Major inverter and battery makers back CEC in accreditation stoush, but call for reforms

Solar, inverter and battery manufacturers have weighed in on the debate over who should manage the list of products allowed to participate in Australia’s Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, calling for the job to stay with the Clean Energy Council.

The Clean Energy Regulator last month advised industry that it would nominate the CEC to continue its role as the solar panel and inverter product listing body under the SRES, the federal rooftop solar subsidy.

The notification kicked off a 28-day submission period, with industry stakeholders invited to provide feedback on the decision. It also kicked off fierce debate, with some in the industry dismayed by the CEC’s nomination.

The CEC in March handed over control of SRES installer and designer accreditation, after the CER appointed Solar Accreditation Australia to take over its operation, following a review of that scheme.

This followed the findings of a major federal government-ordered review into the integrity of the SRES that called for the CER to take over full control of the scheme, replacing a co-regulation system led by the CEC.

“The Clean Energy Council has repeatedly failed to deliver a professional and timely service to our industry,” solar industry guru and SmartEnergyLabs director Glen Morris said in a video message posted to LinkedIn last month.

“I hear complaints all the time about delays …[and] we’ve seen these long delays in the approval process causing significant economic impacts.

“This isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a roadblock to progress. It’s slowing down the entire renewable energy transition in Australia,” Morris said.

But with one week of consultation left before the CER makes its final call, a group of nine leading solar, inverter and battery manufacturers has backed the call to keep the job with the CEC – although not without some significant changes and reforms.

The group – including battery giant sonnen, inverter majors SolarEdge and Fronius, and Australia’s only solar panel manufacturer Tindo Solar – says it believes the CEC is “the most experienced and capable entity within the Australian industry to hold the product listing function.”

But the group also acknowledges that the product listing process is by no means perfect and that work needs to be done, both by industry and the CEC, to get it working better.

 

“Over the years, due to the growing level of complexity dictated by the standards and interpretation by other industry regulators, aspects of the listing process have become complicated and must be improved,” the letter says.

“Furthermore, we as a group expect higher levels of transparency and accountability from the CEC with regards to processing times after payment of application fees as these are very often not in line with the expectations set at the time of lodging an application and can have significant impacts on business.”

The changes called for by the group of nine manufacturers include improvements to the website structure for lodging applications; a simplified process for applications where multiple variations of the same product exist, and; a simpler re-listing process for product renewals where specs have not changed.

Additionally, the group calls for shorter timeframes for initial application review; more transparency on where an application is in “the queue;” a review to the pricing structure and; a review of the three-year product listing limit when product certificates and reports are valid for five years.

“We as a group support the nomination for the Solar Panel and Inverter Product Listing Body to remain being the CEC on the basis that the… listed improvements to the listing process are implemented by the CEC as soon as possible, ideally after round table discussions with OEMs and impacted organisations,” the group says.

“We look forward to collectively and iteratively working with the CER, and related entities to ensure the continued growth and enhancement of the Australian renewable energy industry.”

The other signatories to the letter include GoodWe, SMA Australia, Solis Australasia, Winaico Australia and Aiko Solar Australia.