The CEC Approved Products List: what it means for your Perth solar purchase

The CEC Approved Products List is the Clean Energy Council's register of approved solar panels, inverters (the box that turns panel power into household power) and batteries. If a product on your Perth quote isn't on it, the system may lose the federal Small-scale Technology Certificate (STC) rebate. The check takes about ten minutes, and the time to do it is before you sign.

If you're still working out what to buy, WattMate's free energy audit report starts from your own bill and shows what suits your home.

STCs are the federal rebate that cuts the upfront cost of a solar system. Most installers build the discount into the quote, so you never claim it yourself. Whether it survives depends on three things meeting national requirements: the panels, the inverter and the installer.

What is the CEC Approved Products List?

It's three lists, one each for panels, inverters and batteries. A product gets onto a list only after its manufacturer submits technical documentation and independent test evidence showing it meets the relevant Australian standard. Each list applies its own standards:

• Approved Solar Panels: tested to international module standards. IEC 61215 covers performance and IEC 61730 covers safety. (AS/NZS 5033 governs how the array is installed. That is the installer's job, not the product listing's.)
• Approved Inverters: must meet AS/NZS 4777.2, the grid-connection standard for inverters.
• Approved Batteries: tested to battery product standards, such as IEC 62619. (AS/NZS 5139 governs how battery systems are installed.)

You can search each list yourself on the CEC site: approved solar panels, approved inverters, and approved batteries.

Why does CEC approval affect my STC rebate?

Because STCs are only created for listed equipment fitted by an accredited installer. Miss one of those and the discount can disappear.

For an entry-level Perth 6.6kW system, STCs currently work out to around $1,796. That figure shifts a little each year as the certificate price and the number of eligible years change, so treat it as today's benchmark rather than a fixed number. The complete Perth solar rebates guide shows how it's calculated.

To claim STCs, three conditions have to be met:

1. The panels are on the CEC Approved Solar Panels list.
2. The inverter is on the CEC Approved Inverters list.
3. The installer holds current accreditation under the national solar accreditation scheme. That accreditation now sits with Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA). SAA is an independent body appointed by the Clean Energy Regulator, not the CEC itself.

In practice your installer creates and sells the certificates, then passes the value on as a discount at the point of sale, when you sign and pay. So an ineligible system usually shows up as a higher quote, not a rejected rebate application.

Does CEC approval decide the WA battery rebate?

Not on its own. Eligibility turns on the inverter, not on the battery's CEC listing. A battery system needs an inverter on Synergy's Supported Solutions List to be eligible for the WA Battery Scheme. Other scheme conditions apply.

The rebate pays $130 per kWh (kilowatt-hour, a unit of energy) of usable battery capacity, capped at $1,300 for a 10kWh battery or larger. The Supported Solutions List (SSL) is a state-administered list of approved inverters, and it's a different thing from the CEC Approved Batteries list.

So a battery can hold CEC approval while the system it's part of still misses the WA battery rebate. The Tesla Powerwall 3 is the clearest example. It's CEC-approved, but its integrated inverter isn't currently SSL-approved for DER Storage (distributed energy resource storage). So Perth households installing one can't claim the WA battery rebate. Synergy doesn't publish a reason for every exclusion, so check rather than assume from the brand. Ask your installer to confirm the inverter's current SSL status, and what Battery Rewards enrolment involves, in writing.

How do I check if my quoted products are CEC approved?

Look up each product on the quote before you sign: the panels, the inverter and, if you're adding one, the battery. Then confirm the installer's SAA accreditation. The four checks take about ten minutes.

1. Look up the panels. Go to the approved-products register, select Solar Panels, and search by brand and model. If the exact model number on your quote doesn't appear, ask your installer to explain why.
2. Look up the inverter. Same register, Inverters tab. Brand and model.
3. Look up the battery, if you're installing one. Check the CEC Approved Batteries list, then, if you're claiming the WA battery rebate, confirm the inverter it pairs with is SSL-approved for DER Storage.
4. Confirm the installer's accreditation. Ask for their SAA accreditation number and look it up on the SAA register. The accrediting body changed from the CEC in 2024, and some older paperwork still names the old scheme.

For the people side of the same check, see the SAA accreditation guide. Installer profiles on find installers show which credentials WattMate has sighted.

What happens if my installer quotes a product that is not on the list?

Don't panic straight away. Products are added to the CEC lists all the time, and a new release can sit in a pending queue for a while. Ask the installer directly: "Is this on the CEC Approved Products List?" If it isn't, ask whether it's pending and when approval is expected. If there's no pending date, ask why it's being recommended.

Some answers are reasonable:

• The product came out in the last few months and the CEC submission is already lodged. Ask for a written timeline and confirmation that the STC discount will still apply once it's installed.
• It's a different variant of an approved product. Some manufacturers get one wattage approved before another, so a 435W panel might be listed while the 440W version from the same range isn't yet.

Others are a reason to be concerned:

• The installer can't confirm the approval status or doesn't know where to check.
• The installer treats the question as unimportant.
• The product has been on the market for 12 months or more with no CEC approval. Most established manufacturers clear the process faster than that.

Does CEC approval mean a product is good quality?

No. CEC approval is a compliance floor, meaning the minimum legal bar, not a quality ranking. It confirms a product meets Australian safety and performance standards, and nothing more. Warranty terms, brand reputation, and the manufacturer's financial stability are what actually separate a good system from a merely legal one.

This is the part most quotes gloss over. A CEC-approved 180W panel and a CEC-approved 445W TOPCon panel (a type of solar cell design) from a major manufacturer are both compliant. Over 25 years, they perform very differently. Degradation rate (how fast output falls over time) is one of the factors that separates them. Weigh the warranty terms of the exact model quoted. Treat "Tier 1" claims with care: the phrase comes from a third-party finance list, not a quality rating, and it isn't a CEC category at all.

Which brands are CEC approved in Perth?

Most of the brands Perth installers quote have approved models, but approval goes model by model, not brand by brand. The CEC register currently lists more than 3,700 approved panel models, close to 3,900 inverter models, and over 3,300 battery models. You can browse CEC-listed panels, inverters, and batteries, with their specifications, in the WattMate product index.

• Panels: Longi, Jinko, REC, Canadian Solar, and JA Solar all have current residential ranges on the list.
• Inverters: SolarEdge, Fronius, SMA, Sungrow, Goodwe, and Enphase are all represented, alongside other brands, some approved and some not. Check the specific model, not just the brand.
• Batteries: BYD, Sungrow, Alpha ESS, and Enphase all have current approved models, and most major battery brands do. Verify the exact model number against the register rather than assuming a brand name guarantees approval.

Still deciding what to buy? WattMate's free energy audit report works out what suits your home from your own bill.