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Licensing · WA · solar installer

How to check a solar installer licence in Western Australia

The short answer

Solar Accreditation Australia nationally, and Building and Energy for the electrical licence is the authority for solar installers in Western Australia, and the licence to look for is a solar accreditation, plus a WA electrical contractor licence. Ask for the number and the exact entity name it is held under, which is often a company rather than the person on site, then search the Building and Energy licence and registration search yourself rather than accepting a photo of a card.

Checked against 5 published sources, listed in full at the end of this page. How we source this

Who issues it, and where to search

Regulator

Solar Accreditation Australia nationally, and Building and Energy for the electrical licence

What the licence is called here
solar accreditation, plus a WA electrical contractor licence
Register to search
the Building and Energy licence and registration searchBuilding and Energy (WA) ↗

Western Australia's network operators impose their own approval requirements on connecting and exporting from a solar system, which is a third gate after the licence and the accreditation. Ask the installer who is lodging that application.

How to check it, in order

  1. Ask for the licence number and the exact name it is held under. It is often a company rather than the person standing in front of you, and the register searches on the name it was issued to.
  2. Search the Building and Energy licence and registration search yourself. A photograph of a card proves that a licence once existed, not that it is current.
  3. Check the class or category covers this work. A licence that is valid for one kind of work is not a licence for another, and that is the gap that most often matters.
  4. Check the expiry date and any conditions or disciplinary history recorded against it.
  5. Confirm the ABN on the quote matches the entity named on the licence, using ABN Lookup. A mismatch between who is licensed and who you are contracting with is worth asking about before you pay a deposit.

What the licence covers

Grid-connected solar and battery installation is licensed electrical work, and on top of that the installer needs industry accreditation for the system to be eligible for small-scale technology certificates. The discount that appears on almost every quote. Battery storage is a separate endorsement on that accreditation.

What you can legally do yourself

None. A photovoltaic array is a direct-current source that is live whenever there is daylight and cannot be switched off from inside the house.

There are three separate things to check on a solar quote and most people check one. The installer's electrical licence, issued by your state. Their accreditation, which is national and which the certificate discount depends on. And whether the person who signs the installation is the person who does it, because supervision arrangements are where accreditation schemes have had their enforcement problems.

Accreditation changed hands recently, which is why older advice is unreliable here: responsibility for accrediting installers passed to Solar Accreditation Australia, appointed by the Clean Energy Regulator. Material naming the previous scheme as the current accrediting body is out of date.

Related questions

Who accredits solar installers in Australia?
Solar Accreditation Australia, appointed by the Clean Energy Regulator as the accrediting body for installers and designers of small-scale solar systems. Accreditation is what makes a system eligible for small-scale technology certificates, which is the discount shown on most quotes.
Is accreditation the same as an electrical licence?
No, and both are required. The electrical licence is issued by your state and permits the electrical work. The accreditation is national and is what the certificate discount depends on. An installer can hold one without the other, and checking only one leaves the other unchecked.

Sources

Every source below was fetched and its response recorded on the date shown. Where a government site blocks automated clients, that is noted rather than reported as a successful check.

  1. Building and Energy licence and registration search · Building and Energy (WA)Checked 2026-08-18 · responded 200 OK
  2. Building and Energy · Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (WA)Checked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  3. About accreditation · Solar Accreditation AustraliaChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  4. For consumers · Clean Energy CouncilChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  5. ABN Lookup · Australian Business RegisterChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK

Other trades in Western Australia:

Checking a solar installer somewhere else: