CEC Accreditation for Solar PV Installation

Since 2009, the attainment of CEC accreditation for installation of Solar PV systems has been the standard for the industry because of its ties to the Federal Government’s small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES). Distributed Network Service Providers (DNSPs) soon followed suit to include CEC accreditation in their application to correlate their requirements with the Federal Government. Both the Federal Government and DNSPs recognized Clean Energy Council (CEC) accreditation as proof of the knowledge and skills required to deliver a quality PV system. There are registered training organizations in the country who specialize in providing courses which endorses the CEC accreditation of an installer.

1. Holding CEC accreditations is regularly a prerequisite to winning PV projects, obtaining project insurance, and maintaining product warranty.
2. CEC accreditation is mandatory for the creation of STCs under the SRES, demerit points issued by the CEC for non-compliance to Australian Standards
3. CEC guidelines provides important feedback to installers, and actively incentivizes installers to stay up to date with current best installation practices
4. The Continuous Professional Development (CPD) scheme, which requires accredited installers and designers to obtain 100 CPD points each year as part of the accreditation renewal process, also ensures accredited installers and designers stay up to date with best industry practices.

CEC Accreditation of Battery Storage Systems

In the past three years, market interest for battery energy storage systems has increased significantly, caused by both the state of our electricity market and product maturity. However, current battery energy storage technologies require additional knowledge to achieve safe and effective integration into existing electrical infrastructure. In response, the CEC developed the grid-connected battery endorsement as an addition to grid-connected PV system install and design accreditation. The CEC’s battery energy storage system endorsement is yet to been tied to legislative or DNSP connection requirements. However, it is certain that the industry will benefit from technical and industry support provided by the CEC to accredited installers and designers.

Image Source: Clean Energy Council (Australia)