There are three clocks running between the end of an install and money in your account, and only one of them is yours to control.
The three stages
- Your paperwork. Photos, the installer statement, serial numbers and the customer’s signed assignment form have to be complete. This is the stage where most delays are self-inflicted. A claim sent with a missing photo goes back and forth for days.
- The regulator and registry. Once a claim is lodged in the REC Registry, the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) validates it and the certificates are created. For a clean claim this is usually days, not weeks, but it can stretch if the claim is flagged for review.
- The buyer’s payment terms. After the certificates land with the trader, the trader pays on its own schedule. This is the stage that varies most.
Who pays when
STCs are not “paid out” by the CER. There is no government cheque. A buyer pays you, and the buyer is whoever holds the right to the certificates: a registered agent, a trader, or you if you sell them yourself.
Typical payment terms in the market sit between 5 and 20 business days from a complete claim. Some buyers pay weekly, some batch payments monthly, and a few settle in a day. The gap matters because you are carrying the STC discount you already gave the customer. On a 6.6 kW system that is roughly $1,700 to $1,800 at the time of writing (STC spot roughly $38 to $40, and the clearing house ceiling is $40), and a crew installing ten systems a week has well over $15,000 tied up in waiting.
What slows a payment down
- An incomplete or blurry photo set. See the photo requirements.
- A customer who has not signed the assignment form.
- A claim flagged for CER review, which holds the certificates until it is cleared.
- A trader paying on a monthly cycle, so a claim lodged on the 3rd waits for the 28th.
What this means for installers
Ask three questions of any trader: when does the clock start (lodgement, acceptance or registry validation), how often do you pay, and do you hold back anything pending audit. Put the answers next to the posted rate. A slightly lower rate with 24-hour settlement can beat a higher rate paid in three weeks once you count the cost of cash.
Energy Merchants settles within 24 hours for established partners, and the first claim for a new partner usually clears in 48 to 72 hours while details are verified. Today’s published rate is on pricing, and start trading takes a few minutes.
For the long version of the timeline, read how long should STC payment take and, if a payment is already late, why STC payment has not arrived. More questions of this kind are in the FAQ.