Brighte Reviews

Brighte, founded in 2015, isn't a solar installation firm. Brighte provides financing for Australian households to have solar power systems, batteries and other home improvements installed.

Brighte has two finance options for solar and energy-efficiency related products; one being a green loan program with a fixed interest rate (at the time of writing, 5.89%).

But probably the more widely utilised is Brighte's "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) "0% interest payment plan" model. Brighte partners with solar installers, who can offer its BNPL finance product during the sales process and customer pre-approval may occur in just minutes.

Brighte's offer may be attractive to some solar buyers given the way the company promotes its BNPL product as being a "0% interest payment plan", and there's no upfront outlay required. The only fees it charges on this plan is a $1.50/weekly account keeping fee, and a late payment fee of $4.99 (capped at $49.90/year maximum).

But 0% interest will imply to many consumers that they are not paying anything for the privilege of borrowing thousands of dollars for a few years. The truth is solar businesses offering "Buy Now, Pay Later" options typically pay 15-25% of the system cost to the finance provider.

Margins are thin in the solar industry, so the consumer ultimately bears that cost.

In our opinion that's opaque, misleading and just plain shady. But that doesn't place all installers offering BNPL in the same boat. Some offer "Buy Now, Pay Later" arrangements simply because it's expected these days - it doesn't necessarily mean they like it.

BNPL can raise the cost of solar power for everyone, as usually arrangements with finance providers such as Brighte stipulate the solar retailer can't advertise or initially offer a cheaper "cash only" price for systems - although savvy consumers paying cash know to negotiate during the quoting process.

What else can happen is a solar retailer can calculate what the arrangement is costing, then spread that across all BNPL and non-BNPL sales, providing less or no room for negotiating a better price for cash. Or the business may create special payment plan solar product bundles that aren't otherwise available.

You can learn more about the issues surrounding BNPL solar here.

If you've entered into a Buy Now, Pay Later arrangement for solar or batteries involving Brighte, feel free to leave your Brighte review below.

Tip: There can be better ways to get solar panels installed if you don't have the up-front cash required. Find out more about financing a solar system purchase.