How to Calculate Your STC

As owner of a solar panel system, you are entitled to create small scale technology certificates or STC. STC is part of the solar schemes and bonuses that the Australian government is offering and it is in the form of certificates. The number of STC that you can create varies depending on the size of the system you own, when did you qualify for the program and where you are located in Australia.

First and foremost, you must qualify within the program. Normally the qualifications are the same with the solar feed in tariff scheme. The most important thing that you must remember is to abide by the state rules as it varies.

To compute for the total of number of STC you can create for your solar panel systems, please be guided by this formula.

For an instance, (1.5KWh x 1.622 x 4 x 15) Maximum output of your system (1.5) multiplied by post code zone rating (1.622) multiplied by the current solar multiplier (4) then again multiplied by the deeming period (15)

On average, the maximum system allowed to qualify is 10 KWh; however the average home can only fit a 1.5 KWh system.

Australia is divided into four zones and is given its specific ratings accordingly.

Zone 1 = 1.622 Zone 2 = 1.536 Zone 3 = 1.382 Zone 4 = 1.185.

To check what zone you are located you will need your postal code and check the ratings in your local Government's website.

The solar multiplier was created to increase the number of STC's you can create. However you can see a decline in the multiplier in the next couple of years.

June 9, 2009 – June 30, 2010 = Multiplied by 5 July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011 = Multiplied by 5 July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012 = Multiplied by 4 July 1, 2012 – June 30 2013 Multiplied by 3 July 1, 2013 – June 30 2014 Multiplied by 2 July 1 2014 – onwards no multiplier will be applied

Choose the deeming period you for which you would like to create STCs: 1-year, 5-years or 15-years.

After calculating, the product is not always a whole number but rather with decimals. You can get the total number of STC you can create by rounding it off to the nearest whole number. .5 to .9 will be rounded up and .4 to .2 to be rounded down.

To have a clear view, here is a hypothetical details

The system is 1.5 KWh, Located in Queensland with a zone rating of 1.622, the current multiplier is 4 and the deeming period is 15 years.

(1.5 x 1.622 x 4 x 15) = 145.98 round up to 146 STC.