CHOICE has identified links between businessmen involved in two banned solar energy companies in Victoria and the operations of two other new solar companies, which had adopted names similar to established businesses.
We investigated the companies, Invincible Energy and Horus Energy, last year after mounting allegations of misconduct.
Both companies have been banned from the Victorian government’s Solar Victoria rebate scheme due to allegations of misconduct. The company directors of Invincible Energy have also been banned from any further participation in the scheme.
But that hasn’t prevented the businessmen from being connected with the operations of two new businesses, one called Total Solar Energy Solution and the other Jet Energy. The companies are registered in other people’s names according to ASIC, but CHOICE has seen evidence that may suggest the same men are playing an active role in their operations. An insider who has worked for the companies says they may be running the shop.
CHOICE has seen evidence that may suggest the same men are playing an active role in their operations
Total Solar Energy Solution, which was established in 2017 but changed its name to its current version last year, now bears a similar name to a different solar retailer based in Bayswater, Melbourne called Total Solar Solutions Australia which has been trading since 2012.
CHOICE is aware that some customers are confused between the Bayswater business and the business known as Total Solar Energy Solution, which despite now having near-identical names, are not affiliated with one another. The Bayswater business has been receiving frequent complaints from dissatisfied customers of the other business who don’t realise the two aren’t the same.
Last year the owner of another Melbourne solar business named Jet Solar threatened legal action against a former director of Horus after they bought a website for the name of Jet Energy. In emails seen by CHOICE the former director of Horus agreed to take down the Jet Energy website following the threatened legal action. The website appears to no longer be active.
CHOICE has spoken to three customers of Total Solar Energy Solution who say they are extremely dissatisfied with the company.
Complaints range from the installation of the wrong rooftop solar systems on homes to what customers describe as high-pressure sales tactics. In one instance a customer says after paying $16,000 for a home battery to be installed, the battery was simply dropped off at his home without installation and now sits unused in his garage.
Everyone we spoke to said representatives of the company were extremely hard to get in contact with.
Inside the operations
CHOICE has seen text message evidence that suggests a current director and a former director of Horus have links to the operational aspects of Total Solar Energy Solution.
We also spoke to a staff member who did work for the group of companies. They told us about the operations and confirmed that some of the same men from Horus Energy are involved in the day to day operations of Total Solar Energy Solution.
“They ghost people after the install. After they get the rebate money from the government they ghost the customer all together,” the salesperson says.
“There was no customer care, people would call me up and say their inverter is not working, they would be trying to get on to Total Solar [Energy Solution] and they wouldn’t be responding.”
Total Solar Energy Solution has ties to Invincible and Horus Energy.
Authorised retailers
Both Invincible Energy and Horus were removed from the Solar Victoria list of authorised retailers who are able to access rebates last year following allegations of misconduct.
Jet Energy is not registered as an authorised retailer, however according to the government’s list of retailers as of 17 June 2026 Total Solar Energy Solution was on the list of approved companies. Total Solar Energy Solutions was deactivated from participating in the Solar Homes Program on 30 June 2026 and removed from Solar Victoria’s list of authorised retailers published to its website shortly after. A reason was not given by Solar Victoria.
We sent questions to Solar Victoria asking if they were aware of the links between the two banned companies and this new entity. A government spokesperson said their priority was protecting consumers and maintaining integrity in the sector.
“We act decisively against any retailer or individual seeking to undermine consumer protections and encourage any consumers with concerns to contact Solar Victoria or relevant regulators,” the spokesperson says.
Meanwhile CHOICE understands allegations about the companies have been sent to the Clean Energy Regulator (CER), who regulate the solar industry federally. The CER said it was not appropriate to comment on the matter at this time due to ongoing compliance activity.
Many of the customers purchasing solar systems or batteries through these companies, and much of the solar industry generally, do so with the assistance of low- or no-interest loans from providers such as Plenti, Brighte or Humm.
Both Plenti and Brighte suspended their commercial partnership with both Invincible Energy and Horus Energy following earlier concerns raised in relation to the integrity of their operations.
CHOICE understands that Total Solar Energy Solution were able to sign customers up for loans through Plenti and Brighte and may have also partnered with Humm, though Humm declined to confirm or deny the existence of a commercial arrangement.
Brighte said they permanently removed Invincible and Horus from their network last year
We sent questions to all three providers about whether they were aware of the connection between the companies and the banned retailers and what due diligence they did for companies they partnered with.
Brighte said they permanently removed Invincible and Horus from their network last year following internal investigations and while they have accepted applications from Total Solar Energy Solution in the past they were not “currently transacting” with the company.
