Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator says it is satisfied with Trina Solar’s fixes relating to its participation in the Solar Panel Validation (SPV) initiative.
The SPV scheme involves a phone app used by installers and retailers to scan solar panel serial numbers just prior to installation, checking against a database containing details provided by manufacturers. This helps ensure panels are genuine and eligible for Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs), which are the basis of Australia’s solar rebate.
Among the other benefits of using SPV is faster STC processing time. Claims using SPV are usually processed within 24 hours assuming all requirements being met, whereas those that don’t involve SPV can stretch out to 4-6 weeks.
What Happened With Trina Solar?
In May last year, the Clean Energy Regulator announced it had accepted an enforceable undertaking from Trina addressing the company uploading details into the SPV database of panels that were either manufactured in facilities not holding the proper certification at the time of manufacture or were manufactured to an outdated standard.
There was nothing to indicate this was anything but a mistake on Trina’s part and there was some talk of the issue just being a case of the wrong factory noted on documentation.
While this has been sorted out, STC claims involving Trina Solar panels have required additional evidence, which slows down STC processing. This didn’t affect households installing the solar panels as the “rebate” is provided as an up-front discount.
STC Processing Back To Normal
The Regulator is now happy with procedures ensuring only eligible solar panel serial number data is being uploaded to SPV by Trina, and STC claims are back to being processed in the same way as other brands.
“The agency has also conducted extensive assessments on Trina Solar serial number data uploaded since May 2020 and is satisfied that only eligible solar panel serial numbers have been uploaded to SPV since that time,” states the Regulator. “Trina Solar and the agency continue to work together to check the eligibility of panels supplied or installed prior to May 2020.”
While there will be a reduction in requests for further evidence regarding Trina Solar panels, some may still occur as part of the Regulator’s risk-based sampling approach that applies to all brands.
Trina Solar panels have been a popular choice for home solar installations in Australia given their overall reliability, performance and pricing point. The company has been manufacturing modules since 1997 and as at December last year, had shipped more than 70 GW of its products worldwide.
After a successful pilot program, the SPV began general rollout in 2018 when just 8 solar panel manufacturers were participating. Trina joined the program within its first year.
According to the Regulator’s SPV explainer page, 54 solar panel manufacturers are now on board, including all the big names. More than half of STC claims were being submitted using SPV by July last year.
“Where SPV is not used for STC claims, agents must have appropriate due diligence checks in place to ensure the information provided to them and used to create STCs is correct,” the Clean Energy Regulator states.
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