2. Terms and Conditions
  3. Solar Terms and Conditions

Innovate Energy - Solar Terms and Conditions

Interpretation

Words that are bold in this document have special meanings. Their special meanings are set out in the paragraphs below. We recommend consulting these definitions as you come across them in the sections below.

The Contract Documents (interpreted in the order of precedence set out in the Details) constitute the entire agreement between the parties and comes into effect upon Execution (the Contract).

This Contract contains the entire agreement between the parties concerning its subject matter. The Contract replaces any other agreement between the parties relating to the subject matter of the Contract.

Headings and explanatory text boxes in blue shading are for convenience only and do not form part of the Contract.

Any inconsistencies or ambiguities in the Contract Documents will be explained or resolved by the Retailer (acting reasonably).

A rule of construction does not apply to the disadvantage of a party because the party was responsible for the preparation of it.

Definitions

In the Contract:

Performance Obligations

This section describes your obligations, and ours, as we both perform the actions included in this contract. Doing your part will help us deliver your solar system smoothly and swiftly. This section also explains how the pricing may change.

Parties' Responsibilities

It is the Retailer's responsibility to arrange the delivery and installation of the Energy System Installation at the Property.

From the Start Date, the Owner must provide sufficient access to the Property to allow the Retailer to perform the Energy System Installation.

The Owner warrants that:

The Retailer will use all reasonable care during the performance of the Contract in regard to the roof and electrical systems of the Property. The Retailer is not liable for:

Operational maintenance of the Energy System Installation following Installation Completion.

Site Condition Pricing Adjustment and Other Additional Charges

Any site conditions and special circumstances beyond the control of the Retailer, including the following metering charges, are beyond the Retailer's control and may give rise to extra charges to be borne by the Owner:

The costs associated with these will give rise to a Variation to be administrated under clause 6.

New Energy Tech Consumer Code

NETCC Applies

The Retailer will comply with the New Energy Tech Consumer Code if bound by it.

Commitment to High Quality Products and Honouring Consumer Warranties

The Retailer:

The Contractual Warranty is additional to any other guarantee, warranty, or consumer right covered by the Australian Consumer Law and any applicable manufacturer's warranties.

Subcontracting and Supply Chain

The Retailer's warranties under this Contract are unaffected by any subcontracting and the Retailer is liable for all acts and omissions of its supply chain.

Safety

The Retailer (and its supply chain) must ensure that the Energy System Installation is carried out in a safe manner and in strict compliance with all applicable laws relating to workplace health and safety.

Complaints Handling

If the Owner has a complaint regarding any matter in relation to this Contract:

The Owner can make a complaint to the Retailer in the following ways: calling, emailing, or posting mail to the contact details listed on the quote;

The Retailer must, upon receipt of the complaint under clause 3.5(a):

Without limiting the above, the Retailer will, within 15 days of receiving any complaint under clause (a), provide to the Owner:

Privacy

The Retailer will comply with all relevant privacy legislation in relation to the Owner's personal information and, if the Owner has any questions in relation to privacy, the Retailer will promptly address these questions upon the Owner calling the Retailer on the telephone number in the Quote or giving the Retailer a Notice setting out its question.

Metering & Tariffs

The Owner acknowledges that new electricity tariff rates may be applied after the Energy System Installation is carried out. The Owner should contact their electricity retailer to check they are agreeable to the proposed tariff rates before the installation of the system.

Immediately following Installation Completion, the Retailer will provide all reasonable assistance to the Owner to:

Grid Connection Approval

Getting approval from your electricity network provider to export solar power to the grid is an important part of going solar. This section outlines our responsibilities, including you as an Owner. There are some approvals that you might need to apply for yourself, and others that we will do on your behalf.

Application on Owner Behalf

This clause 4.1 applies if the Details state that the Retailer will apply for Grid Connection Approval on the Owner's behalf.

The Retailer will:

If Grid Connection Approval is refused, then this Contract will terminate, and the Retailer will give the Owner a full refund under clause 8.1.

Direct Application

This clause 4.2 applies if the Details state that the Owner will apply for Grid Connection Approval directly.

The Owner will:

If the Owner complies with clause 4.2(b) and Grid Connection Approval is refused, the Owner may terminate the Contract and clause 8.1 will apply.

