{"id":20726,"date":"2018-04-11T06:29:34","date_gmt":"2018-04-10T19:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=20726"},"modified":"2018-04-11T06:29:34","modified_gmt":"2018-04-10T19:59:34","slug":"regulator-stc-solar-mb0540","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/regulator-stc-solar-mb0540\/","title":{"rendered":"Regulator Issues Agent Warning On Non-Existent Solar Installations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-20727\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/solar-stc-compliance.png\" alt=\"STC compliance - solar panels\" width=\"700\" height=\"425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/solar-stc-compliance.png 700w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/solar-stc-compliance-300x182.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Australia&#8217;s Clean Energy Regulator has alerted registered agents of a scam involving the creation of small-scale technology certificates (STCs) for solar power systems that don&#8217;t exist.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Australia&#8217;s major <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/panels\/rebate\/\">solar subsidy<\/a> is based on STCs, the value of which are usually traded for a point of sale discount on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/solar101.html\">solar power system<\/a>. While the solar buyer pays a reduced up-front price, the certificates can only be generated after a system is installed and must be created by a registered agent, who is assigned the rights to them. Once created, the agent can then sell the STCs on the renewable energy certificate (REC) market.<\/p>\n<p>Solar companies can also be registered\u00a0 agents or have an arm dealing with this function, or they may choose to use another party. The Regulator currently lists 88 registered agents in Australia, but this number only includes those who have elected to make their information publicly available.<\/p>\n<p>It appears a scam involving fake solar retailers conning or attempting to con agents into creating certificates for systems that have never been installed may not be just a couple of isolated cases.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It is important that agents\u200b\u200b conduct due diligence when dealing with any business and have rigorous compliance processes in place to establish that they are dealing with a legitimate entity,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au\/About\/Pages\/News%20and%20updates\/NewsItem.aspx?ListId=19b4efbb-6f5d-4637-94c4-121c1f96fcfe&amp;ItemId=492\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> part of a statement from the Regulator.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In March, the Regulator stated it would be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/regulator-sres-visits-mb0510\/\">visiting registered agents<\/a> across the country starting this month to discuss compliance obligations.<\/p>\n<h2>Warning Signs<\/h2>\n<p>The Clean Energy Regulator mentions a number of potential warning signs that a system STCs are being claimed for has not been installed:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rural area installations where up to date aerial photography is not available.<\/li>\n<li>Unsuccessful attempts to contact system owners to verify details.<\/li>\n<li>The solar business is new and has little or no online presence or advertising.<\/li>\n<li>The purported proprietor&#8217;s identity cannot be adequately verified.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As to how often this scam has been attempted or known to have been carried out isn&#8217;t clear. The Regulator is urging registered agents who believe they have been approached by solar PV businesses engaged in this activity to contact it immediately via CER\u2013SRES_Compliance@cleanenergyregulator.gov.au.<\/p>\n<p>The warning is part of increased scrutiny by the Regulator on the management of the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES). In 2017, it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/stc-solar-power-mb0352\/\">claimed a couple of significant scalps<\/a> in incidents involving thousands of certificates that had been improperly created based on false information provided by third parties.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Monitoring activities will reach out across the STC creation chain to identify any party that contributes to the improper creation of STCs. Enforcement action will be taken against any scheme participant who commits an act of fraud or serious non-compliance,&#8221; it states.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>While it&#8217;s never pleasant to hear about dodginess associated with Australia&#8217;s solar energy sector, it&#8217;s good to see the Regulator working hard to help to maintain the overall integrity of the Scheme.<\/p>\n<h2>CEC Flags Solar Telemarketing Practices<\/h2>\n<p>In other recent compliance related news, the Clean Energy Council yesterday reminded solar companies the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is targeting telemarketing activities of solar businesses. As we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-australia-telemarketing-mb0521\/\">reported last month<\/a>, the ACMA has put the industry in its crosshairs following a high number of complaints from consumers on the Do Not Call Register who have been approached by telemarketers. A couple of companies have already had to shell out significant sums for infringements.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Remember, it&#8217;s not just the call centre that can be held liable for telemarketing calls made to people on the register, but also the business who engaged them,&#8221; states the Council.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The CEC offers some tips in maintaining compliance <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au\/news\/2018\/april\/acma-targeting-solar-telemarketing-activities.html\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The risk associated with telemarketing is another reason why <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/supplier.php\">solar sales lead quality<\/a> certainly trumps quantity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Australia&#8217;s Clean Energy Regulator has alerted registered agents of a scam involving the creation of small-scale technology certificates (STCs) for solar power systems that don&#8217;t exist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":20727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[678],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solar-battery-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Regulator Issues Agent Warning On Non-Existent Solar Installations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Australia&#039;s Clean Energy Regulator has alerted registered agents of a scam involving the creation of STCs for solar power systems that don&#039;t exist.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/regulator-stc-solar-mb0540\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Regulator Issues Agent Warning On Non-Existent Solar Installations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Australia&#039;s Clean Energy Regulator has alerted registered agents of a scam involving the creation of STCs for solar power systems that don&#039;t exist.