SolarQuotes And Consumer Group CHOICE Team Up On Solar

SolarQuotes and Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group, CHOICE, have partnered to provide Australian households with an easy way to discover the financial benefits of installing solar panels.

Founded in 1959 and originally named the Australian Consumers’ Association, CHOICE is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organisation that today boasts more than 160,000 members. Since its founding in 2009, SolarQuotes has facilitated more than 454,000 quotes, based on its network of pre-vetted companies.

Launched last week, the Solar Estimator tool helps Australians easily find out the approximate cost of a suitable solar power system, and their potential household electricity savings.

How It Works

The tool doesn’t collect any personally identifying information, just a postcode and household size. Based on that information, users can find out:

• Their household’s estimated annual electricity usage and potential savings.
• A recommended solar power system size to meet the typical energy needs of their household.
• How long it will take for the system to pay for itself, based on energy savings and feed-in tariffs.
• Their approximate system cost, including installation.

Users can then choose to supply more information and receive up to three competitive quotes for quality solar from local installers who are pre-vetted by SolarQuotes.

SolarQuotes has published 45,142 uncensored reviews of 2,117 Australian companies, submitted by customers of those businesses. Only a small percentage of the companies listed on the SolarQuotes website are part of the pre-vetted installer network.

SolarQuotes operates on the “grandmother rule” put in place by its founder, Finn Peacock.

“The rule is: if I wouldn’t recommend a solar installer to my grandmother, I won’t recommend them through SolarQuotes.”

Everyone’s A Winner

This collaboration provides significant benefits for all.

“This is a win-win-win-win situation for everyone,” says Finn. “Australians can benefit from gaining really valuable information very quickly and then quotes from reputable, thoroughly screened installers if they choose. Good installers get the opportunity of securing more business, CHOICE’s work is financially supported and, of course, SolarQuotes benefits too.”

CHOICE receives a payment when Australians using the tool then go on to request quotes via SolarQuotes. 100% of this money goes back into supporting the organisation’s important consumer advocacy work. CHOICE notes the association with SolarQuotes doesn’t influence its test results or recommendations.