German supermarket ALDI opens up residential solar business in NSW, Victoria, ACT and Queensland

German low-cost retailer ALDI is expanding into the residential solar business, promising households a simple end-to-end installation and battery package it says could wipe thousands of dollars from power bills. The supermarket chain, which competes with giants Coles and Woolworths in groceries, is opening up sales of its packages in NSW, Victoria, the ACT and Queensland from Wednesday. The company’s package includes 15 Chinese-manufactured solar panels with a 5.5kW hybrid inverter. The package costs $6,999 with a 10kWh battery system and $8,499 with a 20kWh battery. ALDI group director Simon Padovani-Ginies said Aldi’s model would offer consumers a simpler experience and reduce complexity in the sector. “It’s consistent with our business model,” he told NewsWire this week. “If you shop with ALDI, you know what you’re going to get day in and day out. “It’s a simple shopping experience with less options, clean store layout and the best value in market. “And we’re making sure that we carry that through with our services and ALDI Solar is no different.” The company will partner with a separate company called Tempo to install the packages. Rooftop solar is booming in popularity across Australia. It allows households to generate their own energy and then sell surplus energy into the grid in exchange for a credit against their electricity bills. Mr Padovani-Ginies said ALDI had calculated an average household would recoup their investment in an ALDI package in three to four years. He also promised “transparent pricing” with no hidden fees or costs. “When we do a detailed quotation for the customer, they’ll know exactly what they’re in for from a cost perspective,” he said. For now, ALDI solar will be available to select metropolitan postcodes along the eastern seaboard, including Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra and Melbourne. The company had previously tested out its offering in the Melbourne market. “It’s our intention to find opportunities where there is a high level of complexity and uncertainty around costs,” Mr Padovani-Ginies said. “And if Aldi’s got an opportunity to use its scale and market influence to offer customers a simplified process and reduce costs and protect consumers from rising costs in future, we see that we’ve got a role to play there.” The solar products won’t be “bundled” with groceries, he confirmed. “They (loyalty programs) are very confusing for customers and they also add complexity and cost to businesses to operate them, to market them and to keep the proposition attractive,” he said. “Our business model is really just to develop a stand-alone solution and proposition, make it as compelling as it possibly can be and put it to market independent of any other criteria.” The sales kick off from Wednesday, with first installations expected to begin from November.