Selling your first STCs is easier than it looks and easier to get wrong than it looks. The easy part is the mechanics: finish a job, collect the evidence, lodge a claim, get paid. The hard part is the stuff that happens before the first job and the habits you build in the first month, because the habits decide whether claims clear first time or bounce.
This is the order we would follow if we were starting a solar installation crew today. It assumes you are accredited or on the way. For the wider business questions, see how to start a solar installation business. This piece stays on certificates.
Week one: set yourself up to be paid
Before the first install, tick off the admin that holds up payments.
- ABN and GST. Make sure your ABN is active and, if you are registered for GST, that you know how sales of certificates are treated. Our GST and ABN guide covers it.
- Business bank account. Use one that is separate from personal funds, with the account name matching your ABN registration. A mismatch between the account name and the ABN is a classic cause of a failed first payment.
- Accreditation details. Have your Clean Energy Council accreditation number and licence ready. Check the expiry date.
- Assignment form. Use the form your trader supplies, or our assignment form guide. The customer’s signature gives you the right to create the certificates.
The answer on whether you need to start trading to claim STCs explains the basic idea: someone has to be registered to create and sell them, and for most new installers that is the trader.
Week one: choose a trader
You are choosing a partner, not a price. For a new installer, the things that matter most are:
- Rate lock on lodgement. So the price you saw is the price you get
- Payment time. Days from lodging a complete claim to money in the bank
- Fees. All of them, in dollars
- Pre-checks. Whether someone reviews your claim before it is lodged
- A real person. A name and a phone number, not just a portal
Our certificate trader checklist lists the full set of questions. Do not choose on headline rate alone, as STC pricing explained shows.
Week two: your first install, your first claim
On the job, follow the compliance basics:
- Be on site, and sign only for work you did or properly supervised
- Photograph as you go, not at the end: arrays, inverter, serial numbers, labelling, address
- Get the assignment form signed before you leave
- Record the serial numbers in your job sheet
Our photo requirements guide and compliance checklist go through the evidence in detail.
Then lodge the claim with your trader, with the complete set. A complete claim is faster than a fast claim. If the trader pre-checks, you will hear about gaps within a day, and you can fix them before the claim reaches the registry.
What the first payment looks like
Many traders treat a new partner’s first claim with extra care, verifying your details before settling. At Energy Merchants, for example, the first claim for a new partner clears in 48 to 72 hours while the details are verified, and established partners move to 24-hour settlement. Others take longer. Ask for the number in writing.
A rough timeline for a clean first claim:
| Day | What happens |
|---|---|
| 0 | Job complete, claim lodged with full evidence |
| 0 to 1 | Trader pre-checks photos, forms, serials |
| 1 to 3 | Claim lodged in the registry, certificates validated |
| 2 to 3 | Payment released, for a first claim |
A claim with a missing form or an unreadable serial restarts the clock. Our guide on how long STC payment should take explains each step.
A worked example of your first month
Suppose you complete eight installs in month one, averaging 6.6 kW in a 1.382 zone, five years of deeming: about 45 STCs each, 360 in total. At a net $38 each, that is $13,680. That money is your cash flow. If it arrives in 2 to 3 days, you can pay suppliers on time and buy the next batch of panels. If it arrives in 20 days, you may need to carry $13,680 on your own account, or on a credit line, while you keep installing. This is why payment timing matters more to a new crew than a dollar of rate. Our answer on solar installer cash flow goes deeper.
From the desk: Do your first three claims slowly. Check every photo, every serial, every signature against the checklist before you send. Nothing builds a good relationship with a trader faster than three claims that clear first time, and nothing damages one faster than three that bounce.
Common new-installer mistakes
- Taking photos at the end of the day from memory, with the address missing
- Letting a customer sign the assignment form after the install, with a different date
- Quoting an STC discount at last month’s rate
- Not recording who was on site
- Lodging with the trader before the customer’s details are verified
Each is avoidable. The rejection reasons list will show you how often these appear.
Building the habit loop
By week four, aim to have a repeatable loop that takes under ten minutes per job. Photograph to a fixed list. Fill the job sheet on site. Collect the signed form before you leave. Upload the same evening. Have one person, even if it is you, check the claim against a short list before it is lodged. Over time, the loop becomes automatic, and the number of queries from your trader drops towards zero.
It is also the point at which a new crew should start asking about the partner program or its equivalent. Traders reward steady volume and clean claims with better rates and priority service, and a record of clean first-time claims is the thing that earns it. Keep your own tally of claims lodged, queries raised and days to payment, so you can show your trader the numbers when you ask for better terms.
What to do next
- Complete the week-one admin and write it down as a checklist
- Collect written terms from two or three traders and compare using the layers in STC pricing explained
- Read how it works for the claim path, and the start trading page when you are ready to open an account
- Keep the resources hub bookmarked for forms and checklists