Going out on your own as a solar installer in VIC
Checked against Energy Safe Victoria, plus Solar Accreditation Australia for the rebate on 8 August 2026.
To take jobs in your own name
Registered Electrical Contractor (REC)
The registration that lets you take the job in your own name.
And underneath it, to do the work
Electrician's licence (A Grade)
Energy Safe's wording: you can perform electrical installation work without supervision, but this licence does not allow you to contract for electrical installation work for profit or reward.
This is the one people get wrong: the licence that lets you DO the work and the one that lets you CONTRACT for it are different. Working for a boss you only need the first. Going out on your own you need both.
- What you need before you apply
- A Grade licence, then REC registration. Separately, SAA accreditation if the customer wants the federal rebate certificates, which in practice they do.
- What it costs
- Energy Safe fees for 2026-27: A Grade licence application $471.50, renewal $235.70. REC application $734.30, renewal $352. SAA is charged separately.
- How long it takes
- Energy Safe says a complete application can be processed in up to 10 business days.
- What you can do without it
- Effectively nothing on a grid connected job. There is no dollar threshold for electrical installation work in Victoria, no equivalent of the plumbing figure.
- Insurance the regulator requires
- Public liability with a minimum of $5 million cover is a condition of REC registration.
Read this before you rely on it
- We could not confirm SAA's fee or processing time from a primary source: the Clean Energy Regulator only refers you to them.
Where this came from
Read off Energy Safe Victoria, plus Solar Accreditation Australia for the rebate on 8 August 2026. Fees and processing times usually change on 1 July, so check before you budget.
Once you are up and running, we also have a page on what ONARA Ops does for solar installers.
When you are ready to take the first job
Once the licence is sorted, you need to look like you have been doing this for years: a website people can book from, and quotes and invoices with your logo that go out the same day you finish. That part is us.
Other trades in VIC
We are not accountants, lawyers or insurance brokers, and none of this is advice. It is what the regulators and the ATO publish, gathered in one place with links to the source, so you know what to go and ask about. Rules and fees change, so check with the authority before you act on anything here. Government fees shown are for the 2026-27 year and are indexed every 1 July.