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What accreditation does a solar installer need?

The short answer

Accreditation with Solar Accreditation Australia, which took over from the Clean Energy Council on 29 February 2024. Without it, your system cannot generate the federal certificates that fund the discount.

TradieAnswers editorial · written in-house and sourced to the authorities listed below

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

This is the single most consequential check in a solar purchase, because it is not merely a quality signal. It determines whether the federal discount exists at all. A system installed by someone without current accreditation cannot create Small-scale Technology Certificates, so the discount quoted to you cannot be delivered.

The change worth knowing about

For years the answer to this question was 'Clean Energy Council accredited', and a great deal of published advice still says so. The Clean Energy Regulator appointed Solar Accreditation Australia as the scheme operator, and SAA's scheme took effect on 29 February 2024. Installers had until 29 May 2024 to transfer. New and renewing accreditation is now with SAA.

The Clean Energy Council still exists and still runs consumer-facing programmes, including its Approved Solar Retailer scheme, which is about the retailer selling you the system rather than the person installing it. Both are worth knowing about; they are not the same thing.

What to check

  1. Ask for the accreditation number of the person who will physically install the system, not the salesperson.
  2. Confirm it on the Solar Accreditation Australia register.
  3. Confirm the installer will actually be on site. Accreditation attaches to a person, and a system signed off by someone who never attended is a known form of fraud in this industry.
  4. Separately, check whether the retailer is a CEC Approved Solar Retailer. That speaks to the sales and warranty side.

Related questions

Is Clean Energy Council accreditation still valid for installers?
No. The CEC completed the handover of installer and designer accreditation to Solar Accreditation Australia in 2024. Current installer accreditation is with SAA. The CEC's Approved Solar Retailer programme is separate and continues.

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. About accreditation · Solar Accreditation AustraliaChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  2. Solar Accreditation Australia · Solar Accreditation AustraliaChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  3. CER appoints new solar accreditation scheme operator · energy.gov.auChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  4. For consumers · Clean Energy CouncilChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  5. Clean Energy Regulator · Clean Energy RegulatorChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK

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