Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.

The Australian solar industry has witnessed significant growths as the cost of solar seem
to have fallen sharply in the recent years while growths in consumer demands for solar energy
being reported. The 21 st century is about cultivating a “greener” environment, as global warming
threatens the survival of humans. It is for this and many other reasons that alternative sources of
energy such as solar energy is a phenomenon lately being embraced as it promises to bring a
healthier planet, lifestyle, and the environment. Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.The Australian market is one of the most unique markets in the world as majority of them are predominantly small-scale due to government
policy that favors such systems (Solar Business Services, 2014).

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For this reason, a company such as Tindo Solar has heavily invested in this market. Energy Vibe Inc is one of the most successful
renewable energy companies in Australia. Tindo Solar is rated as one of Australia’s best
manufactures of solar panels. Recently, the firm has installed more than 7,000 PV solar systems
in many areas across Australia. The firm has also gone ahead and provided LED lighting and
solar hot water solutions to homes and businesses. Infinity Solar boasts of an impressive track
record having installed systems in Airports, Universities, Hospitals and other large organizations
across Australia (Schneider Electric, 2014). Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.
Tindo Solar Company operates in a market typical of retail and service industry
predominantly made up of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are capable of servicing a
diverse range of consumers. Even though some market concentration is lately being witnessed,
the industry operating solar consumers is a highly fragmented sector consisting of more than
3,800 businesses as of 2013. It is important to note that Energy Vibe Inc operates in an era where
strong state based incentives such as feed-in tariffs are in place hence encouraging the
fragmentation of the solar industry (Schneider Electric, 2014). Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.

According to a report by Solar Business Services (2014), the Australian solar industry
comprises of a diverse range of businesses including installers, retailers, manufactures, project
development specialists and wholesalers among others. Additionally, there is organic flow on
effect meant to support industries such as consultants, marketers, engineers, administrative
support and creators of environmental certificates among others. For instance, an analysis of the
last decade shows dramatic increases in the number of installers, marketers, and engineers.
Tindo Solar operates in a market where sunshine is not a problem. Australia has a lot of
sunshine. Naturally, this aspect boosts its solar energy potential. Some individuals refer to it as
the “Sunshine State” due to high amounts of solar radiations that the country experiences.
Moreover, Australia has one of the best-looking electricity prices in the world. Such attractive or
impressive retail prices, especially to solar installers, seem to have attracted companies such as
Infinity Solar. Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.
It is argued that the Australian solar market is likely to grow in 2015 with estimates
indicating that the solar market may exceed the results of previous years. Infinity Solar operates
in a market where rooftops systems sizes are bound to increase. Like many other service sectors
across Australia, the solar industry is a SME industry operated by thousands of firms aimed at
providing energy solutions to millions of citizens across Australia (Power Generation Industry
Profile, 2015).
Summary of the marketing environment (both micro and macro-environmental forces
and trends)
Every business entity is a part of the business environment, within which it operates. No
business entity can carry out its operations in isolation since there are many factors that either distantly or closely surrounds the business, commonly known as business environment. They are
divided into two categories of micro and macro environment. The former tend to affect the
operations of a given business only and are more of internal in nature, while the latter affects the
functioning of the entire business entity and are external in nature. Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.
Macro Analysis of Australian solar industry
The Australian solar industry is affected by such forces. Critical analysis macro
environmental forces indicate that Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental,
and Legal (PESTLE) forces are some of the aspects that affect such a sector. On political
grounds, directives by the Australian government in 2010 on the need to implement renewable
energy bonus schemes as means of reducing carbon emissions affected the operations of most
solar companies such Tindo Solar. Such a directive allowed consumers to consider the usage of
renewable energy hence affecting operations of such companies (Phillips, 2016).
Economically, the GDP in Australia demonstrates a growth annual rate of 0.90%.
According to Commodity Prices Index, the prices of coal, ore, and crude oil has increased by
3.2% on a monthly basis in the country. Such strengthen consumer confidence and investors to
invest in renewable energy products (Shafiullah, 2016).
On social grounds, changes in social cycle are impacting the demand and supply of solar
products in Australia. Current populations of the country are increasing significantly hence
impacting the industry greatly. Technologically, the rapid changes in IT are inevitable. With
increase in awareness on matters to do with sunlight and energy, solar based products have
become necessary products in many households across the country hence affecting the solar
industry (Shafiullah, 2016). Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.

