Where did we come from?

 The Early Years

Si Clean Energy evolved from humble beginnings in 1989. In that year Peter Bulanyi, a former electronics technician with the Royal Australian Air Force, moved with his partner Lee and young family to a remote property near the town of Dorrigo in the mountains west of Coffs Harbour NSW. To generate an income, Peter opened an electronic repair service in Dorrigo tending to the local community’s broken electronic equipment.

All manner of equipment was eagerly repaired so as to eke out a living, feed the family and pay the bills. On the whole most of the repair work consisted of the typical domestic items such as TVs and videos, also some commercial items such as two way radios, but from the outlying remote areas there started to appear battery powered off grid inverters.

Meanwhile, the new family home was itself one such remote property located 30km from Dorrigo and 7km from the nearest electricity power pole. The only power on the property was a very unreliable diesel generator sitting in the dust barely a few meters away from the house. Subjected to noise, fumes, refuelling at the most inopportune times, a manual crank start and other difficulties, it didn’t take Peter long to seek a less troublesome source of electricity.

Going Solar

So by sheer necessity, the Bulanyi family was drawn towards solar power as a solution for their own home.

A sympathetic neighbour gave Peter the most basic of solar systems. This included a 42 Watt panel, a simple regulator, a 12 Volt battery and a single 12 Volt incandescent light globe.

Peter’s electronics knowledge soon had this rudimentary system enhanced to include more panels and a larger battery, more lights, and in a spirit of experimentation, improvements were made. An inverter was added to supply 240 volts for appliances. It wasn’t long before neighbours sought assistance with their systems, and a new business was born. Rectifying system faults for neighbours in conjunction with repairing inverters in the workshop then turned into supplying inverters and panels which turned into designing, supplying and installing complete off grid systems.

At that time (late eighties / early nineties) significant subsidies were available for off grid solar power systems and the industry surged forward. With a combination of regular repair work plus solar power work, it was possible to just make ends meet. Then as now, solar rebates fluctuated as governments struggled with how best to assist remote householders to switch from diesel to solar and simultaneously support the new solar power industry.

By the mid nineties all off grid rebates had ended and the infant solar industry hit hard times. Thankfully, by this time Peter’s inverter repair business had grown and was receiving a constant stream of repairs from all parts of Australia. The installation work all but dried up, but since so many inverters had been installed throughout Australia, there was sufficient incoming repair work to maintain a viable connection with the Clean Energy industry. By 1995 sufficient business, mostly inverter repairs, allowed Peter to focus all of his attention on Clean Energy.  A company name that properly described the activities it engaged in was needed. Since the business was active in both solar power systems and also inverter repairs, he chose and registered the name “Solar Inverter Services”. For ten years between 1995 and 2005 under the banner of Solar Inverter Services Peter personally repaired many thousands of off grid inverters and assisted system owners throughout Australia, and the Asia Pacific region with high level technical support. This unique and important service assisted many people to keep their expensive solar power system operational and continues to this day as an important part of the SI Clean Energy business.

A Paradigm Shift

Towards the late nineties there began to appear a new type of solar power system. It was for regular grid powered homes, not remote homes. It had no batteries and simply connected the solar panels directly to an inverter which connected directly to the grid. When the sun energised the panels, power flowed via the inverter into the house loads and any excess went back into the grid. Most unusual indeed, or so it appeared at the time. Why would anyone want to do that?

Initially these systems were very rare, just a novelty really, and the bulk of the work continued to be from off grid customers. By 2003 the Bulanyi family moved from the remote property back to “civilisation” in the coastal town of Sawtell NSW. The business followed the family, and with improved access to freight hubs, the internet and other services, Solar Inverters Services received a boost.

At that time, Peter detected a mood swing in the customer base. Aware of scientific literature since the early eighties referring to global warming and the potential for dramatic sea level rise, it was now apparent that the general public were becoming greatly interested in climate change and the means to prevent it.

All of a sudden the quotations we presented to supply and install solar power systems, including the new grid connect type, were being accepted by customers. This came as a great surprise when for the previous five or six years barely a single quote had been accepted. Rejection had been the norm, with solar power being seen as too expensive for too little return. The ground swell of public opinion now began shifting towards acceptance of solar power.  At that time around 2003, many adventurous and original individuals began to step forward and embrace solar power as a means to reduce their electricity consumption from the grid primarily with a view to reducing their carbon footprint.

Overcoming market barriers

Encouraged by this positive ground swell of public opinion, Peter, and his wife Lee made a decision to vertically integrate the company and in addition to the installation and servicing activities, they became an importer and wholesale distributor of Clean Energy products, in particular, grid connect inverters.

By 2005, many distribution agreements had been signed with carefully chosen manufacturers of the highest quality grid connect inverters, wind turbines and related Clean Energy equipment. The family property was heavily mortgaged, every available penny was put into the business, and the first large quantities of imported stock purchased. The business was incorporated and the name revised to Solar Inverters Pty Ltd.  The timing was fortunate indeed.

At first the new products introduced by Solar Inverters were not well received. Most people in the solar industry knew of Peter’s technical capabilities and that his choice of manufacturer to represent in Australia would be sound. The problem was that the solar power market at the time consisted of a very small number of manufacturers that were firmly entrenched. There was no desire to change from the known brands to the unknown ones.  In particular there was great reluctance to change to the latest transformerless inverter technology being offered by Solar Inverters even though it offered significantly improved efficiency.

It seemed that the market barrier was almost insurmountable.  Rejection was again commonplace.  However, Lee with her trained marketing background showed the way forward by taking the market barrier resistance head on. By displaying at every trade exhibition possible, literally out of the boot of the car and on a shoe string budget, by doing all of the advertising copy and graphics herself and through shear tenacity Lee gradually began wearing down the market barrier resistance, and progress was made. By utilising Peter’s expertise and ability to describe the technical advantages of the Solar Inverters product range, Lee carefully and strategically marketed the products in a positive and compelling way.

During the next few years, what was noticed as a curious small upswing by a very small family business in 2003 developed quickly into one of the most amazing uptakes of technology ever seen in Australia. Through hard work and persistence, the market barriers to the Solar Inverters range of products were completely overcome. By the end of 2010 Solar Inverters had supplied the Australian market with over 60MW of grid connect inverters in addition to many other Clean Energy products.

As well as quality products, a focus on always having the technical ability to support and service those products remains at the heart of the business strategy. Employing experienced PV engineers, electronics engineers, technicians and electricians gives us the knowledge and know-how to always stay at the forefront of technology, and offer a level of service and support unparalleled within Australia.

A bright future

In as little as five years after the original decision to vertically integrate, the business grew to become a multi-million dollar success employing over 50 people across Australia. As a reflection of our growing capabilities the business changed its name to Si Clean Energy in 2011 – as we broaden our horizons and look to new markets for the future. Today the business continues to pride itself on three key aspects:

1. Quality Products
2. Quality Engineering
3. Quality Services

The future looks bright for Si Clean Energy. What started out as a vision of the future for two forward thinking individuals has become a reality for the team that today calls itself Si Clean Energy. Passion for what we do, coupled with a wealth of experience in many diverse fields is what has led Si Clean Energy to take pride in our claim ‘Smart people, Impressive results’.