Installers do not need a new rulebook every year. They need to know which two or three things changed, what the regulator now looks at, and which habits to adjust. For 2026 that comes down to three areas: evidence for battery claims, the arrival of mid-scale solar in the small-scale scheme, and a general lift in how closely claims are checked. This is a practical summary, not legal advice. Where the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) publishes a notice, the notice wins.
Battery evidence: the rule that costs money
Since 1 March 2026 the evidence expected for a battery claim under the Cheaper Home Batteries Program has been stricter. In practice the CER wants to be able to see, from your submission alone, that the right battery was installed at the right address by an accredited installer.
Treat the following as the minimum you capture on the day, and keep it with the job file:
- The installed battery in place, with the nameplate or serial legible in the photo
- The inverter or controller serial where it is relevant to the model
- The installation location, so the site can be matched to the address on the claim
- Evidence of the installer’s accreditation and the CEC-approved model
- Signed customer documentation, including the STC assignment where the customer assigns the certificates to you
A 14 kWh battery at the current factor of 6.8 creates about 95 STCs. At a market price near $38.50 that is roughly $3,660 tied to a job file, which is why a missing photo is expensive. Our battery submission guide and the photo requirements article set the standard we check against at the desk.
Mid-scale solar enters the small-scale scheme
The most important structural change of the year is that the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme has been extended to mid-scale solar. Systems above 100 kW and up to 1 MW installed from 1 October 2026 create STCs with a fixed five-year deeming period. The Renewable Energy (Electricity) Regulations were amended in 2026, and the CER has said applications open mid to late November 2026. Under 100 kW nothing changes. Above 1 MW remains LGCs.
For commercial installers that means a different compliance posture. A 150 kW rooftop in a zone 3 postcode creates 150 x 1.382 x 5 = 1,036 STCs, around $39,900 at $38.50. That is a large single claim with a larger audit target on it. Expect questions about the installer’s accreditation for the system size, the design and the electrical documentation, so build the file like a commercial job, not a residential one. We keep the detail on mid-scale solar and STCs, and the earlier cap logic in the 100 kW limit.
Checks have become part of the cost of doing business
The CER’s job is to keep the integrity of a scheme that creates tens of millions of certificates a year. That means audits, reviews of registry data and the occasional invalidation after the fact. The common failure modes are not exotic:
| Problem | How it shows up | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Serial numbers do not match the approved product list | Claim held or rejected | Check serials against the CEC list before lodging |
| Photos missing, blurred or from the wrong site | Claim held for evidence | Capture to the checklist on the day, not from memory |
| Installation type recorded incorrectly | Wrong certificate count | Confirm new, replacement or additional |
| Installer attendance not demonstrated | Audit finding | Keep attendance records and sign-offs |
| Customer paperwork incomplete | Delay at lodgement | Use a checked assignment form every time |
Our guide to how STC audits work sets out what a review looks like and how long it takes. For specifics on the rejection reasons we see most, read top STC claim rejection reasons.
What the CER can do after you have been paid
A point many crews miss: payment is not the end of the story. If a certificate is later found to have been created in error, the CER can require it to be corrected or invalidated, and the person who created it is the one on the hook. That is the reason the answer to “who carries the risk after I sell” matters. Read our short piece on STC clawbacks before you sign any trader agreement, and check who bears the cost of a failed validation.
From the desk: Run a 60-second internal check before every lodgement: serials, address, installation type, photo count, signed forms. Crews who do this reject themselves less often than the registry rejects them, and a rejected claim that has already been paid forward to a trader is the expensive kind. Our compliance desk does the same check on every claim before it goes in, but it is only useful if your file is complete when it arrives.
Accreditation and who may do what
Solar installers need accreditation through Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA) for solar work, with batteries needing the right accreditation for storage. A solar-only licence does not automatically cover battery installs. If you are adding batteries to your offering this year, confirm your accreditation scope before the first install, not after the first rejection.
Record keeping that stands up later
Audits rarely arrive on the day you did the job. They arrive months later, when the crew has moved on and the site details are fuzzy. Keep a job file that tells the story on its own: the signed paperwork, the full photo set, the serial list, the approved-product check, the accreditation details, and the date and time of installation. Store it somewhere your office can search by address. Your trader should be able to retrieve the same information, and our guide to the STC assignment form sets out the paperwork order we recommend. The test is simple: could someone who was not on the job reconstruct what happened in under ten minutes?
Retention matters too. Keep records for as long as the scheme could ask about them, which in practice means years rather than months. If you are unsure of the period that applies to you, check the CER’s guidance for installers, and err on the long side.
A short training agenda for your crew
Spend 30 minutes with the crew and cover:
- The photo set for solar, battery and hot water, with phone examples of good and bad
- How serials are read and recorded, and what a typo costs
- When an install counts as new, replacement or additional
- The customer paperwork, in the right order, before the job starts
- The install date rule, since the battery factor steps on 1 January 2027
What to do next
- Check your battery job file against the evidence list above, then fix the gaps
- Read the CER’s notice pages for your product type and note the date
- Use the STC calculator to quote correctly for the system size and year
- See how Energy Merchants pre-checks claims and what we publish on pricing
- Bookmark the scheme changes hub