SigEnergy reckons they’ve grabbed 30% of Australia’s home battery market. From basically nothing just over a year ago, that’s pretty bloody impressive.
Can’t say I’m shocked though. I made a video about their gear when it first came out. Thought the SigEnergy stack of battery, inverter, EV charger all rolled into one tidy package was damn clever – fast, flexible, and the fastest, easiest commissioning I’ve ever seen. Nobody paid me to say that (I don’t take manufacturer money), but I was genuinely impressed. Apparently, that video catapulted their sales.
Good on them. Happy to see them doing well.
But when something gets this hot, the comment sections tend to get a bit spicy too.
Mark Cavanagh from MC Electrical – mate of mine and one of the most respected blokes in the industry – posted a thoughtful video raising some concerns about the product. Technical stuff. Measured. Reasonable. You’d think a company on the rise would welcome that kind of feedback.
Instead? Mark got roasted.
A few days later, Glen Morris (another smart, thoughtful guy) posted a video defending the system. That’s fair enough. But some of the online reaction was anything but fair. Comment after comment attacking Mark’s credibility. Accusing him of making stuff up. Of shilling for Fronius. Of having some hidden agenda.
It Isn’t Easy Calling Out Big Brands
Let’s be clear: this is completely backwards.
Mark doesn’t criticise competing products because he sells Fronius. He sells Fronius because after 15 years and hundreds of installs, that’s the gear he trusts. He’s a free agent. Family business. His name’s on the door. He’s not going to hand his kids a company built on kit he has misgivings about.
He’s also one of the bravest people in the solar industry. Most people have no idea what he went through when he called out SolarEdge years ago. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty (and IMO SolarEdge should be ashamed) – but it helped push the whole industry forward.
And I get this too. Any time I raise concerns, someone pipes up with: “You only say that because you run a solar website!” No. It’s the other way round. I run a solar website because I’ve always said this stuff.1
I am impressed with what SigEnergy has accomplished in Australia in a short space of time, but I’ll continue to view them and any brand through a skeptical lens.
No Company Is Above Criticism
The point is: admiration is fine. But don’t turn it into worship. No brand – no matter how smart or shiny – is above criticism. Especially when they’re flogging $7,000 EV chargers. That’s expensive no matter how fast they are. So’s a Bugatti.
This industry doesn’t need more influencers. It needs qualified sceptics. Practitioners. People willing to say “hang on” and ask the annoying questions before things go sideways.
SigEnergy’s rise is impressive. Their product is changing the industry. They secured a podium finish in both the best battery and best EV charger categories for our Installer’s Choice Awards. Their fans are enthusiastic. I’m enthusiastic.
But if it’s as good as they say, it’ll hold up just fine under scrutiny.
So let’s welcome the praise, and the pushback. That’s how real trust gets built, and how this industry ends up with the best gear possible.
Footnotes
- Disclosure: Ran a solar website! ↩
About Finn Peacock
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Fanatical fanboys seem to be a thing these days. They do not take kindly to finding out their emperor may not quite be wearing as many clothes as they thought…
Thank you Fin for a thoughtful and level headed article. Too many times people use forums and social media to hand out unqualified criticisms and personal attacks and it is not surprising that many are based on self interest or personal bias.
I have followed Solar Quotes for several years and out of all sites offering recommendations, I find this the most reliable to get information for my solar journey.
Thanks once again
Excellent points Finn. And thank you for your dedication and that of Solar Quotes for helping us sort out the wheat from the chaff over the years.
“So let’s welcome the praise, and the pushback.” Agreed so long as it is not “influenced” by sellers of the product or the competitors. That is what is needed to improve the products and the industry generally and to get better value for purchasers.
Re Sigenergy, they have certainly risen to fame (and fortune) very quickly and with what seems to be a very good product. And I am one of the many who is seriously considering a purchase of additional solar and a well sized Sigenergy battery this FY – assisted by my three quotes from Solar Choice of course.