Approvals Generally

The Owner is responsible for obtaining all Approvals (other than grid connection if the Retailer has elected to be responsible, see Details Section) required for the performance of this Contract and must apply for these Approvals as soon as possible.

Payment

For performing its obligations under the Contract, the Retailer is entitled to be paid the Total Price Payable by the Owner.

On each Milestone Date, the Retailer may issue an invoice for the corresponding Milestone Amount (Payment Claim).

The due date for payment is 15 business days after receipt by the Owner of a Payment Claim.

Variations

General Variations

The Owner is entitled to direct the Retailer to increase, decrease, or change the Energy System Installation, the sequence in which the Energy System Installation is performed, or the materials or classes of work specified (Variation).

Any Variation must be valued by reference to the Schedule of Rates (if any), or, where there is no applicable schedule of prices or rates, by reasonable market prices and rates determined by the Retailer.

Once the adjustment to the Total Price Payable in relation to the Variation is agreed or determined:

Supply Chain Price Adjustment

To the extent permitted by law, at any time, if there is a material increase in the actual costs or out-of-pocket amounts incurred by the Retailer in performing the Energy System Installation (in whole or part):

If the Owner does not respond within 5 days as required under clause 6.2(a), the Owner is deemed to have issued a Price Increase Acceptance Notice.

Where a Price Increase Acceptance Notice is issued, the Total Price Payable will be increased by the amount set out in the Price Increase Notice.

Completion

Completion Process

When Installation Completion has been achieved, the Retailer shall notify the Owner to inspect the installation within 5 days of such notice.

Following the inspection:

Risk and Title

Risk and title in the components comprising the Energy System Installation shall pass to the Owner at 4pm on the date Installation Completion is reached.

Time for Installation Completion

The Owner shall extend the Date for Installation Completion where the Energy System Installation has been delayed in reaching Installation Completion as a result of:

Delays due to an Owner Breach shall entitle the Retailer to reasonable delay costs payable within 10 business days of invoicing.

Termination

Owner has Termination Rights

The Owner may terminate the Contract by Notice in writing to the Retailer where a Price Increase Termination Notice is issued under clause 6.2, in these circumstances:

Where termination occurs due to these reasons, the Retailer will provide the Owner a full refund of any amounts paid.

Retailer Termination Rights

If the Owner fails to pay a sum due under this Contract, the Retailer may, by written Notice, terminate the Contract effective from the time stated in the Notice, or if no such time is stated, at the time the Notice is given to the Owner.

Following termination under clause 8.2, the Retailer will be entitled to the amount for:

Notices

Notices may be sent by both the Owner and the Retailer. This section documents the procedure to follow.

A notice, consent, Approval, or other communication under the Contract (Notice) must be in writing and any direction given in writing must be signed by or on behalf of the person giving it, addressed to the party to whom it is to be given and:

A Notice is treated as having been received:

For the purpose of this clause 9, the address and email address of a party is the address specified in the Details or as most recently notified to the other party in writing.

Performance Relief

This section describes our future liability in circumstances beyond our control.

The Retailer will not be liable in relation to the Contractual Warranty where the fault or defect in the Energy System Installation:

STCs and other Government Certificates

Small-scale technology certificates are a government incentive which allow for the creation of a tradeable commodity.

Under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, eligible small-scale renewable energy systems may be entitled to small-scale technology certificates (STC). The price of STCs is not fixed and may move up or down.

Similarly, under NSW's Peak Demand Reduction Scheme, eligible devices that help with reducing peak demand may be entitled to peak reduction certificates (PRC). The price of PRCs is not fixed and may fluctuate.

In order to provide you a cheaper system price, we take ownership of the generated STCs and PRCs. This section describes how we do that.

The Retailer has calculated the performance expectations for the Solar Installation System and the Property in accordance with the New Energy Tech Consumer Code Quotation Guidelines.

The Owner:

The Retailer has calculated the STC Incentive based on:

The Owner acknowledges and agrees that the Retailer has:

The Owner acknowledges and agrees that the Retailer has:

The Owner agrees that if the Owner breaches clause 11(b), the Retailer will be entitled to increase the Total Price Payable to the System Price. The System Price will be payable within 10 business days of the Retailer invoicing the Owner for it.

