributed by MMEM Greentech.
Tailor also noted at the time that MSqaure had bought new land near Bathurst and had been in the process of setting up a new manufacturing facility in Kelso, to increase its manufacturing capacity from 300MW to 500MW.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
