Before DFRNT Solar, there was InStyle. A Brisbane business that grew from a five-person operation into a national solar installer, then joined Hanwha Energy Australia in 2023.
Karl Brown, Jonah Hicks and Tehbyn Nova bring that experience to DFRNT Solar. Here’s the story behind the people helping you make your next energy decision.
InStyle Solar started in Brisbane in 2014. The job was to help households understand what solar could do for them, then get the right system installed.
By 2022, partner Brighte described how the team worked: walk customers through their power bill, explain the system, and show the financial picture alongside the installation price. That approach is still familiar here.
Read Brighte’s account of the early businessInStyle’s Costco partnership began with kiosks at North Lakes and Ipswich, with a national rollout planned. It brought solar into a familiar retail setting, where homeowners could speak to a representative and arrange installation.
For a business that began in Brisbane, this was a concrete step towards serving homes around Australia.
Read the 2019 Costco announcementInStyle ranked third in the Australian Financial Review’s 2020 Fast 100. In March 2021, the Penrith Panthers announced InStyle as their official solar partner for the following two seasons.
Those milestones belong to InStyle. They form part of the experience our founders bring to DFRNT Solar today.
See the Panthers’ announcement and growth recordOn 19 May 2023, Hanwha Energy Australia announced its acquisition of InStyle Solar to support the expansion of its energy retailer, Nectr.
The announcement highlighted InStyle’s nearly ten years of solar hardware and installation experience, and the national installation capability it brought to the group. It marked the next chapter for the business the team had helped build.
Read the acquisition announcement from NectrKarl, Jonah and Tehbyn are together at DFRNT Group, with DFRNT Solar focused on homes across South East Queensland.
Our approach starts with your bill and makes the detail visible: how the system is sized, which equipment is included, what each part costs, and what the site check could change. You should be able to understand the recommendation before deciding.
That is what our past is useful for: making your next solar decision easier to follow.
Meet the wider DFRNT Group
Company leadership, customer conversations and the systems behind them. Karl, Jonah and Tehbyn have worked together across solar and business growth for years.
Founder, DFRNT Group
Built InStyle Solar from its Brisbane beginnings and led the business as CEO. Named Brisbane Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2019, and a finalist for CEO of the Year (A$0–100m turnover) in the 2021 Executive of the Year Awards.
See the 2021 finalist recordCo-founder, DFRNT Group
As InStyle’s Chief Revenue Officer, Jonah worked on the commercial and sales side of the business. The CEO Magazine named him a Sales Executive of the Year finalist in its 2021 awards.
See the 2021 finalist recordCo-founder, DFRNT Group
Tehbyn’s work at InStyle spanned operations and marketing. He was a Young Executive of the Year finalist in 2021, listed as COO, and spoke as CMO in Brighte’s 2022 case study on helping homeowners understand and access solar.
See the 2021 finalist recordKarl, Jonah and Tehbyn also co-founded Rokkit Performance Marketing. The team won the Startup category at the 2019 Brisbane Young Entrepreneur Awards, recognising a business working across lead generation, marketing automation and sales consultancy.
See the 2019 winnersWe settled on these before the first job. They are not lines for a pitch — they decide how every install gets done.
Line by line. Straight. No chasing.