Manufacturers’ Monthly spoke with Richard Petterson, CEO of Tindo, to learn more about his company’s journey in becoming Australia’s only solar panel manufacturer.
Tindo, an Adelaide-based company in South Australia, specialises in manufacturing high-quality solar panels for residential and commercial use.
Founded in 2010 by Adrian Ferraretto, the company was named after the Kaurna Aboriginal word for “sun.”
Currently, Tindo is Australia’s exclusive solar panel manufacturer.
“We’re privileged to currently be Australia’s only solar panel manufacturer,” said Tindo CEO, Richard Petterson.
Tindo’s unique position as the sole solar panel manufacturer in Australia is a result of its history of persevering through challenges posed by global competitors.
The technology used in most contemporary solar panels was developed in Australia, when a group Australian researchers pioneered solar photovoltaic technology, converting sunlight directly into electricity.
Martin Green and his team at UNSW invented the Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) in 1983, which now powers around 90 percent of global solar panels.
Despite the technology being developed in Australia, free trade has since hindered local production of panels due to cheaper imported products.
China strategically invested in solar manufacturing utilising this technology and now dominates the global supply, producing around 90 percent of the world’s solar panels.
“The solar industry’s development has been heavily subsidised by governments underpinning rapid growth,” Petterson said.
“There was 20 years of investment in China.”
Petterson said that Tindo has survived in the face of immense global competition due to its unique value proposition.
“Tindo remains successful because we focus on delivering a high-quality product with long-term performance,” he said.
Petterson explained that Tindo’s direct relationship with end-users contributed to the company’s success and survival.
“Our direct sales approach in South Australia has been crucial, allowing us to deeply understand customer needs,” he said.
This direct connection with customers has helped Tindo better understand it’s client’s needs and apply this knowledge effectively in their manufacturing process.
“We believe in understanding the end product and customer needs better and how they are applied. We don’t just make solar panels; we design solutions for people as well,” said Petterson.
Materials come first
While also grappling with the challenges of global competition, Tindo faced challenges in accessing the appropriate materials, particularly as the industry trended offshore.
“At Tindo Solar, we’ve confronted daily challenges, particularly in securing the right materials and adapting to offshore trends since our inception 15 years ago,” said Petterson.
“We must ensure that we source materials that meet our standards to create high-value, high-performing products.”
Quality control is crucial, not just during manufacturing but also throughout the supply chain.
Tindo also faced significant design challenges, such as identifying and addressing weak points and underperformance issues.
However, these early learnings allowed Tindo to ultimately improve its design and manufacturing processes.
“We faced design and performance hurdles, but these experiences shaped our rigorous quality standards and improved manufacturing processes today,” said Petterson.
“Quality control is paramount, both in production and throughout our supply chain. Training our workforce from scratch has been a continuous effort, given the lack of a local solar panel industry in Australia.”
Another key challenge is training their workforce. Since there’s very little industry in Australia, specifically for solar panel manufacturing, they must train their workers from scratch.
Making high-quality solar panels is a specific skill that can only be learned on the job with Tindo, through their training and hands-on experience.
“There aren’t similar industries to draw from. Making a high-quality, reliable panel requires very specific skills that can only be learned through hands-on experience and Tindo’s training,” said Petterson.
“Currently, we boast a strong engineering team, many of whom have been with the company for over 11 years.”
Petterson explained that their current workforce of 65 people could scale up to around 300 if they achieve their production goals.
The processes
By 2017, Tindo underwent a change in ownership, with Glenn Morelli assuming ownership.
Since then, Tindo has enhanced its manufacturing capabilities with a state-of-the-art facility, pioneering advancements in solar panel production in Australia.
Currently, Tindo’s facility in Adelaide has the capacity to manufacture 150 megawatts of solar panels.
Their future objective is to eventually scale up their production even further to 1000 megawatts, which is equivalent to 1 gigawatt.
Tindo journey has the potential to be significantly bolstered by the new strategic Government support and funding initiatives, as well as research and development initiatives.
“We continuously invest in research and development to innovate and introduce new products,” said Petterson.
The Australian Government has played a crucial role in fostering the country’s renewable energy sector. However, support for local renewables manufacturers has been limited, with Tindo only receiving one grant since its inception.
Thankfully this is changing and a shift in government thinking to recognise the importance and value of domestic manufacturing capabilities is bringing Tindo closer to achieving its goal.
“We’ve been actively collaborating with various levels of Government to stimulate Australia’s renewable manufacturing sector,” Petterson said.
“Currently, Australia installs between five to six gigawatts annually across residential, commercial, and utility sectors.
“The Government aims to produce 20 per cent of future solar panel demand domestically, which seems achievable given the scale needed to meet ongoing requirements over the coming decades.”
