Solar Sidekicks Podcast

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) ,...

🎙️ S2, Ep22 — Live from All-Energy with Nigel Morris: Batteries, Booths & Banter We caught up with Nigel Morris live at All-Energy on the GoodWe stand, and wow — this one’s packed. Batteries are booming, booths are blinging, and Nigel’s new role as Chief Strategy Officer at the Smart Energy Council is keeping him flat out (and off the Catch Power tools). We talk VPPs, recycled silver, CER audi...

🎙️ S2E21 – George Auchterlonie: REST Energy Recorded at the SolarQuotes Awards , on the eve of All Energy officially kicking off, this episode dives into the story of George Auchterlonie — firefighter, solar installer,  founder of Rest Energy in Hobart & of course The Tassie Solar Man. Pat and Lauren sit down with George to talk about life before solar, going from the tools to running a busine...

No guest? No worries. In this jam-packed episode, Pat and Lauren catch up on all the wild weather, long days, solo installs, and industry shake-ups that have defined the past few weeks. The big topic: Aldi Solar. Yep — Aldi has entered the solar game with its own branded inverter and battery systems, plus a tie-in with Bunnings. Pat and Lauren break down what this means for quality, pricing, and t...

Batteries, VPPs & the Future of Home Electrification This week on Solar Sidekicks , we're deep-diving into the world of virtual power plants (VPPs), dynamic energy systems, and home electrification with Tom Gay , Sales Manager at Origin Energy . Recorded in the heart of Melbourne at Origin HQ, Pat and Lauren sit down with Tom to unpack how battery storage, VPPs, and evolving consumer habi...

S2E18 – Flipping the Mic: The Untold Story of Pat Southwell In the most-requested episode of Solar Sidekicks yet, Lauren flips the mic and interviews her co-host Pat Southwell — and it’s an absolute belter. From dropping out of school and working in a Kmart warehouse at 15, to becoming a licensed electrical inspector, CEC insider, solar trainer, and respected industry voice — Pat gets real about t...

It’s our 50th! Pat and Lauren welcome Ben Wright (Solar Victoria) for a practical, no-spin tour of what’s working—and what’s not—in Victoria’s residential solar and battery programs. We dig into current audit data (80% compliant; unsafe <0.1%), the drop in audit rates thanks to quality lifts, and the #1 battery defect: labeling . We also cover heat-pump rebates (up to $1,400 incl. local-manufac...