Peter is the Managing Director of Proven Energy, a private company established in 2012, which specialises in Solar Energy. The word Proven comes from Pete’s desire when he started the business to help inform people that solar was not a new and untested solution. He’s passionate about helping home and business owners transition into renewable energy. Peter is a self-confessed nature lover and believes that he can make a more tangible difference by building a company than on his own. He is 31 and would like to start a family in the next few years, so the future of the world is an issue close to his heart.
Read more about Peter and Proven Energy below.
Can you tell us more about Proven Energy?
Proven Energy works hard to produce solutions in the solar sector that focus on helping customers reach long term sustainability. We achieve this through very stringent quality control and training processes and having a team culture where everyone is proud to be making a real difference.
Why is Proven Energy taking climate action?
Some people have a resounding voice, some have amazing abilities to rally people together to make a stand. Proven Energy shows how a private company can provide good jobs, turn a safe profit and provide a trusted solution that makes an actual difference. If we don’t provide jobs and profit, then it is not sustainable.
Every customer that chooses Proven Energy, chooses solar power that helps the climate in the most sustainable way possible.
Most of the Proven team is young and have young families, and there’s a strong team culture around making a difference through sustainable energy. All our staff want to be able to say they’re giving their best for the customers and for the planet!
Can you tell us about your commitments to climate action?
We consider ourselves high achievers considering our small resource pool. We have installed the biggest solar system roof spaces allow on our own building, and we also provide heavily discounted solar systems to our staff. We have worked hard to develop different ways to bring solar to more home and business owners including developing our own ground-mounted system suitable for highly reactive farmland soils in Southern Queensland.
We have very efficient recycling and upcycling processes in place. Our packaging is 95% reused or recycled and we recycle our copper and aluminium spares as well as bottles, paper, cardboard and plastic.
We take the time to educate our clients on the carbon impact of the different products available on the market, so they can make informed decisions to spend their money on sustainably produced quality products that will last a long, long time.
One of the biggest actions we as a company believe we can take is to ensure we sell products that help instead of harm the environment. In maturing markets such as solar, it is too easy to sell poorly made products for a massive profit and close up shop when the warranty claims begin. That does not help customers, or the environment. We work hard to do the opposite; good components, tiny warranty claim percentages, and happy clients who save money and the environment. We build a passion in our clients for solar and sustainability.
Is there a project you are working on that you are excited about?
We have been working hard for a few years to bring to market a way of getting solar on rental properties, both commercial and residential. There are many energy users in this space frustrated by the fact they cannot justify spending money on a system on a rooftop they don’t own.
We have invested considerable resources since the beginning of 2018 into several experimental projects around this very idea, and we’re looking forward to taking the next steps in this area.
What real-world opportunities have you uncovered from taking climate action today?
We have become known in the industry as a quality-driven company who cares about renewables. This has led to some great opportunities, including a recent installation of 40kw of solar in the Queensland Energy Museum at Highfields Pioneer Village, with an integrated display showing the savings the museum is making in real time, and telling the history of solar energy. The installation was undertaken thanks to a Community Grant from Heritage Bank.
What climate action would you like to see Australia take?
- Lasting policy commitment. A guarantee that just as the government has supported coal-fired energy for the last 100 years, they’ll then throw the same support behind renewable energy. We need simple tangible recognition that renewables are the most important part of the energy mix, and are here to stay, to maintain and to invest in.
- Provision of further R&D incentives for renewable companies that have lasted the test of time, so that deserving companies have the chance to make a real difference in the renewable space.
- On a global scale, our Government needs to lobby for further research worldwide and become part of climate change reforms on more than just a national level.