However, the true test of any complex product is how it performs and is supported in the market over time. And that is why I have a Fronius inverter and had an SMA one in my previous house, both will quality panels. In the long run it’s worth it.
I had started to notice negative comments about Mark in a few FB groups, often accompanied by anti Fronius stuff.
Great to see someone prepared to call this garbage out and support Mark.
Online is a mess now when it comes to reviews and commentary one might try to sift through either out of interest or due diligence for a purchase.
You have Mark, going as far as using his time to run comparative trials, Product Review happily allowing some businesses to have almost 100% AI generated reviews and “solar installers” who insist that only installers commentary on products is valid.
The response by Aiko to Mark’s testing and reviews was very similar to that of Sigenery.
As I have mentioned before, I have serious doubts about the validity or value of publishing ratings based on the input of installers. Is profit a significant factor in some of the responses you are getting? Profit, not just being highest margins but least time spent and no technical challenges to install.
We’ve seen a long line of “solar flavours of the time” — each hyped as the next breakthrough, but most failing when tested in the real world:
Vertical turbines – look impressive, but low output and poor real-world performance kill their viability.
Micro wind – high maintenance and low payoff. Good for brochures, useless on rooftops.
Thin films – flexible and neat in theory, but inefficient and easily outclassed by silicon panels.
Enphase – great microinverter innovation, but costs remain high, limiting adoption.
SolarEdge – smart string inverters dominate commercial installs, but residential users face rising costs and repeated inverter failures — ironically, the optimizers hold up better than the inverters themselves.
Very well said. I too have concerns with, not the tech which is excellent, its the build quality and conformance to build standards. It might be covered by a warranty but I rather not have to use it. I want a robust set and forget setup for 10 yrs ie life of system. Some have raised concerns about what they have seen in the factory and while installing and the fine print on the warranty. As a consumer this is what I want to know not hyped up advertising.
Manufacturers welcome feedback and are keen to improve their products. Many offer factory tours and hands-on access so people like Mark can form an informed view. But that feedback should be delivered constructively, and never made public without giving a right of reply. That’s basic fairness. Otherwise it’s not accountability, it’s an ambush.
Mark’s attack videos don’t just hit the brands. They hurt hundreds of honest businesses who install a product they back who now have to manage nervous customers and cancelled orders. By all means, raise the alarm if something’s genuinely unsafe. But share the detailed data, and give the people involved a fair shot at explaining their side. Give them the opportunity to rectify. And if they don’t, then call it out (respectfully)
If no company is above criticism, why should Mark be excluded? And if he has such a long-standing relationship with Fronius, how can we expect his take to be truly unbiased?
Excellent words Finn yes we do need all reviews bad or great it as you say we need both sides of a story to make our own minds up on a product.
Well said Finn!! I am a fan of Sigenergy. So much so I am buying one. But while Mark had a couple of small misunderstandings in his video which he acknowledged, pretty much all his concerns were totally understandable. Especially when under Australia Consumer Law his company is fully responsible for the warranty if a brand new company goes away.
If anything, it is Glenn’s videos I thought were totally unfair (especially his 1st 2 on the subject). Smug and condescending videos pretty much attaching Mark and diminishing his credentials. At the same time descending into fanboy territory. It was the sort of unbalanced stuff I would expect from a salesman. Especially as he did not acknowledge where he gets his money from being paid by companies like Sigenergy, either directly in cold hard cash, or with products to review. And in those videos even made strongly misleading statements incorrectly implying that he paid for them himself.
Keep up the good work Mark.
I remember 17 years ago, everyone started switching to an iPhone or 7 years ago people started switching to a Model 3. People did buy lots of Tesla PW 1 and 2 but the market has gone mainstream and Sigenergy ecosystem makes sense. The old saying good, cheap, fast is applied here to a Sigenergy system. People buy it because of the above values and there are no better alternatives on the market.
However, I have to point out the price you mentioned for the Sigenergy charging system is DC. I don’t believe anyone else have this option yet. I’ve got their AC EV charger which is around $1200.