These new initiatives mark a turning point in Australian manufacturing, with governments increasingly supporting industries shifting towards sustainable practices.
Petterson said that while Australia historically relied on abundant fossil fuels like coal and gas for energy security, the nation is now shifting towards renewables like solar, wind, and green hydrogen.
“Australia has been fortunate to possess abundant fossil fuel historically sufficient to meet its energy needs for a prolonged period,” said Petterson.
“However, we are now transitioning away from these resources towards a renewable energy future.”
This transition underscores the significance of strengthening domestic manufacturing capabilities to secure supply chains.
As Petterson emphasises, it also presents an opportunity for Tindo to expand its production capacity.
However, the company has encountered challenges stemming from supply chain issues and limited access to local suppliers.
“I think that it’s a real opportunity for us right now, because we are the only ones who are in a great position to be able to work with the Government around a solid SunShot programme,” said Petterson.
Navigating the complexities of global supply chains has thus been a pivotal challenge for Tindo.
Despite Australia’s abundant solar resources, the lack of local suppliers for critical components means Tindo must look elsewhere in the short term.
Petterson explained that Tindo is often compelled to rely on international supply chain due to limited local options in Australia for components such as aluminium frames and glass.
Tindo is actively working to change this landscape by engaging in ongoing discussions with local suppliers.
Its aim is to establish domestic sources for these materials and even explore opportunities for local production of essential components such as silicon and wafers.
“Strategically, it makes a lot of sense for Australia to start thinking differently about that element,” said Petterson.
“As we know, it doesn’t take much of a disruption in the global supply chain to significantly impact key drivers, as seen with the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
“This includes not only making solar panels but also producing the essential components like cells and silicon to balance the supply chain.”
“We are in discussions with local suppliers to potentially source these materials domestically, and there are ongoing conversations about establishing silicone and wafer manufacturing locally,” said Petterson.
Petterson continued to explain that Australia’s manufacturing sector has declined from 25 per cent of GDP in 1985 to 6 per cent today, and its economic complexity has also decreased.
He said that the country needs to rebuild its capabilities and develop a more robust economy.
“Australia needs to plan over a 10 to 30-year horizon, rather than relying solely on a free market approach, which is no longer realistic given what other countries and their governments are doing in terms of industrial policy,” said Petterson.
Petterson believes that Tindo could potentially meet 20 per cent of the nation’s solar energy demands within the next five years, but that ultimately hinges on Government support.
“The remainder of the supply chain might take a bit longer to scale, depending on how well the Government positions itself,” he said.
“With the right support from the Government, it is certainly achievable. This requires a longer-term view.”
Petterson expressed optimism about Tindo’s role in shaping Australia’s renewable energy future, advocating for long-term planning and sustainable development practices to drive meaningful change across the industry.
Apart from Government initiatives, Tindo has many strong partnerships to work through, including several educational institutions such as the University of New South Wales, the University of Adelaide, and the University of South Australia, where they are located.
The primary goal of these partnerships is to catalyse innovation within the renewable energy sector and subsequently commercialise those advancements.
“Our existing collaborations create a space for innovation and industry to take their ideas to the implementation and commercialisation stages,” said Petterson.
“This unique position allows us to see new innovations and work with people to develop them.
“We believe this will expand significantly as the government invests in onshoring manufacturing in the renewable space, particularly around Tindo. This focus has already led to many exciting conversations.”
Company Mission and Values
Petterson said that he envisions Tindo becoming the most trusted company within the solar panel industry.
Guiding that journey is the company’s mission and values.
The company’s ultimate mission is to harness the power of the Australian sun through advanced manufacturing and engineering techniques.
And as Petterson explained, Tindo has five key values and accountability is the most important for them.
“We say that personal accountability is the most important value. That translates into the way we do business with people, how we seek to solve the problem first, and then do that with transparency,” he said.
Secondly, the value of caring for people and planet is important for the company.
“We prioritise both people and the planet by producing high-quality products that yield better long-term returns both economically and environmentally,” said Petterson.
“Our commitment extends to minimising environmental impact through durable, efficient panel designs.”
Their third value is innovation, as Petterson explained, the company constantly strives to remain innovative and competitive.
“We continuously push to elevate standards in our industry, resisting the allure of cheaper, lower-quality products that contribute to waste and recycling challenges,” he said.
Tindo’s final values are collaboration and learning. The company aims to foster a culture of collaboration and continual learning, both internally and with external partners.
“Collaboration and learning form the bedrock of our operations. We embrace a culture of continual learning from our mistakes and working closely with partners to address issues transparently and proactively,” said Petterson.
“If we discover a problem with a product, we collaborate with them to conduct root cause analysis.
“We then transparently report back to our customer about what happened and what we’ve done to rectify the issue.”