{"id":12495,"date":"2017-07-04T17:59:26","date_gmt":"2017-07-04T07:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=12495"},"modified":"2024-10-03T10:29:12","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T00:59:12","slug":"cec-installers-retailers-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/cec-installers-retailers-members\/","title":{"rendered":"Clean Energy Council Accredited Installers, Approved Retailers, And Members: What’s The Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The CEC has 3 levels of affiliation, members, installers and approved retailer. What is the difference?<\/p><\/div>\n

The Australian Clean Energy Council<\/a>, or CEC, is Australia’s peak body for solar and other renewable energy.<\/p>\n

Update 4th December 2023:\u00a0 The CEC Approved Retailer Scheme was replaced by the NETCC Approved Seller Program on the 1st of February 2023 and you can read about it here<\/a>.\u00a0 In case you were wondering, NETCC stands for New Energy Tech Consumer Code.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

While peak body may sound like a Kosciuszko1<\/a><\/sup> corpse, it is a national, non-profit, trade association group that helps regulate the clean energy industries.<\/p>\n

While there are occasional grumbles about how the CEC isn’t quite perfect (*cough<\/em>*, the 133% rule<\/a>, *cough<\/em>*,) they have done a lot for solar in this country and renewable energy in general.\u00a0 We’re really quite fortunate compared to countries that lack such a well regulated solar industry such as the United States or even Canada.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Whenever rooftop solar is installed in this country, the person in charge of the actual work on site has to be a Clean Energy Council Accredited Installer.\u00a0 The only way the STCs (AKA solar rebate)<\/a> that lower the cost of rooftop solar can legally be claimed is if an accredited person is on the job and signs off on it3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

But installer accreditation isn’t the only qualification or title the CEC regulates and this is where confusion can set in, because not many people know, or care about, the difference between a CEC Accredited Installer, a CEC Accredited Designer, a CEC Approved Solar Retailer, or a CEC Member.<\/p>\n

I wasn’t clear on the difference myself before I spent a few hours4<\/a><\/sup> researching this article.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

CEC Accredited Installers<\/h2>\n
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This badge can only represent a person who is an installer, not a company.<\/p><\/div>\n

Any person in charge of installing solar on your roof has to be an accredited CEC installer.\u00a0 If they’re not, then any system they install (or supervise the installation of) won’t be able to receive the STCs<\/a> that lower the cost of rooftop solar as part of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET<\/a>).\u00a0 Most people refer to this as the “solar rebate”.\u00a0 Because anyone whacking solar on roofs would soon go broke if they tried to compete without receiving STCs, you can be very certain your installer is legit.\u00a0 But if you want to be sure, you can go to this CEC page<\/a> and enter the installer’s details to find out if they are one of the over 4,000 the CEC has accredited.<\/p>\n

Becoming A CEC Accredited Installer Is Hard Work<\/h2>\n

To become an accredited installer there are a number of hoops to jump through, or possibly carefully navigate while using proper safety precautions and equipment, since jumping is not permissible behavior when installing rooftop solar.<\/p>\n

The steps are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Get trained.<\/li>\n
  2. Apply for provisional accreditation:\u00a0 This will require training certificates, an electrical licence, working at heights certification, and public liability insurance of at<\/a> least<\/a> 5<\/a> million<\/a> dollars<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  3. Become a full member after having your work inspected.<\/li>\n
  4. Maintain accreditation by performing a required amount of training each year to keep up to date on new developments.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As you can imagine, achieving all that is not an easy task and is just one of the reasons why accredited installers expect to be paid for their work, despite the fact most of them are pretty enough to get by on their looks.<\/p>\n

    CEC Accredited System Designers<\/h2>\n

    An accredited installer either oversees the installation of a rooftop solar system or, far more often, gets their hands dirty working on it themselves.\u00a0 Very few can afford to stand around and only supervise.<\/p>\n

    If you want to work in the solar industry but have such a crippling fear of heights the thought of wearing platform shoes give you nightmares, or you are quite sensibly opposed to any physical effort beyond the absolute minimum required for health, safety, and reproduction, or simply are not a qualified electrician, then becoming a CEC Accredited System Designer may appeal to you.<\/p>\n

    A system designer, surprise surprise, designs solar systems.\u00a0 Their duties include ensuring every aspect of a system meets CEC system design guidelines.\u00a0 This includes:<\/p>\n