Solar Sidekicks Podcast

Pat and Lauren are back on the road, heading into Abbotsford to sit down with Nancy Sanjoto and Arlen East from EcoVantage — although Pat has a few early attempts at remembering exactly where they are and how to pronounce the company name, despite the rather large sign sitting next to him. Then it’s into the increasingly complicated world of rebates and certificate schemes. STCs, VEECs, ESCs, PRCs...

Pat and Lauren are back on schedule and back at Six Star Plus, this time joined by Meagan “Meggsy” Blackney — the Heat Pump Legend. Meggsy’s path into the industry is a good one. She went from eight years at Baby Bunting, to starting in accounts at Six Star Plus, to somehow finding herself right in the middle of the heat pump world — dealing with builders, plumbers, suppliers and plenty of tradie...

This week we’ve headed north to Castlemaine to sit down with Matt Wilson from Central Spark Victoria — and apparently Lauren thought activewear and shorts were appropriate for a chilly Central Victorian morning. Matt’s been around solar since the days of tiny BP panels, $8,000 rebates, Sharp 167s and smashing out two installs a day. We go right back through his apprenticeship on a questionable $7....

Pat & Loz are on the road again — this week recording from the brand new Jet Solar HQ on Wellington Road, Rowville. And yes, the signwriting is real. Jason Dickinson has been quietly running one of the best solar businesses in Melbourne for seven years, and this episode is a good insight into how he's done it. From driving forklifts in Dandenong at 18, to a residential apprenticeship, sub...

After a month off, Pat and Lauren are back for a proper Solar Sidekicks industry catch-up — and there’s plenty to talk about. First up, they wrap up the first year of the Southwell Solar Installer Nights , from the huge Melbourne opener through to a particularly loose finish in Southern Sydney. They talk about what they learnt travelling around the country, why installers are crying out for practi...

Pat & Loz are back in the studio — this time at the new Six Star Plus office in Dandenong South — and they're joined by Nicole Stegmann from Energy Matters. Nicole's got one of the more colourful backstories we've had on the show — from working at Foodstar (yes, the all-you-can-eat restaurant), teaching English in Japan, fielding conspiracy theory voicemails for the Department o...

Pat & Loz are back!!! After a bit of a break (Sydney, then life got busy), the mics are hot again — and we're kicking things off with a big one. This week on Solar Sidekicks, Pat and Loz are joined by Brendan Laidlaw from CEP Energy for a ripper chat covering everything from his early days as a "data fairy" apprentice and the wild TVS install era, through to smart metering, a fa...

Recorded at the Smart Energy Conference in Sydney, this episode features the brilliant Tiarna Hodge from iStore. Self-described as the industry’s Wednesday Addams, Tiarna takes us through a 14-year solar career that started as a receptionist at 17 and somehow led to becoming the person installers call when everything has gone sideways. From batteries and DNSPs to strange faults and stressed-out tr...

Recorded at the Smart Energy Conference in Sydney, this episode kicks off a full day of podcasting from the Solar Sidekicks booth. Pat and Lauren sit down with Kat and Richard from GreenSketch to chat about solar quoting, homeowner education, installer support, AI, and how the industry can make the sales and design process a whole lot smoother. We get into GreenSketch’s AI tool, Emily, which helps...

Recorded live at the Solar Cutters networking event in Sydney before Smart Energy Conference, this episode is absolute chaos from the very start. Pat can’t hear the intro music, Jo accidentally jumps on the mic and does the opening intro herself, and Lauren spends half the episode disappearing to chase down her lost luggage. What follows is completely loose. Unhinged conversations, industry banter...

S3E11 – Smart Energy Awards Finalists In this episode of Solar Sidekicks , Pat and Lauren are back on the podcast stage at the Smart Energy Conference in Sydney for a busy day one wrap-up. We kick things off with a quick chat with Australian wicketkeeper and GoodWe ambassador Alex Carey, talking cricket, climate, family, and why he has put his name behind renewable energy. Then we catch up with a...

Recorded live from the floor at Solar & Storage Live in Brisbane, this episode is all about the startups, new ideas, and people trying to push the solar industry forward. Pat and Lauren spend day two chatting with businesses working across EV charging, battery safety, thermal storage, installer support, recycling and smarter energy solutions. In this episode we speak with: TPower – commercial...

