Gridly
Clean Energy Council
CECAustralia's peak body for the clean energy industry. CEC accreditation of solar installers and product approval of panels, inverters, and batteries is required to access government rebates including STCs.
What the CEC is
The Clean Energy Council is a not-for-profit industry body representing businesses across Australia’s clean energy sector - solar, wind, batteries, EVs, and more. For homeowners, it’s most relevant as the body that runs the accreditation and product approval schemes that determine whether your solar installation qualifies for federal and state rebates.
Why accreditation matters
Under the federal Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES), to create STCs and access the point-of-sale discount, the installation must be carried out by a CEC-accredited installer using CEC-approved products.
An installer without CEC accreditation can still physically install a solar system. But the system won’t generate STCs, which means you miss out on the $2,000–$5,000 upfront discount that an equivalent system installed by an accredited installer would receive. For the same reason, state-based rebates (VIC solar homes program, NSW Empowering Homes, etc.) universally require CEC accreditation as a condition of eligibility.
The approved products list
The CEC maintains lists of:
- Approved solar panels - modules that have passed the required IEC testing
- Approved inverters - grid-connected inverters meeting Australian standards
- Approved battery storage products - batteries and battery systems meeting safety and performance requirements
Not everything on the market is on these lists. Some panels and inverters are sold in Australia without CEC product approval - typically budget imports. These can legally be installed but cannot be used in a rebate-eligible system, and they may not comply with Australian installation standards.
The CEC’s consumer-facing mark
The CEC’s “Solar Retailer Code of Conduct” is a separate voluntary scheme for companies selling solar - not just installing it. Members commit to certain consumer protection standards around sales practices and quoting. While it’s not a guarantee of quality, it does give consumers a recourse mechanism if a member breaches the code.
When getting solar quotes, checking that both the installing company and the specific products on the quote appear on the relevant CEC approved lists takes about five minutes and is worth doing.