Miscellaneous

Any consideration payable or to be provided for a supply made under or in connection with the Contract, unless specifically described in the Contract as "GST inclusive," does not include any amount on account of GST. If GST is payable on any supply made under or in connection with the Contract (not being a supply for which the consideration is specifically described as "GST inclusive"), the recipient of the supply must pay to the supplier an additional amount equal to the GST payable on the supply (GST Amount). The GST Amount is payable at the same time as the GST exclusive consideration is paid or provided, subject to the supplier issuing the recipient with a tax invoice for the supply to which the payment relates.

The Contract is governed by, and in reference to, the law in force in the State or Territory where the Property is located.

This Contract may be executed in any number of counterparts. All counterparts together will be taken to constitute one instrument.

Subject to clause 6, no amendment or variation of the Contract is valid or binding on a party unless made in writing and executed by both parties.

No waiver of a breach of any provision of this Contract constitutes a waiver of any other breach or any other provision.

Neither party will be responsible to the other for consequential loss.

Termination of the Contract does not extinguish or otherwise affect a right of either party against the other which accrued prior to the time of termination or expiry, nor does it affect or terminate clause(s) 1(c), 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.

Schedule 1 — Special Conditions

Additional Terms and Conditions:

  1. All invoices issued by Innovate Energy (IE) are due and payable 7 days from the date of invoice.
  2. Deposit amount to be paid to IE in the event of cancellation of solar installation after the 10-day cooling off period.
  3. If grid connection is refused or the system is export limited (outside of Retailer and Owner's control) and contract termination is sought by the Owner, the deposit amount paid will be retained. If no deposit was paid (due to finance, etc.), a deposit of 10% will be required to terminate the contract, outside of the 10-day cooling off period.
  4. Metering upgrade/update requests will not be submitted to the Owner's energy retailer until the total amount payable to IE is paid in full by the Owner. On receipt of payment, a metering application will be submitted to the energy retailer of the system Owner.
  5. The solar system as described on page 4 (which at times may cover page 5 and 6 too) must be installed within 60 days of the date of signature on the original contract. If this cannot occur, variations to price, system design, and product availability may be applicable.
  6. Any modifications to your solar system or battery additions performed by another company after IE has installed your system will not be covered under any of our workmanship warranties or guarantees provided by IE when the system was purchased through IE.
  7. WIFI: Loss of WIFI connection reasons including, but not limited to, a change of WIFI password, new modem or change of internet providers, or no WIFI on the day of install are not covered under any warranties/guarantees provided by IE and additional fees will apply for this.
  8. Government STC/ESC rebates require a signature from the homeowner for every installation – this is required and needs to be completed by the due date of your final invoice for your solar system; otherwise, you may be held liable for the full cost of the system including the STC rebate.
  9. If the system is to be installed on any material roof (e.g. tile, tin, etc.), IE will not be held liable for pre-existing damage or issues with the roof and roof material; especially in the event the roofing system has been installed without sarking. Pre-existing issues will not be warranted by IE.
  10. Monitoring WIFI connection is subject to WIFI availability, strength, and suitability. WIFI may not be connected if issues occur on the network side including, but not limited to, firewalls, distance, shifting IP, or Starlink.
  11. Produced Solar Energy will only offset loads used on the same tariff (e.g. general tariff). Solar is unable to be consumed by loads including, but not limited to, control loads or existing gross metering.
  12. A Special Orders Deposit of 50% will be required on installations of non-stocked items, including but not limited to panel upgrades, batteries, anodised rail, and solar accessories. Refunds of job cancellation after materials have been ordered will incur a loss of 10% of the special orders deposit plus any restocking fees from the supplier.

NSW Battery Rebate Specific Terms:

  1. 10% of the total cost of installation of a stocked battery deposit is required to lock in current pricing and installation date. Your battery will be assigned to your installation at that stage.
  2. If rebate forms are not signed, you (the client) will be charged the equivalent of the PRC values on top of the quoted price.
  3. Cancellation of your installation will require a $500 administration fee as well as any restocking fees and delivery costs incurred.

Battery Installations:

  1. If IE is not provided with an energy bill of the address where the battery is to be installed, IE is unable to complete the calculations required to determine estimated capacity requirements and will not be liable if a system does not perform to its full capacity.
  2. Based on the energy bills provided, the maximum battery size recommendations by IE calculations will be applied to the lowest solar exported energy bill(s). IE will not be liable if the energy bill(s) provided is not representative of the long-time average energy usage/export.