UNDERSTANDING SOLAR ACCREDITATION
Infinite Energy has been a proud signatory to the Clean Energy Council’s (CEC) Solar PV Retailer Code of Conduct since early 2015. When speaking to our customers about our Approved Retailer Status we have come to realise that people are often confused by the different CEC accreditations and incorrectly think a Member or Accredited Installer is the same thing as an Approved Retailer.
If you are thinking of purchasing solar for your home or for your business we highly recommend you continue reading so you can understand the difference and make an informed decision about the company you choose to buy from.
Clean Enery Council membership is open to any organisation. There are varying levels of membership each with an associated annual fee. Membership levels include:
Infinite Energy chooses to support the work of the Clean Energy Council by being a Corporate Member. This allows us to be part of the conversations that will drive Australia’s clean energy future and also gives us access to various working groups and industry briefings.
Buying from a company that is a Clean Energy Council Member doesn’t provide you as a customer with any benefits or assurances.
You can read more about CEC Membership here.
Another term which can sometimes cause confusion is when someone says they are a CEC Accredited Designer and/or Installer. CEC accreditation is a qualification that demonstrates competence in design and/or installation of solar PV systems and is only available to individual solar PV system designers and installers, not organisations.
In order to gain this accreditation, individuals must go through an accreditation process with the CEC which includes specific training units.
To claim STCs on a solar installation, it must have been designed and installed by a CEC accredited installer. Given that every customer who purchases a solar PV system would want to take advantage of the Government incentives available, you are highly unlikely to find an installer that is not CEC Accredited. Needless to say, all of Infinite Energy’s systems are designed and installed by CEC Accredited Installers.
Given that CEC accreditation is expected of all installers it is not something a solar provider should be using to distinguish themselves from their competitors (it would be like a taxi company telling you they are great because all of their drivers have driving licences…).
You can read more about CEC Accreditation here.
The Clean Energy Council Solar Retailer Code of Conduct is a voluntary scheme for solar retailers, enabling them to show their commitment to responsible sales and marketing activities and solar industry best practice.
Authorised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the code aims to lift the bar higher than the minimum requirements set by government and regulations and bring about a better standard of service within the solar industry.
Customers who purchase from a CEC Approved Retailer gain peace of mind knowing that the company will:
Pre-sale
Post-sale
Documentation and general business
You can read more about the CEC Solar Retailer Code of Conduct here.
Infinite Energy was awarded the Clean Energy Council's Approved Retailer Status in February 2015. We believe this recognition sets us apart from many of our competitors and is one of the many reasons you should choose Infinite Energy as your preferred solar power provider.
View the CEC Approved Retailer Flyer:
When we first started looking at getting solar panels for our home we knew very little about solar energy and there were so many different opinions and information on the topic which made it confusing.
I contacted Kane at Donna's Electrical to find out more info as they have a reputable name in our area. Kane was very helpful in explaining to me how solar panels work, the benefits etc. He answered all of my questions and also sent me tutorial videos on the panels they install which was quite handy.
After deciding we will go ahead with a solar system of our choice and size, Kane booked in a day to install the product. They were all done in one day and left the premises very tidy.
It has been several months now since and overall, our electrical bill has more than halved. That is the same for summer and winter. During summer I am able to run all irrigation, air conditioning and perhaps a washing machine and all of that power is covered with my solar panels, not costing me a cent.
I will most certainly add on to our solar system in the future and will without a doubt use Donna's Electrical for the job. I can highly recommend them.
Kane demonstrated a sound knowledge of solar generation and storage in designing a system to suit our requirements. He and his team did an excellent job of installation and persisted with a difficult commissioning due to our location having fringe connectivity. Very pleased with the result.
We had Donna’s Electrical install a 6kW solar system using LG 360 NeON panels & Enphase IQ7 micro-inverters with the system split on north & western aspects.
I chose Donna’s because the business ticked all of the boxes in what I was looking for; a reputable, local family owned business that’s been established a long time, which uses top quality products that come with industry best warranties.
Kane Donnelly was very knowledgeable, informative, helpful and worked on the install himself (no contractors involved in the process).Both he and his workers were friendly, professional and delivered a system I can be confident, will produce clean energy and deliver cheaper bills, long into the future; and if something does go wrong we have the best guarantees on offer.
Donna’s Electrical delivered a quality system on time, at a price I was comfortable with and I am happy to recommend them.
I would like to thank Donna Electricals, Kane and his Crew - Brett, Brad and Callan for the fantastic job at installing my solar system with the tesla battery backup system. Not only did the install only take 2 days, the whole crew were polite and helpful, answering any questions I had during the install. Kane your estimate on what my power needs would be and providing the system size accordingly was spot on.
The peace of mind I now have knowing that my backup battery will kick in at time of power outages is PRICELESS, working from home for a cloud based multinational company means I need uninterrupted power for the home office and indeed the internet, to run continually and efficiently, I now have that.
I am happy for Kane to post pictures of the install at my home and would be more than happy to provide a verbal recommendation for these guys.
I ended up looking into solar as an off grid solution when the price to get power to my house block was much more than expected. After doing some research and speaking to a few different solar providers I decided to go with Donnas Electrical. Hoping that by going local follow up service and quality of products would not be an issue, I had read plenty of horror stories. To be honest I could not be happier with my choice. Kane was able to supply a system to the budget I had in mind (which was quite a strict budget), on par with other quotes I had received and half that of getting the house connected to grid power. The installation was done to my time schedule and most importantly everything was very neat and tidy. Follow up service has been magnificent and I have no concerns that if I'm ever to have an issue they will be contactable. Every thing has worked exactly as it should and to the quality I expect. I would recommend dealing with the team at Donna's Electrical to anyone.
Thank you to Kane and the team at Donnas Electrical for the supply and installation of our solar and battery at Bordertown. Your service and communication from start to finish was fantastic. Loved also that the person who quoted did the installation.
Having solar panels installed was definately the best investment I have ever made and getting the Tesla Battery was the icing on the cake. Finally in credit, yay one happy customer!
Having read information in the Advertiser and online, and having compared all the batteries available we decided that the Telsa 2 was the best battery for our 5kw solar system, A friend recommended Donna's Electrical to us after his installation, as he couldn't be happier with it. Donna's did all the paper work for the government subsidies etc and turned up and had the new battery fitted, wired to the internet and even put the app in our phones before they left. We are very happy with our system and are counting the savings using our own solar rather than having it go into the grid for chicken feed. We have already recommended Donna's to a neighbour who will have a new installation shortly.