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On environmental grounds, climate changes are happening at faster rates and majority of
industries seem affected by temperature changes. This has opened opportunities for
environmentally friendly products to penetrate the market hence heavy investment in solar
energy. Lastly, on legal grounds, Australia has legislations that govern the policies on promoting
energy. Such legislations provide guidelines and codes of conduct on renewable energy on
safety, licensing and tariffs among others. Such trends affect the country’s solar industry (Power
Generation Industry Profile, 2015).
Micro Analysis of Australian solar industry
Competition for the provision of solar energy is prevalent in Australia. A company such
as Tindo Solar faces competition from other established firms such as Arta Pty Ltd, Energy
Matters Pty Ltd, and Nu Energy Pty Ltd among others (Power Generation Industry Profile,
2015). Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.
Target market is another micro-environmental factor that affects the solar industry.
Australia has targeted more than 45 terawatt-hours of electricity by 2020. The products are
expected to be customized to meet customers’ demands. This is a challenge that makes solar
companies to concentrate more on individual customers and satisfy them. In addition,
stakeholders made of employees, board of directors, employees, customers, governments and
suppliers are some of the factors that may impact the growth and success of Tindo Solar and
other companies hence the need to ensure that relationships between these parties are kept
healthy (Power Generation Industry Profile, 2015).
Australia’s energy sector is bound to face some trends in the near future. The arrival of
battery storage, wind energy, and micro-grids among others is bound to affect the solar industry.Such changes will see the rollout of rooftop solar cut by half hence affecting majority of solar
energy manufacturing firms in Australia (Schneider Electric, 2014).

Detailed description of how the market is (or may be) segmented and a statement of the
segment(s) that Tindo Solar is targeting.
According to Ma et al., (2016), Australia’s solar energy market can be segmented based
on organic and inorganic PV. This market can further be segmented on the basis of component
which may include thin film PV cells, modules, crystalline silicon PV cells, trackers and optics.
Additionally, the market or industry can further be segmented on technological grounds which
includes aspects such as mono-Si, thin film, ribbon-Si, and multi-Si. It is argued that on grounds
of technology, the majority of installations will remain in U.S and Spain even though other
sunny countries such as those found in Africa, Asia Pacific, and Middle East will soon follow. Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.
Based on technologies, dominant designs will be the parabolic trough then followed by solar
tower model and together, they are estimated that they will have a market share of 80% (Power
Generation Industry Profile, 2015).

Other scholars have argued that the solar market may be segmented by technology into
photovoltaics segment and a concentrated solar thermal segment. The photovoltaics segment is
however a niche market. However, with lower capital costs per kW and reduced costs of storage,
the market is bound to realize growths both in revenues and generation capacity. On the other
hand, just like the photovoltaics segment, the concentrated solar thermal segment is still low but
steadily rising as a significant number of installations are already under construction or in the
pipeline with market forecasts expected to reach 25GW by 2020 (Ma, Polyakov and Pandit,
2016). Normally, when individuals talk about market segmentation, four aspects namely,
geographic, demographic, psychological, and economic segmentation comes into mind. The four
aspects have been used by companies for long to segment or divide a given market into groups
with similar or distinct characteristics so that serving them may be easier. Geographically, Tindo
solar company seem to well spread to the extent of covering customers in Adelaide, Brisbane,
Canberra, Perth, Sydney, Darwin, Hobart, and Melbourne. Their offices can be found in almost
all areas across Australia (Power Generation Industry Profile, 2015). Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.

