Since making the move to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, business is booming for Chris Burchill from Go Elite Electrical as the region’s solar industry gathers pace, writes Gavin Dennett.
After 17 years working in the electrical trade in Sydney, Chris Burchill upped sticks and relocated to the Sunshine Coast, where he established Go Elite Electrical. Since making the move to southeast Queensland five years ago, he has established himself as one of the region’s premier solar installers, capitalising on the rapidly growing sector in an area that’s home to plenty of sunshine.
As Go Elite Electrical has expanded so too has its reputation for quality as the business has shifted from residential work to increasingly lucrative commercial solar installations.
How was business when you first moved to the Sunshine Coast?
I started with a dual cab ute with a canopy on the back and worked on my own for the first year. I thought it would be good to do a Certificate II in air-conditioning. I did a lot of aircons which put me on my feet. I then put on an apprentice and got my solar ticket. From there, it was lots of installs and subcontracting to other companies, including helping them out with fault finding. Over time, we moved more towards solar because that is our main money maker and is better for project work. I’ve been here for about five years now.
The Sunshine Coast is a good place to be a solar installer.
There are more solar installers on the Sunshine Coast than any other area of Australia. The uptake of solar here is rapid. I guess there’s good sun and good PV outcomes from it compared to guys further south.
Have you now progressed beyond subcontracting work?
The past two years we stopped doing subcontracting work and do our own, other than the large commercial stuff we do for a national company, all 100kW jobs. In the past year, we have gotten into batteries and a lot of hybrid systems.
Do you ever do jobs beyond your patch on the Sunshine Coast?
We did a couple of projects in Cairns where we flew guys up there. We put in our price for it and beat the local guys, which included travel, accommodation and a living away from home allowance. But we got there and realised with the heat and humidity, you can’t work in the middle of the day, it rains periodically, and it is generally extreme conditions. But we are open to work across the state as those commercial jobs are great. All the extra protections are supplied for you; we get cranes lifting panels onto roofs, and a lot of the logistics are done for us. However, we are busy enough at home that we don’t actually need to travel for those jobs.
Do you enjoy focusing on commercial jobs?
Two years ago, I had three cars on the road with no commercial work, just direct-to-client stuff. Some days, each car would go to three different jobs so that’s nine clients to organise gear for, nine invoices, plus any troubleshooting work. I was on the tools during the day and at night I was doing paperwork until the early hours of the morning. Something had to change.
What are some of your biggest commercial jobs?
There was a 150kW dairy; there’s been a few 100kW jobs, including a couple of office building rooftops and a watersports complex; 55kW at a supermarket; and heaps of 40kW jobs. We have just finished a job on a huge house, putting in a $130,000, 200kW system, with 35kW of rooftop solar, two 15kW Fronius inverters, three 8kW Selectronic inverters, and 50kW of Red Earth “Troppo” lithium batteries. Not many people are doing systems like this. It may be a residential property, but it’s got a cinema, plant room, 60kW ducted aircon and heated pool pumps.
Are you looking to get more into batteries and electric vehicle charging solutions?
Sometimes we do a combo, such as at a commercial property where there will be 100kW of solar and a free EV charger. Those jobs we do through subcontracting with Australian Energy Analytics, who offer purchase price agreements. It is certainly good to stay up to date on all that accreditation with online courses through the Clean Energy Council to be able to do more of that work in the future.