S3E9 – Live at Solar & Storage Live with Shane Bridges from OpenSolar Our first ever live stage podcast, recorded at Solar & Storage Live in Brisbane. Pat Southwell and Lauren O’Neill sit down with Shane Bridges from OpenSolar for a fun and honest chat about solar sales, proposal tools, installer support, batteries, ROI, and where the industry is heading next. Shane shares his very unexpec...

At Solar & Storage Live in Brisbane, Pat and Lauren are joined by Mark and Yorick from MC Electrical for a smart, funny and seriously informative chat about batteries, testing, factory visits and what really matters when choosing products in the solar game. From trips through China visiting major manufacturers, to real-world battery installs, round-trip efficiency, VPPs, firmware dramas and wh...

We’re on the road at Solar & Storage Live in Brisbane, recording live from the event and soaking up everything happening across the industry. In this episode, Pat and Loz sit down with Tony Flint from FranklinWH (you’ll hear it referred to as Franklin throughout), who shares his long journey through the electrical and solar industry and how he’s landed where he is today. They dive into Frankli...

In this special live episode from Solar & Storage Live in Brisbane , Pat and Lauren O’Neil hit the podcast booth  for a fun recap of the last few big weeks in solar. They look back on the first two Installer Nights in Melbourne and Wodonga, chat about the strong turnout, the technical sessions that really landed, and why the feedback has been so positive so far. They also touch on Lauren’s wed...

This week on Solar Sidekicks, Pat and Loz are joined by Ash and Teish from Percy Solar for a fun, honest chat about one of the biggest pain points in the industry — solar admin. They get into what Percy Solar actually does, why so many solar businesses get buried in paperwork, and how poor systems, slow processes and bad habits can hold installers back. There’s plenty of chat around outsourcing, o...

🎙️ 𝗦𝟯, 𝗘𝗽𝟯 — 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗪𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵, 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀 & 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘆𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 We’re joined by Shane Jurgenstein, Sales Manager at GoodWe, for a big conversation on batteries, booming demand, tech support, installer shortages — and yes… a press conference in his backyard. ⚡ The all-in-one ESA battery 📈 Battery growth and new installers entering the market 🧰 Firmware hiccups & making installs smoother 👷...

🎙️ S3, Ep2 — Battery Expectations & Industry Real Talk Ben Jones from Amber Electric jumps on the mic for a brutally honest chat about batteries, customer chaos, and what actually works when it comes to VPPs and virtual trading. We get into: – ⚡ Why battery installs are getting smarter — but still far from perfect – 🛠️ What happens when expectations aren’t managed (and who cops it) – 🔄 How A...

S3E1 — The EV Trade-Off Season 3 is here — and we’re kicking off with a wide-ranging chat with Michael Shaughnessy , who’s worked across the industry: from the roof, to the Clean Energy Council, to the EV Council. He’s been everywhere, and he doesn’t hold back. We talk: – 🚐 Why 2026 might be the year of the trade EV – ⚡ What tradies need to know about utes, hybrids, chargers and towing limits –...

🎙️ S2, Ep26 — 2025 Recap: Unfiltered It’s the final episode of Season 2 — and we’re going out with a bang. There’s laughs, recaps, corrections, and a huge announcement about something that’s been missing from the industry for way too long: a national event series with zero sales pitches and maximum value for sparkies, installers and anyone who wants to do things properly. Also in this ep: – 📉 A q...

🎙️ S2, Ep25 — Battery Rebate Shakeup It’s the second-last episode of the year, and things are well and truly cooked . We break down the big changes to the federal battery rebate (dropping from May 1), talk panic buying, dodgy installs, and why builders are about to cop it. We also cover: – 📉 Who’s set to lose out under the new rebate rules – ⚠️ A broken inspection regime, and what’s not being che...

🎙️ S2, Ep24: James Hazell  - Fronius This week, we’re recording at 7am in a mystery Melbourne Airbnb… with Fronius state manager James Hazell — who’s technically on holiday (sort of). We dig into the nerdy, the niche, and the new Fronius battery rollout. But first: competitive puzzle racing, Christmas trees, and the correct screwdriver for a Snap Inverter. James talks about: – His journey from ner...

The solar world lit up this week after SIG Energy issued a major product recall on its 8, 10, and 12kW single-phase inverters — and just 24 hours later, we hit record. From installer frustrations to industry-wide concern, Pat and Lauren sit down for an unfiltered, balanced chat about what’s really going on. With guest calls from James Taylor (Taylor Energy) , Nigel Morris (Smart Energy Council) ,...