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Our Team

Meet Our Team

Alroy Augustus

Alroy Augustus (CEO)

Alroy Augustus has a passion for energy and electricity. He has been a licensed electrician for over 15 years, an air conditioning and solar technician for 6 years and a battery technician for 2 years – which is backed up with a Certificate III in Electrotechnology. Alroy also gained his Licensed Electrical Inspectors qualification in Victoria and along with accreditations and endorsements from the Clean Energy Council. In addition, he has considerable experience in electrical design and detail drafting for electrical distribution companies.

In 2012, Alroy Augustus and Robert Bell established Online Air and Solar and have since been providing high-quality and affordable solar and battery solutions. As one of the owners of Online Air and Solar, Alroy shares with Robert the task of leading the day-to-day business operations of the company, focusing on customer service and general operations management. He also manages the solar division operations of the company providing technical expertise in crafting client quotations and organising technicians’ schedules to ensure smooth business operations.

Being an industry leader with, his experience and knowledge in the energy sector and in running a business form the foundations required as the Chief Executive Officer, Head Trainer, and Training Coordinator for ETG.

Robert Bell

Robert Bell (Director)

Robert Bell has a strong passion for education and renewable energy. Robert brought these two passions together with Alroy to become the founders of Energy Training Group. Robert has a trade background and holds a current license in Plumbing and Gasfitting and also holds the Certificate IV in Engineering and Production. To supplement Roberts’s managerial experience, he has seen great success as an experienced business owner and is currently the director of Online Air and Solar, a successful solar PV and Air conditioning company originally founded in 2012 boasting over 30 full-time employees.

As the co-founder of ETG, Robert leads the day-to-day business operations of the company focusing on managing trainers and assessors and implementing quality management systems and policies among others.

Robert is adept at problem-solving and troubleshooting issues to ensure that business operations are efficient and effective, distribution of services and resources are properly managed and all systems and processes are compliant with relevant ASQA legislations.

Robert’s experience as a business owner and expert knowledge in the field support his role as the director of ETG and he is driven to ensure that only the best quality education and training are delivered to its learners.

Brendan Laidlaw

Brendan Laidlaw (Head Trainer & Assessor)

Brendan Laidlaw is an A-grade electrician, who is a highly experienced, proficient and versatile mentor in nearly all aspects of the solar PV course, including but not limited to solar PV detailed system design and project delivery. As a highly skilled electrical technical specialist, Brendan has worked at all levels of the solar PV industry, with experience in installing residential and commercial PV systems. Brendan has a wealth of knowledge in the renewable energy sector and was one of the original solar technicians when the solar industry was in its infancy.

Brendan has learned site management of projects, business development in the commercial space, national project management, owning and operating a specialist commercial PV design and installation business, creating and managing a commercial PV engineering team from scratch within a business, and everything in between. This is the reason why he has been able to give real industry knowledge to his students. Till now, he has designed and managed projects and dealt with the most complex installations in Australia, including inner-city locations, multi-building installations at schools and universities, and large multi-site projects. He also has a broad knowledge of grid protection, export limitation, and monitoring systems. He takes a keen interest in emerging renewable technologies and technologies that will enable the further uptake of renewable energy systems. His experience also includes providing consultancy services to organisations like Mondo, RACV, Reposit and Aviva communities., providing insight into the practicalities of implementing vpp’s, control systems, and microgrids in the real world. His robust experience helps him to confidently fill the gap between the theoretical and the practical approaches to solve a problem focussing on real-world outcomes when implementing new technologies. His considerable experience in the solar industry makes him a respected trainer at ETG.

Thomas Strang

Thomas Strang (Trainer & Assessor)

Tom is a licensed electrician, solar, and storage accredited installer. Tom brings a wealth of solar, storage, electrical, and communications expertise to ETG. He has gained significant trade qualifications throughout his career in the industrial, commercial and domestic sectors. He has been responsible for installing, commissioning, and maintaining electrical installations and apparatus, often in remote and regional locations.
Tom has worked in various different sectors throughout his career as an electrician, starting out in domestic, commercial, and industrial then progressing to working underground in nickel mines and on an iron ore wharf in Western Australia, before returning to Victoria to work in the solar energy sector. Tom is currently a qualified trainer, adding to his vast experience in training electricians onsite. He is passionate about the solar and storage industry, having installed both large and small scale systems, and wants to help develop the best installers for this sector. Tom is a valued member of ETG and we are proud to have him manage our training throughout Australia.
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