Clean Energy Regulator explained Demographic Concept

Abbreviated as CER; referenced by

The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) is the Australian Government body that runs the schemes behind rooftop solar, home batteries and solar hot water. It was set up by the Clean Energy Regulator Act 2011.

Small systems and certificates

The CER runs the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme. Under it, a home or a small business that puts in a small system can earn certificates. The system can be solar panels, a solar water heater or a heat pump water heater. From July 2025 a home battery can earn them too, which is when the Cheaper Home Batteries Program began.

A system's certificates can be created up to twelve months after it goes in. It shows up in the CER's figures once they are approved. So the newest months keep growing for up to a year.

Postcode data

Each month the CER puts out one file for each kind of system. It counts the systems in each postcode, month by month, from 2011. Batteries start in July 2025. For solar panels there is also a file of their rated output, in kilowatts. Each file holds the whole history, so a new file replaces the last one.

The CER does not publish figures for councils or small areas. It counts systems, not homes. A system on a shop counts the same as one on a house.

Sources

How Place Forecast Uses This

Place Forecast reads the newest file for each kind of system. It shares each postcode's figures across its mesh blocks by private dwellings. Then it adds them up for each small area and council. The figures appear in renewable energy systems added and solar power added, for each year and for each month.

Related data pages
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