Approved Products

Approved Grid Connect Inverters and PV modules suitable for installation under the government rebate programs and Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) schemes

Grid Connect Inverters - Testing Standards

Standards Australia has released three standards which are pertinent to grid connected inverter systems. These are:

-AS 4777.1 - 2002 Grid connection of energy systems via inverters Part 1: Installation requirements.
-AS 4777.2 - 2002 Grid connection of energy systems via inverters Part 2: Inverter requirements.
-AS 4777.3 - 2002 Grid connection of energy systems via inverters Part 1: Grid protection requirements.

Inverters must be tested against AS 4777.2 and 3 - 2002 (or equivalent) by an appropriate testing laboratory.

Testing Laboratories

The list of inverters available below, also includes a list of approved testing laboratories. RESLab is able to test to AS4777.  ITACS Lab is able to test to AS4777 and AS/NZS3100

Inverters

The Clean Energy Council does not approve inverters - it is the electricity utility which is responsible for approving inverters used in its jurisdiction. Approved inverters should have a Certificate of Suitability number and a date of testing. The testing date should be less than 5 years old.

The Clean Energy Council does not accept any liability to any person for the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice). The information provided here is done so on the basis that all persons using the information undertake responsibility for assessing the relevance and accuracy of its content. Please note carefully that Certificates of Suitability may no longer be current. Please don't hesitate to contact the CEC for more information on 03 9929 4100.

The current list of grid-connect inverters and approved testing laboratories has now been updated. Companies wishing to be included should contact the Clean Energy Council with accurate details of their approved products at accreditation@cleanenergycouncil.org.au.

• Download current list of approved grid-connect inverters

There are two pages of inverters listed. You may need to zoom in on this pdf file in order to read it effectively.

Procedure for adding certified PV modules to the database

For photovoltaic modules (solar panels) to be added to the Clean Energy Council's database of approved modules, there are Standards with which the modules must be compliant. Regardless of whether a rebate is sought, installation must be compliant with AS/NZS5033 and AS3000.

The Australian Standard AS/NZS5033, Photovoltaic Installations, Section 4 states that modules SHALL be compliant with IEC61730 Class A AND either IEC61215 or IEC61646. This was enforced effective 1st June 2009.

PV Systems less than 50 volts (open circuit) or 240 Watts do not need IEC61730 Class A however they should have Class C.  Please note Class B certified modules are illegal in Australia.

Module testing and certification must be performed by a laboratory certified to test PV standards under the IEC's CB scheme.

Module testing and certification

Module testing and certification can be obtained from the following: we only accept certificates from labs accredited with the IEC-CB scheme to perform PV testing as per our guidelines. (Click here for Testing Laboratories). When they have the correct certification they need to send a copy direct to the CEC now to be placed on the approved list.

TÜV Rheinland - Click Here

TÜV SÜD GmbH - Click Here

ASU-PTL - Click Here

VDE Offenbach - Click Here

JET Tokyo - Click Here

ESTI Italy - Click Here

If your modules are compliant and you wish them to be added to the Clean Energy Council database, please complete the following fields and email them to the Council accompanied by .pdf copies of the compliance certificate for each module. The Council will then verify the certificates with the issuing laboratory and add the data to the database. After each addition, the website will be updated.

• Download approved PV module list