An STC claim is only as good as the photos behind it. The Clean Energy Regulator can ask for them years after the system is on the roof, and a serial that cannot be matched to a photo of the product is a claim that can fail. Baton exists so your crew photographs every nameplate on the day, a person checks the serial against the photo, and the office can find that photo again when the regulator, a retailer or a customer asks.
What the regulator says it needs
The Clean Energy Regulator’s page on creating small-scale technology certificates lists the evidence it can ask for. It says serial number photos must show the serial number on the product itself, and that all photos must include time and date metadata and geolocation at the installation site. On-site attendance evidence should also include the installer’s face.
The same page says the regulator can request the required documents for up to five years from the date the certificates were created. So the question is never only “did the claim go through”. It is “can you still produce the photo in year four”.
Batteries and their modules
The create-STCs page also asks for photos showing that the panel, battery and inverter serial numbers on the product match the numbers listed in the REC Registry. The regulator’s batteries page says that for a stackable system you should record the serial number of each new battery module in the REC Registry, with each new module entered as its own battery.
That is one more nameplate to find per module, on a job where the crew is already working in a cramped space. Check the regulator’s batteries page for any further photo or labelling requirements that apply to your claim.
Where serials go wrong
The regulator’s inverter serial guidance names the usual mistakes: scanning a packaging barcode or cargo manifest instead of the number on the inverter, serials that are not unique, a count of serials that differs from the number of inverters, and serials altered in a bulk upload file, for example turned into scientific notation. It says failing to provide evidence that the inverter serial is correct may result in a failed STC claim.
Every one of those is a data-entry problem that starts with a serial copied by hand, or scanned from the wrong place, long after the crew left site.
Install day with Baton: the crew opens a link
Your crew opens a link or scans a QR code and types the 6-digit job code. No account and no app to install, and it works with no signal on a roof or in a garage. For each unit they photograph the nameplate, take two photos of the unit, and record its condition and where it sits. Any equipment type can be named on site, so panels, inverters, batteries and battery modules each get their own lines.
The nameplate photo is the evidence. The serial on the register is read from that photo, not typed from memory.
Two reads, then a person checks the serial
Two AI models read every nameplate separately. A person in your office then checks the manufacturer, model and serial against the photo before the handover register can be made. A serial that the two reads disagree on is flagged, so a doubtful character is looked at rather than passed through.
Baton’s register is exported as PDF, Excel and CSV with each unit’s nameplate photo in the PDF. In the Excel file every cell is stored as text, so a serial does not turn into scientific notation or lose a leading zero.
What Baton does not do for an STC claim
Be clear about the limit: Baton does not replace the photos with time, date and location data that the Clean Energy Regulator requires. It does not lodge claims or touch the REC Registry. Keep taking the regulator’s photos exactly as you do now.
What Baton helps with is narrower: recording the serial and the nameplate photo. It gives you one register per job, in your own Google Drive, where each checked serial sits next to the photo of the product it came from, with the attachments index for your certificates of electrical safety and other paperwork. When a claim is queried years later, you open one file for the serial and its nameplate photo.
Quick answers
- What photos do I need to create STCs for rooftop solar?
- The Clean Energy Regulator asks for photos showing the panel and inverter serial numbers on the product, matching the REC Registry, with time and date metadata and geolocation at the site. Check its create-STCs page for the current list.
- How long do I have to keep STC photo evidence?
- The regulator’s create-STCs page says it can request the required documents for up to five years from the date the certificates were created.
- What are common inverter serial number mistakes in STC claims?
- The regulator lists scanning a packaging barcode instead of the inverter, non-unique serials, a serial count that does not match the number of inverters, and serials altered in a bulk upload such as scientific notation.
- Can Baton’s photos replace the regulator’s STC claim photos?
- No. Keep taking the regulator’s photos as you do now. Baton photographs each nameplate and two unit photos, has two AI reads and a person check the serial, and keeps one register per job with each unit’s photo in the PDF in your Google Drive.
- How does Baton help me find a serial years after an install?
- The register for each job is saved as PDF, Excel and CSV in your own Google Drive, with each unit’s nameplate photo in the PDF, so the serial and the photo it came from are in the same place.
Sources
- Clean Energy Regulator — Create small-scale technology certificates (serial photos, time and geolocation, five-year document requests)
- Clean Energy Regulator — Batteries (record the serial of each new battery module)
- Trade In Green, quoting the Clean Energy Regulator — Inverter serials (common errors and the cost of missing evidence)