Eligible small-scale renewable energy systems are entitled to a number of small-scale technology certificates under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, .

The number of certificates that can be created per system is based on its geographical location, installation date, and the amount of electricity in megawatt hours (MWh) that is:

  • generated by the small-scale solar panel, wind or hydro system over one or five years, or a single maximum deeming period, or
  • displaced by the solar water heater or heat pump over the course of its lifetime of up to 10 years.

As a guide, one certificate is equal to one megawatt hour of eligible renewable electricity either generated or displaced by the system.  You can calculate the number of certificates a system may be eligible for ​using the  small generation unit STC calculator.

The Renewable Energy Target is supported by an online registry system, called the REC Registry, which facilitates the creation, validation, auditing and transfer of certificates

Once created and validated, these certificates act as a form of currency and can be sold to recoup a portion of the cost of purchasing and installing the system, or transferred to other individuals and businesses at a negotiated price.

When calculating The stc value of a solar installation the final figure produced is the stc value for the proposed installation and as an example we will say that a given installation has come back with a value of 50 stc’s

Now the value of that installation at 50 stc’s will not change, however the value of the individual stc’s can change a lot. The value of the stc’s is decided by market demand for them. They have a ceiling (maximum) price of $40 each but in the past have dropped by  as much as half their value in a short period of time. This would increase the cost of a given solar  system by thousands of dollars.

It is for this reason our quotes have a short period of validity, this is not to pressure a sale just to protect from losses. In most cases a recently expired quote can be quickly reissued once the current market value of stc’s is verified.

The above information is in part courtesy of The Clean Energy Regulator.

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If you have any further questions on STC’s batteries or solar power please don’t hesitate to contact the team at Northern Perth Electrical.