On Tuesday, a CEC accredited solar installer and licenced electrician was convicted over solar installations he claimed to have performed – but didn’t.
According to the Clean Energy Regulator, the installer/electrician from Wagga Wagga signed Small-scale Technology Certificate (STC) documents for eight solar power system installations in 2016 that he didn’t install. STCs, which have a value, are claimed with eligible installations and form the basis of Australia’s major solar subsidy. Additionally, the installer signed Certificates of Electrical Compliance for the installations.
After pleading guilty to breaching section 145.5 of the Criminal Code Act 19951, he was given an 18-month good behaviour bond and fined $5,000 by Wagga Wagga Local Court. The maximum penalty for the offence is 7 years imprisonment.
The installations actually occurred, but installed by another party. The Clean Energy Regulator notes when the offending was identified, the systems were inspected and found to be to standard in terms of safety. However, it doesn’t further clarify what happened.
STC Creation Compliance An Ongoing Challenge
While the incidents involved occurred in 2016, STC compliance related issues have continued to be a bugbear for the Regulator, whose tasks include oversight of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target and preserving the integrity of the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES).
Last month, the Regulator expressed frustration over what it said were “unacceptably high-levels of wilful and reckless non-compliance” during 2018-19 in relation to STC creation under the SRES.
Back in October, the Regulator flagged that it and the Clean Energy Council were targeting misuse of accredited solar installer details; whereby the installer noted on documentation of a solar power system installation hasn’t performed the install.
In its December Compliance Update released last week, it states for the period July to September 2019, 483,344 STCs in 3,791 separate claims were incorrectly created. This doesn’t mean to say all the claims were deliberately dodgy – STCs claims can be failed for a number of reasons including previously created and registered information, absence of compliance paperwork and incorrect details relating to the systems installed; such as wrong address, system owner and/or installation date.
The update also notes several enforceable undertakings the Regulator has entered into over the last few months.
- One instance involved a company (unknowingly) receiving false information from a third party resulting in the improper creation of 1,128 STCs.
- Another was related to the improper creation of 5,090 STCs from 44 installations of non-compliant solar panels.
- The third involved STC assignment forms containing false information relating to the installation of 41solar systems.
Footnotes
- Section 145.5 of the Act relates to “giving information derived from false or misleading documents” ↩
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“The installations actually occurred, but installed by another party. The Clean Energy Regulator notes when the offending was identified, the systems were inspected and found to be to standard in terms of safety.”
Hmmmm….. I might be a bit cynical here, but is the Clean Energy Council’s issue that the actual installer hadn’t paid them the $500 plus per certification and yearly renewal fees and certification upgrade fees, rather than an actual issue with the quality of the work?
If a licenced and certified installer signs off on the work, then that person is taking on the responsibility for the job being performed to a safe standard …. isn’t that what the regulations are all about?
To me, this looks like a prosecution based of the Clean Energy Council not milking the maximum $$ possible from the industry rather than anything to do with safety or compliance …..
T1 Terry