Featured image: Commencing switchboard work for a solar PV and battery installation.
Choosing CPD courses to suit your needs
All courses that attract continuing professional development (CPD) points are listed on the CPD Courses page of the SAA website. There are 341 courses available, with the majority offered by third-party providers.
The search function on the web page (identified by the green box in the screenshot above) can help you select courses of interest that are most suited to your needs. As suggestions:
You might like to search using terms such as ‘Free’ or ‘Online’, enter the name of industry organisations, or your favourite training provider to find courses of interest.
You can also search by topics such as battery, solar, safety or compliance.
And you can re-order content by clicking at the top of a column, which is useful to arrange courses by ‘Duration’, ‘CPD Points’ awarded, or even ‘Cost’.
To access more information on courses, simply click in the ‘More’ column at the right of the course table, and select 'View more' for the course you're interested in.
See our simple video showing how to navigate the CPD Courses page.
All accredited professionals are required to complete 100 CPD Points every 12 months of their accreditation, including any required mandatory modules during the cycle. There are a range of other points that are useful to know about CPD:
Where an accreditee has already completed 100 CPD points for the current CPD year, points from a mandatory module may be credited towards the next CPD year.
Where courses are completed in SAA’s CPD Hub platform, points are automatically credited to your profile.
Where courses are completed through third-party providers, certificates must be uploaded through the CPD Points page in the SAA Portal. SAA will not review or award CPD points for certificates sent by email.
CPD courses must be completed within the accreditee’s current CPD cycle to be eligible for points.
Courses completed in a previous CPD cycle cannot be claimed in the current cycle.
While CPD Hub modules can be completed more than once, CPD points are only awarded for the first completion and are not awarded for subsequent completions.
The same course cannot be claimed more than once. This includes courses already claimed in a previous CPD cycle.
A one-month CPD extension can be purchased through the SAA Portal. The extension must be purchased before the CPD due date and can only be purchased once for each year of accreditation. If purchased after the CPD due date, no extension will be granted.
We're responsible for administering the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES). This includes reviewing small-scale technology certificates (STC) applications and supporting compliance with scheme requirements.
Installer onsite verification (IOV) selfies
You must ensure IOV photos show the accredited installer who attended the installation. As part of our usual compliance process, we’ve identified instances where installers are providing false IOV selfies where the individual in the photo doesn’t match the accredited installer recorded for that installation.
The information and evidence you provide must be true and reflect what occurred on site. Providing false or misleading evidence may result in compliance action against you and the registered agent. This may include your removal from the scheme, civil or criminal penalties. We have zero tolerance for participants who seek to benefit from providing false or misleading information.
We’ve updated our solar battery photo guide which explains what photos are needed to prove solar battery installations meet critical labelling requirements.
The update now includes:
what file formats are accepted
which labels are only required for solar batteries that provide backup power
how to provide evidence to show a solar battery doesn’t provide backup power
what to do if specific signage isn’t needed, such as when it’s not relevant to the battery type.
We use sophisticated artificial intelligence as part of our comprehensive assessment process to make sure all claims meet photo requirements.
Working with industry
We are committed to working with industry to support safe, high-quality battery installations under the SRES.
SAA’s website and the accreditation portal will be offline for maintenance and portal updates from midday, Tuesday 30 June.
CPD Hub will continue to be available from a link on the website maintenance screen.
SAA apologises for any inconvenience and will work to minimise the duration of the outage.
New web pages help navigate accreditation
SAA has published some new web pages to support accredited professionals in navigating the accreditation scheme and its policies and processes.
The Scheme Administration page contains key policies and documents related to the Accreditation Scheme, including the SAA Technical Requirements, Code of Conduct for Accredited Persons, Privacy Policy and Accreditation Agreement.
The page also contains links to information on installation limits and the process and requirements to apply for an exemption.
Want to double your battery training budget?
Powering Australia is offering to match training investments of up to $30,000 for businesses ready to invest in upskilling their people in battery technologies.
Powering Australia is a federally funded Industry Growth Centre focused on strengthening Australia’s clean-tech manufacturing.
Funding is available on a first come, first served basis until 2027 or until program funds are exhausted, across training in battery systems, safety and emerging technologies.
Applying is easy, visit the Powering Australia website to find out more.