Demographically, the firm has targeted customers based mainly on income levels and
sizes. Micro businesses, small businesses, medium-sized, and large businesses have been
targeted by the firm with solar panels installed in business entities and homes based on people’s
incomes and other preferences. Tindo Solar has also keeps psychographic segmentation at the
back of their minds with psychological aspects of consumer buying behaviour being factored in.
Some customers or business entities prefer installations based on their interest and lifestyle hence
the need for the company to consider this aspect (Solar Business Services, 2014).

Customer behaviour on uptake of solar energy in Australia

For the better part of the past century, Australia has witnessed the dominant paradigm of
electricity demand and supply sector being a technology-push versus consumer demand-pull for
this type of technology. This aspect has somehow defined traditional market participants in the
country. However, in the recent years, better and more informed customers are rapidly taking
into consideration social and environmental impacts of certain products and services. In addition,
resulting government policies advocating for better and healthier economic, social, and environmental sustainability has influenced peoples decisions and behaviours while making
majority of them to adopt renewable energy (De Vries, Aarts and Midden, 2011). Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.

Since 2008, there has been a surge in the uptake of solar PV in Australia. Consumer
attitudes are rapidly changing in nearly all the segments identified above. Research focussing on
consumer uptake of solar PV and other forms of renewable energy indicated that policy
mechanism used by the Australian government influenced and changed consumer behaviour
significantly. For instance, an evaluation of the Australian Government Photovoltaic Rebate
Program (PVRP) concluded that the program was environmentally ineffective and consisted of
equity issues in addition to being economically costly (Gadenne, Sharma, Kerr, and Smith,
2011). For this reason, the government and other stakeholders in the country championed for a
number of policies and social learning that saw a change in attitudes and consumer behaviour
hence the surge in the adoption of such a technology. Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.

Gadenne et al, (2011) argue that media reports indicate that more than a million
households have been fitted with solar panels with such figures expected to rise in the near
future. Australians have been quietly but rapidly embracing solar energy. In a few years, more
than 190,000 households in Perth will have installed solar panels on their rooftops. Customer
behaviours in the country are changing rapidly as more homes prefer clean and renewable energy
such as solar power. In addition, businesses are switching to renewable energy with estimates
showing that more than 2.4 million business units will have installed solar panels by 2030. In
short, customer behaviour in Australia is changing with majority of them rushing to embrace
solar technology. Previously undertaken research clearly demonstrates that matters to do with
environmental concerns have sharply spurred an interest in environmentally friendly
consumption. Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper. Nevertheless, consumers seem to be evaluating environmental attributes after price
and quality (Faiers, Cook and Neame, 2007). Progressing towards sustainability is pushing
majority of consumers into adopting greener solutions. As consumers become more aware of
climate change and environmental catastrophes, majority of them change or re-evaluate their
behaviours and consumption patterns to the extent of adopting the use of ecologically friendly
products such as solar technology. It is for this reason that customers in a number of segments
identified above seem to have changed their behaviours with majority of them preferring the use
of renewable solar energy (De Vries et al, 2011).

Marketing mix of Tindo Solar

The combination product feature, price, place, and promotion are known as the marketing
mix. When all these are listed companies can get a fair idea as to how they can strategize their
businesses. To establish itself as one of the most successful companies in solar business, Tindo
Solar uses a number of marketing mix to target customers in the aforementioned segments
(Constantinides, 2006). Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.

Product

Depending on customers’ needs, there are a number of solar cells that Solar PV uses.
Mainly, the company uses crystalline and thin-film solar cells with detailed information provided
on transformers, panels, batteries, inverters and other necessary equipments the company
manufactures. This enhances quality of Tindo Solar’s PV cells in addition to reliability which customers look into prior to making purchases. The firm captures product attributes and
reliability aspects (Schneider Electric, 2014).

