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What is an STC?
Small-scale technology certificates, or STCs, are a tradable commodity attached to eligible installations of renewable energy systems (including solar panels, solar water heaters and heat pumps).
Under the Federal Government’s Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES), when you install an eligible system, you may claim a set number of these STCs.
What is an STC worth?
The financial value of an STC is dependent on the supply of and demand for STCs. As a result this value can be variable from day to day. The price is either offered as a point of sale discount and assigned back to the retailer to claim after installation.
What is STC compliance?
On the day of installation, an accredited CEC designer will use an app to record the date and time and geolocation of an installation, and will scan and record serial numbers of panels, inverter, and key system installation components as an official record of installation. This is then uploaded through the portal, scrutinized and finally approved for payment back to the retailer once a Certificate of Electrical Safety has also been uploaded against the recorded information. This process is quite intensive and is done as a service to the customer. Alternatively, the customer may wish to pay full price without a discount up front, take all responsibility for ensuring STC compliance and obtaining COES from installer, and individually administrate and trade with a STC broker company themselves..
How do they allocate a number of STCs to systems?
The number of STCs is based on the amount of electricity in megawatt hours (MWh):
- generated by your small-scale solar panel, wind or hydro system over the course of its lifetime of up to 15 years; or
- displaced by your solar water heater or heat pump over the course of its lifetime of up to 10 years.