“Where we identify vendor misconduct we take action to protect consumers,” a spokesperson says.
Plenti said following a complaint the company was suspended from their platform on 10 June 2026.
“Plenti’s vendor accreditation process includes checks designed to identify phoenix company activity and indirect or shadow control of an entity, and we continue to evolve those checks as new practices emerge,” a company spokesperson says.
Humm declined to comment.
Loans are provided by companies such as Humm, Brighte and Plenti.
Plenti of history with solar loans
Plenti has history when it comes to its partnership with companies linked to this group of solar retailers. Last year we documented accusations that the loan provider accepted loan forms for Invincible Energy installations that were not filled out by the applicant. Plenti went on to ban Invincible and Horus from signing up clients to their loans.
New laws came into effect on 10 June 2025 mandating that buy now, pay later style loan providers like Plenti undertake affordability checks on their customers’ capacity to repay the loans. But Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) in Melbourne says companies don’t always appear to comply.
Rodney Wallace, from the town of Ararat, Victoria has been on the disability support pension since 2000. A “pushy” Horus salesperson convinced him to purchase a solar system for over $12,000 through a loan with Plenti on 12 June 2025, two days after the new regulations came in. He says he didn’t fill in the loan application form himself and it incorrectly stated his income at almost $4000 a month, when in fact his Centrelink income is approximately $2300.
“I’m really pissed off to be honest. It’s too much money for me to pay back. I made it clear to Horus Energy that I was a pensioner and I thought no way is it going to get approved. I was so surprised it went through,” Rodney says.
Any prudent lender that had done appropriate affordability checks would have seen he could not afford this
Kirsty Robson, Consumer Action Law Centre
Consumer Action is now pushing for Plenti to waive the loan, which managing financial counsellor Kirsty Robson says should never have been granted in the first place.
“Any prudent lender that had done appropriate affordability checks would have seen he could not afford this. Plenti has an obligation to make sure the information written on his application is substantially true, they didn’t take the time to understand who their customer was and what his circumstances were, because they wouldn’t have been able to profit off him if they had,” she says.
Plenti says they are unable to comment on individual cases due to privacy, but added they take responsible lending obligations and laws seriously.
“If we have made an error or otherwise entered into a loan that is unsuitable for a customer, we will put things right,” a spokesperson says.
Michael Duffy, director of the Corporate Law, Organisation and Litigation Research Group at Monash University says regulations around “shadow directing”, when someone who is not officially listed as the director runs a company, aren’t satisfactory and there are calls for reform.
“It seemingly places the onus on other parties to prove that someone is a shadow director, before those [director] duties will apply. In that sense it somewhat defeats the principle of public director registration,” he says.
Professor of accounting, governance and regulation at the University of Sydney Business School Clinton Free says the named directors of a company may be in breach of director duties if there are shadow directors who are actually the ones “calling the shots”.
“The problem is the enforceability of these regulations,” he adds.
It is not suggested that the involvement of the businessmen from Horus and Invincible rises to the level of shadow director at Total Solar Energy Solution, merely that these individuals have been linked to the operations of the new businesses.
CHOICE made repeated attempts to contact the individuals previously involved with Horus and Invincible and also sent questions to Total Solar Energy Solution. Lawyers representing the company told CHOICE there was no connection between their client and Invincible and Horus and that they were a “reputable provider” with a high customer satisfaction rate.
“All allegations and innuendos are denied by our client,” the lawyers said.
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Jarni Blakkarly is an award-winning Senior Investigative Journalist at CHOICE. Jarni has worked for news organisations such as SBS, Reuters, Al Jazeera English, ABC 730, Radio National, BBC World Service and Deutsche Welle.
Jarni won the Walkley Foundation's young journalist of the year student category award in 2016 and was the recipient of a Melbourne Press Club Michael Gordon fellowship in 2022. In 2023 he was a highly commended finalist in the Quill Awards and a winner at the 2024 Excellence in Civil Liberties journalism awards. In 2024 he was elected to serve on the Federal Council (National Media Section) of the MEAA. Jarni has a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).
Jarni Blakkarly is an award-winning Senior Investigative Journalist at CHOICE. Jarni has worked for news organisations such as SBS, Reuters, Al Jazeera English, ABC 730, Radio National, BBC World Service and Deutsche Welle.
Jarni won the Walkley Foundation's young journalist of the year student category award in 2016 and was the recipient of a Melbourne Press Club Michael Gordon fellowship in 2022. In 2023 he was a highly commended finalist in the Quill Awards and a winner at the 2024 Excellence in Civil Liberties journalism awards. In 2024 he was elected to serve on the Federal Council (National Media Section) of the MEAA. Jarni has a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).
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