Australian PV manufacturer Tindo Solar has taken steps to fill a “working capital gap” affecting the Australian rooftop industry, joining forces with finance company Moula Pay to offer interest- and repayment-free bulk panel purchases.
Tindo, which is Australia’s only fully domestic panel maker, last year ramped up its offerings to the local market in answer to panel shortages caused by a global supply crunch. It has since shifted operations to a new and bigger factory, able to produce up to 150MW of solar panels each year.
But as supply chain bottlenecks start to ease, Tindo is seeing a new problem emerge for the local industry, where retailers and installers are struggling to meet overhead costs to secure enough solar panel stocks to keep the money coming in.
Tindo hopes that a partnership with Moula Pay can help break this vicious circle by offering its more than 1,000 solar customers the option to buy up to $250,000 of panels for up to three months interest- and repayment-free.
“It can be hard for our customers because the industry is so competitive that they must have stock at-hand for their installations, or customers can easily go elsewhere,” says Tindo CEO Shayne Jaenisch.
“And to secure their stock, they have to buy it. Holding just 100 panels can cost around $25,000 – if they’ve got a lot of work, they’ll have 500 panels ready to go.
“There’s a working-capital gap in this industry and the business owners don’t necessarily want to put their family home up as security.
“Moula have come into the industry with a great finance solution. We get paid immediately and release the stock, and our customer has up to three months interest-free terms.
“Moula are the experts in this kind of lending – they stay close to the borrower which allows the facility to be unsecured. We expect a lot of our customers to use the finance.”
Moula founder and CEO Aris Allegos says his company is keen to enable the uptake of solar, while in the process supporting the customers of an Australian manufacturer.
“Accessing working capital and payment solutions for resellers is a key enabler to accelerating the industry toward [a greener future],’’ Allegos said.
Tindo Solar employs 50 people at its new $11 million factory at Mawson Lakes, in South Australia, where it makes a 405W rooftop panel for residential and commercial use, and a 550W utility-scale panel for larger projects.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
