What “CEC-accredited” means
The Clean Energy Council accredits designers and installers against industry guidelines. That accreditation is used in the STC paperwork. It is a competency signal. It is not a substitute for the state electrical licence (and, where the job touches structure or plumbing, those licences too).
Check the named person on the quote, not only a company logo on a van. A business can employ accredited people and still send someone else to your roof. Ask who will design, who will install, and who will sign the electrical certificate.
State regulators differ: New South Wales Fair Trading and the electrical licensing framework; Victoria’s Energy Safe and building practitioner rules; Queensland’s Electrical Safety Office; and the equivalent bodies in South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the ACT, and the Northern Territory. Look the number up. If it does not exist, stop.
Before you sign
- CEC-listed panel, inverter, and (if any) battery models — exact SKUs.
- Named accredited designer and accredited installer.
- State licence numbers you can look up.
- System size, panel count, and a roof plan that matches the site you walked.
- Mounting method: tin clamp, tile hook, tilt, ballast — in words, not “standard kit.” See mounting.
- Electrical inclusions: isolators, switchboard, meter, consumer mains, animal mesh, scaffold.
- Export-limit assumption and who lodges the DNSP application.
- STC assignment and the three-number price (gross / STC / net). See rebates.
- Product warranties and a workmanship/waterproofing warranty with a contact path.
- Cooling-off and variation clauses. Walk away from “today only.”
High-pressure same-day pricing is a sales technique. A roof in a January Melbourne storm or a February Brisbane downpour is not a reason to skip the paperwork.
How to compare two quotes fairly
Make a table. If quote A is cheaper because it dropped scaffolding, a switchboard upgrade, or swapped to an unlisted module, you are not comparing prices — you are comparing scopes.
Same kW, same architecture, same inclusions, then talk money. The compare two quotes essay is the worksheet. The cost guide explains why a national average is not a quote.
Are “$0 upfront” deals safe?
They are finance, rental, or power-purchase structures, not free systems. Read:
- interest or implicit cost of credit
- residual / balloon / early-exit
- who owns the hardware and the STCs
- who pays for inverter replacement in year ten
- what happens if you sell the house
If the salesperson cannot put that in writing, do not sign. Compare the total cost of credit against a cash quote from a licensed, accredited business. This is general information, not credit advice. If the contract is confusing, a licensed financial counsellor or solicitor is the next call — not this website.
After the install
Keep the design, the electrical certificate, the STC assignment, and the warranty pack. Photograph the roof and the inverter label. Monitoring drop-offs are the usual early warning — not a reason to climb the roof yourself.
If something leaks, the workmanship warranty and the roofing detail matter more than the module brand. See warranties and tile mounting.
What we will not do
We will not rank installers. We will not sell leads. We will not invent a “best solar company in Sydney 2026” list. Use CEC tools, state registers, and two comparable quotes.
Named people, not a franchise sticker
Accreditation attaches to people as well as to businesses. Ask for the designer’s name and the installer’s name as they appear on CEC tools. Ask who will be on the roof on the day. A van wrap is not a licence.
If the company uses subcontractors, that can be legitimate. It still must be visible. The person who signs the electrical certificate and the person who holds the workmanship warranty should be names you can find again in year four.
Site walk versus desktop design
A quote produced from a satellite image without a site walk can miss tile condition, switchboard age, shade from a new two-storey, and a rusted valley. Desktop design is a sketch. Pay a deposit only when the scope matches the roof you walked.
Take your own photos of the board, the roof planes, and the meter. Keep them with the quote table from compare two quotes.
After commissioning
Monitoring access, the DNSP approval, and the STC assignment should land with the warranty pack. If any of those is missing, chase it while the job is still warm. See maintenance and warranties.
We will not nominate a company in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, or anywhere else. We will not sell your email. That is the point of an editorial desk.
Finance is a second quote
A cash scope and a $0-upfront contract are not the same job even when the panels look identical. Read interest, residual, ownership of STCs, inverter replacement, and sale-of-house clauses. If that cannot be printed, do not sign. Compare the total cost of credit against the cash quote. This is general information, not credit advice.
High-pressure “today only” is a technique. A January Melbourne storm or a February Brisbane downpour is not a reason to skip the table.
After the job, chase monitoring access, DNSP approval, and the STC assignment while the job is warm. Photograph the roof from the ground and the inverter label. See maintenance.
What “CEC-accredited” does not do
It does not replace a state electrical licence. It does not replace an engineer on a non-standard roof. It does not replace reading the finance contract. It does not make a same-day price honest.
Look up the named people. Walk the roof. Put two scopes in the same columns. Then talk money. That is the whole diligence method on this domain. We will not add a leaderboard to finish the sentence.
General information only. Confirm accreditation on CEC tools and licences on your state regulator’s register. Last reviewed 25 September 2026.