Guidance, not advice. General information for a licensed sparky weighing solar as a service line — confirm current requirements with your state electrical regulator, the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) and Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA). Fees, rules and dates are as at May 2026 and change.
Rooftop solar is one of the biggest trade-work growth areas in the country — but to install grid-connected systems that claim the federal rebate (STCs), you need three things stacked on top of each other: an electrical licence, solar competencies, and SAA accreditation.
Who runs accreditation now (it changed)
Accreditation moved house. The Clean Energy Regulator approved Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA) as the accreditation scheme operator under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) from 29 February 2024, taking over from the Clean Energy Council (CEC). All new and renewing design/installer accreditations for STC-eligible systems now go through SAA — and you must be SAA-accredited to have a system claim STCs (see Solar Rebates: STCs & State Schemes).
The three stacked layers
- An unrestricted electrical licence in the state where you install — grid-connected PV is electrical work. (An unrestricted licence isn't generally needed only for off-grid or extra-low-voltage systems.) See Electrical, Plumbing, Gas & ARCtick Licensing.
- Solar PV units with an RTO — specific grid-connect design and/or install competencies, usually after or alongside the Cert III in Electrotechnology. These are the prerequisites for SAA accreditation (see CPC Qualification Pathway & RPL for how RTO units and RPL work).
- SAA accreditation in the stream you want — design-only, install-only, or design-and-install, with battery and stand-alone-power-system (SPS) categories you can add on.
Design-only needs RTO training plus SAA's online assessments (no practical). Install or design-and-install needs the theory plus online and practical assessment — SAA grants provisional accreditation while you finish the practical. From mid-2025 SAA moved from case-study assessment to an online accreditation exam for new accreditations.
The pathway for an already-licensed sparky
- Complete the solar PV units with an RTO (design, install, or combined), making sure the course maps to SAA's grid-connect competencies.
- Gather your documents — the RTO training certificate, proof of your unrestricted electrical licence, public liability cover (SAA expects at least $5M), a working-safely-at-heights certificate completed within the past 6 years, and photo ID. See Public Liability Insurance.
- Apply to SAA and pay the fees → you get provisional accreditation to work under conditions while you finish assessment.
- Complete the online (within ~30 days) and practical assessments → SAA upgrades you to full accreditation.
- Maintain it — full accreditation runs 3 years and requires 100 CPD points a year (core + elective).
Costs (indicative, incl GST, as at May 2026)
SAA's published fees: provisional ~$181.50, first upgrade to full (3-year) ~$605, three-year renewal ~$759, with adding a category (e.g. batteries) around $605 (or $209 for SPS). On top: the RTO solar course (several thousand dollars, provider-specific), a working-at-heights course ($200 + GST), and your public liability premium. Confirm the current SAA fee schedule — these move.
The rule that shapes your business: two sign-offs a day
Since 11 August 2025, an accredited installer can sign off a maximum of two installations a day across solar and batteries (e.g. two PV systems, two batteries, or one of each) — and the day of sign-off is the STC claim date. If you run a crew, plan jobs around this: it caps how many STC-claiming systems one accredited person can put their name to, so a growing business needs more accredited installers, not just more labourers.
Common mistakes
- Promising STC value before you (or your installer) hold current SAA accreditation and the products are on the approved list.
- Forgetting the two-sign-offs-a-day limit when scaling — it constrains throughput per accredited person.
- Letting the 100 CPD points or the 3-year renewal lapse and losing accreditation (and STC eligibility) mid-pipeline.
- Treating the SAA fee schedule or STC value as fixed — both move.
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