Price

Price is one of the many inhibiting factors in the growing solar market. However, various
price mechanism policies by state and local government have made it possible for customers to
make purchases. When it comes to Tindo, the firm has ensured that every state in Australia has a
different pricing policy with the primary goal being able to promote green energy among
customers.Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper. To do so, Tindo Solar employs tax exemptions and reducing other duties that could
be incurred by customers (Schneider Electric, 2014).

Place

Solar PV has ensured that channels through which its solar panels are sold are healthy.
Building strong supplier networks with developers, suppliers, and installers has been critical in
keeping up with the increasing demand. At Tindo, there are efficient developers who are directly
involved in selling and distribution with a goal of ensuring that customers access services in an
easier way without much delays (Constantinides, 2006).

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Promotion

To target customers in the above segments, Tindo Solar is anticipating the use of certain
promotional strategies. For instance, there is a lot of personal selling and direct marketing taking
place now. Tindo Solar uses promotional strategies and other forms of communications to favourably present solar in the marketplace hence building a stronger market for technologies
(Constantinides, 2006). Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.

Recommendations for improvements to Tindo Solar marketing efforts
Tindo Solar Panel Company is one of the best solar companies in Australia. It has a huge
market share and boasting of impressive returns over the years. However, the company needs to
do more in order to maintain a competitive edge while continuing to satisfy their customers.
Some of the most effective marketing strategies that Tindo Solar can employ are subsequently
highlighted below. Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.
First, the firm needs to study its demographics. The need to understand potential solar
prospects is one of the most important marketing strategies that firms in solar energy such as
Tindo should carry out. Tindo Solar should learn to learn to see their current lead on a heat map
that corresponds to their geography so that they can help in identifying niche markets and
potential neighborhoods with high target audience rather than just guessing. By so doing, the
firm can effectively lower acquisition costs while increasing marketing effort’s return on
investment (Solar Business Services, 2014).
Secondly, to improve its marketing efforts, Tindo Solar needs to create an effective
strategy. Renewable energy is proving to be one of the most desired and reliable sources of
energy today. Even though questions regarding the future of fossil fuel are prevalent, the
renewable energy market is expected to grow rather than diminish. If Tindo Solar can capture
such in their marketing strategies, the firm will be more successful in reaching their audience. In
addition, Tindo can work on offering discounts in winter months so that they act as attractions to
customers. Ultimately, according to Solar Business Services (2014), Tindo should work on manufacturing long-lasting products that will be able to serve customers for long. If the firm
tailors their marketing efforts towards such, it will have larger impact than a one-time discount.
Third, Tindo needs to power their marketing with historical data. A data-driven
marketing platform will be able to help the firm identify the attributes that highly correlate with a
prospect of becoming a customer. By identifying them among the company’s historical data, the
firm will be able to identify its leads more effectively. Additionally, the use of data-driven
marketing platforms can help Tindo Solar to identify whether any additional attributes to their
solar panels have any predictive value in the market (Solar Business Services, 2014). Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.

Conclusions
In a recap, the solar industry has lately captured the Australian market with the industry
been comprised of more than 3,800 businesses, predominantly small scale in nature and with
significant annual retail sales that contribute a lot to the Australian economy. Solar is important
to the Australian economy. Like a number of other service sectors in Australian economy, the
solar industry is a medium-sized industry that has managed to employ a lot of people. as the
world works on going “green”, the government and other stakeholders are also in the lead
championing for the adoption of “greener” energy solutions hence the adoption of renewable
solar technology as solar technology. Such initiatives have been so successful to the extent of
influencing purchasing decisions and customer behavior as more people in Australia install solar
panels as alternative energy sources. As the cost of solar goes down, majority of Australians are
now installing solar panels in their homes as an alternative to fossil fuels that destroy the
environment. Tindo Solar, an Australian owned company has capitalized on this area while
working hard to provide energy solutions to Australians despite rising energy costs. Australia’s Solar Industry Case Study Paper.

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