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All-Energy 2025 Experiment: Who’ll Pass the 10-Minute Trust Test?
I’m testing 20 solar exhibitors at All-Energy on one simple metric: how fast they respond. The results might shock the industry.
Neel Bhattacharya
October 16, 2025
THE SOLAR AI
G'day energy professionals,
In 13 days, 15,500 clean energy professionals will descend on Melbourne Convention Centre for All-Energy Australia (Oct 29-30). Southern Hemisphere's largest clean energy event. 450+ speakers. 400+ exhibitors. 80+ conference sessions.
Free registration. World-class networking. Jackie Trad's first public remarks as Clean Energy Council CEO.
Meanwhile, 450 kilometers north in Brisbane, a solar business just booked his 123rd appointment this week. It's Wednesday.
Their competitors attending All-Energy? They've booked 200+. Combined.
Here's the uncomfortable question nobody will ask on the conference floor:
What if the biggest competitive advantage in Australian solar has nothing to do with panel efficiency, battery storage, or grid infrastructure—and everything to do with efficient customer service and bookings at scale?
Let me show you what happened this week that proves it.
LETS STEP INSIDE →
Feature Story
📞 THE ALL-ENERGY EXPERIMENT: 20 EXHIBITORS, 1 STOPWATCH, ZERO MERCY
What I'm doing October 29th at 9:47 PM:
While All-Energy attendees are at the networking drinks at Billie's Bites & Bar (5-7:30 PM, October 28th pre-conference social), I'm going to submit inquiries to 20 exhibitors' websites.
My prediction: 18 will respond Monday morning. 2 will respond in under 2 minutes.
Why this matters more than any conference session:
Last Saturday at 8:34 PM, 100s of Australian households submitted solar inquiries and 1000 still waiting a response from retailers customer service teams. By Monday morning, 34 had already booked consultations—with the first company that responded.
The other 13? Still waiting for your "we'll call you Monday" email.
The brutal October 2025 truth:
Brookfield just committed $5 billion to AI data center infrastructure Reuters
Cambridge scientists unlocked near-100% solar efficiency via quantum breakthrough Science Daily
China's top solar manufacturers are bleeding $2.8 billion from overcapacity Yahoo Finance
Australia added 237 MW of rooftop solar in September alone, +16.6% YoY PRNewswire
Yet zero sessions at All-Energy 2025 address this one question:
“How do you respond to the 47% of customer inquiries for bookings or customer service that arrive when your office is closed?”
The Spotlight
📉 CHINA'S $2.8B COLLAPSE: THE PRICING TRAP
October 14, 2025: China's top 6 solar manufacturers reported combined losses of $2.8 billion in H1 2025. Yahoo Finance
Why? Production capacity is 2X global demand.
That means panel prices will keep falling.
If you compete on price — you lose.
If you compete on speed + service — you win big.
Example:
Old Model → $3,000 panel cost → 22% margin.
New Model (post-China crash) → $2,100 panel cost → same price to customer → 33% margin.
But only if you can justify value with service.
If you compete on price alone, China's overcapacity destroys your margin.
The Essentials
🏆 THE WEEKLY INTELLIGENCE BRIEF
AUSTRALIAS UNIQUE POSITIONING The International Energy Agency forecasts data center electricity demand will grow 25% annually for the next decade. Australia's response? Turn it into an opportunity. The "renewable digital dividend":
| THE NEW REALITY: CONVERSATIONAL AI ECONOMICS AI-Powered Contact CentersThe data doesn't lie:
See exactly how conversational AI transforms your a custom AI solution - completely free. Zero strings. |
The Innovation around US
🌐 WHY "CONVERSATIONAL INTELLIGENCE" IS THE NEW COMPETITIVE MOAT
The global picture emerging:
Asia-Pacific leads: Over 12,000 energy professionals gathered at Enlit Asia 2025 in Bangkok last month. Microsoft, alongside utilities across Japan and Australia, showcased how AI is building smarter, more resilient electricity networks.
The Australian advantage: While global utilities scramble for baseload power to run AI, Australia's renewable abundance positions us uniquely. We're not just adopting AI - we're exporting renewable-powered AI compute as a value-added product.
What's actually happening:
Japan's JERA (largest power generator): Deployed AI-powered enterprise knowledge advisor for thermal plant efficiency
Victoria's United Energy: Using machine learning to identify neutral integrity issues via smart meters
Jemena: Processing near real-time solar generation data to balance grid load
The pattern across all breakthroughs:
Space weather AI: Converts solar images into actionable warnings
Grid management AI: Turns data streams into dispatch decisions
Customer service evolution: Transforms technical energy concepts into clear conversations
The winners? Building 18-month competitive moats with AI that never sleeps, never misses a lead, and gets smarter with every interaction.
The opportunity: While competitors focus on hardware improvements, the real advantage goes to those who can have intelligent conversations at scale.
The laggards? Still sending generic follow-up emails and playing phone tag.
P.S. The 18-Month Window
History shows: Revolutionary tech creates brief adoption windows. First movers build moats. Late adopters play catch-up forever.
Solar installers who deployed online quoting in 2015? They dominated their markets.
Those who waited until 2020? They're still playing catch-up.
Conversational AI is the 2025 inflection point.
👉 BOOK YOUR FREE ASSESSMENT TODAY
OR
Forward this to a colleague who needs to see it. When Australian solar companies win, Australia's energy future wins.
