12.3kW Solar + 27.1kWh Battery in Coopers Plains, Brisbane

“We installed a 27.12kWh Sigenergy system and a 5.8 kW solar panel expansion to our existing array. The only word I can use to describe Connect Energy is perfect.

In summary, they’re prompt, responsive, knowledgeable, and respectful. Exceptional, really.

We were due to go with another provider when an issue arose, so I had to scramble to find alternatives. Brett, the owner, got in to see us before anyone else — literally 18 hours after I requested the visit, he was at our house. He even called to tell me he was going to be 3 minutes late because of the rail crossing!

When he arrived, he didn’t waste any time trying to sell me more than I wanted — he listened to what I was thinking, inspected the site, immediately decided a few things differently to our original contractor based on the environmental conditions (such as the fact that putting the gateway outside would put it in 6-9 hours of direct sunlight). In particular, he didn’t even blink when I mentioned I wanted the hot water system connected to the smart port — this was the sticking point with our previous contractor.

During the inspection, two other things really stood out to me:

First, they run almost two dozen solar panels on their office roof to test effectiveness. This told me I wasn’t dealing with a retailer — they were actually tradespeople in this space. (This has a second benefit: you’re not paying for a retailer and a contractor, you’re just going with a local tradesperson who does the lot).

Second, he showed me a photo of the entire team and a colleague they work with. They give second hand equipment (from solar panels upgrades, for example, which would otherwise be trashed) which still have use. He deploys them to communities in Africa, providing communities with power for water filtration and pumps and the like. That stuck with me more than the technical side of things — coordinating with someone to repurpose our waste to support entire communities elsewhere in the world is just a smart thing to do.

So, I was very pleased by this point. But I’d forgotten to ask about a surge protection device, since we didn’t have one. Our original contractor had simply nodded and gladly added it to our quote.

Brett didn’t — instead, he checked and advised that one was built into the gateway. He didn’t take the easy cash when he could have.

He’d come out on the Friday, and we had the quote on Saturday. I accepted the proposal within the hour! I had expected a comparable price to what I already had, maybe more since it was a local business.

They came in under. Better price + the work I wanted (actually, better panels and more of them) + a local, competent team + some corporate social responsibility? Yes please!

I’m happy to report that they did not disappoint.

When they came to install the system, the entire team was amazing — efficient, courteous, respectful to my elderly, non-English speaking parents. Brett was with the team all day working alongside them, much to my surprise. The install was done within about 6 hours from arrival, and he walked me through the app. We initially had some issues connecting to wifi, so he just threw in a cellular dongle even though it eventually worked.

The system works flawlessly, the house is self sustaining even on cloudy days. The only downside was how guilty I felt taking two weeks to write this review!

Connect Energy is worth more than the price they’ll quote you, frankly. I reached out to them initially because they’re a gold Sigen installer, and a well established company also (you know the horror stories about short-lived companies with appealing prices…)

So, if you need something? Go with them. This is the level of professionalism, expertise, and service you should expect and receive anywhere for anything. Truly brilliant.”