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/regulator-stc-solar-mb0540\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-10T19:59:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/solar-stc-compliance.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Bloch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/regulator-stc-solar-mb0540\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/regulator-stc-solar-mb0540\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Bloch\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66afd571aa00c2e442f0192ebac2f6f1\"},\"headline\":\"Regulator Issues Agent Warning On Non-Existent Solar Installations\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-10T19:59:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/regulator-stc-solar-mb0540\/\"},\"wordCount\":633,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/regulator-stc-solar-mb0540\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/solar-stc-compliance.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"General Solar &amp; 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The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"STC compliance - Solar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/solar-panels-stc.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/solar-panels-stc.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/solar-panels-stc.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/solar-panels-stc.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26321,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/stc-regulator-solar-mb0852\/","url_meta":{"origin":20726,"position":1},"title":"Fresh Regulator Warning On Non-Existent Solar Installations","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"December 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Australia's Clean Energy Regulator has again warned registered REC agents to ensure solar power systems that STCs are created for actually exist. Australia\u2019s major solar subsidy is based on Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) that have a value usually traded at the point of sale for a discount on a solar\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Small scale technology certificate scam","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/stc-solar-scam.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/stc-solar-scam.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/stc-solar-scam.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/stc-solar-scam.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/stc-solar-scam.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40945,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-installation-cer-mb1582\/","url_meta":{"origin":20726,"position":2},"title":"Solar Installer Pinged For Providing False Information","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"June 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Australia's Clean Energy Regulator has released details of recent compliance action against a Clean Energy Council accredited solar installer. Part of the Regulator's role is oversight of the integrity of programs operating under Australia\u2019s Renewable Energy Target, including the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES). The SRES is the mechanism that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Clean Energy Regulator solar investigation","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/clean-energy-regulator.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/clean-energy-regulator.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/clean-energy-regulator.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/clean-energy-regulator.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/clean-energy-regulator.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20158,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/regulator-sres-visits-mb0510\/","url_meta":{"origin":20726,"position":3},"title":"Clean Energy Regulator To Visit SRES Registered Agents","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"March 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As part of its ongoing efforts to ensure compliance among agents creating small-scale technology certificates within the REC Registry, Clean Energy Regulator representatives will be paying a visit to registered agents across the country from next month. Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) form the basis of Australia's major solar subsidy, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Clean Energy Regulator","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/clean-energy-regulator-visits.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/clean-energy-regulator-visits.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/clean-energy-regulator-visits.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/clean-energy-regulator-visits.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17442,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/stc-solar-power-mb0352\/","url_meta":{"origin":20726,"position":4},"title":"Clean Energy Regulator Claims Another STC Scalp","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"December 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Australia's Clean Energy Regulator has announced enforcement action concerning another company it states improperly created small-scale technology certificates (STCs) associated with solar power installations. Australia's major solar subsidy, still often referred to as the \u201csolar rebate\u201c, is based on Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs). The number of certificates a system is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar panels - Small-scale Technology Certificates","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/solar-panels-stc.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/solar-panels-stc.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/solar-panels-stc.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/solar-panels-stc.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34925,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/cer-solar-compliance-mb1292\/","url_meta":{"origin":20726,"position":5},"title":"Clean Energy Regulator Frustrated With SRES Non-Compliance","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"November 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Australia's Clean Energy Regulator says it continued to see \"unacceptably high-levels of wilful and reckless non-compliance\" in connection with STC creation under Australia's Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) in 2018-19. The SRES is the program that delivers Australia's solar rebate, which is actually a subsidy that provides a point-of-sale discount\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Clean Energy Regulator - Australia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/cer-solar-compliance.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/cer-solar-compliance.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/cer-solar-compliance.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/cer-solar-compliance.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/cer-solar-compliance.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20726"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20729,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20726\/revisions\/20729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}