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E+T Magazine

Plug-in solar PV units should only enter the mass market when the necessary safety frameworks are in place, electrical industry bodies have warned.

A joint statement was issued by the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), Electrical Safety First (ESF), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC) and Scottish construction trade association SELECT. It is in reaction to the government’s announcement earlier this year about a raft of new energy and cost-of-living measures to “double down, not back down, on our mission for clean energy”, one of which is easy access to plug-in solar panels.

Popular in other European countries such as Germany, these low-cost portable panels can be placed on balconies or terraces and plugged into a mains socket to generate electricity for the home’s electrical system. In March, the government said it was working with retailers including Lidl and Amazon, alongside manufacturers...

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  • The article seems to have missed two salient  points -

    First the technical aspects were bottomed out for continental 16A radial systems wired in 1.5mm2 some years ago - so just adapting the German product standard verbatim will be fine, although perhaps being overly restrictive by a factor of about two for 30/32A rings wired in 2.5mm.

    Second and more pragmatically, it is already here, there are plenty of self installed grey import solar systems both plug-in and wired and more are being fitted at pace, and all that is accomplished by delay is to leave time for more uncontrolled development. 
    Should we better have some influence than none perhaps?

    This does mirror the German experience, where between 1/3 and 1/2 of installations never get notified, and that in a country where you must carry ID at all times in public, and every change of address is registered with the local authority.  If they can't enforce it, what chance do we have ?

    This sort of thing won't be done by 80 year old ladies in unmodified 1950s houses, as putting panels out is physical, so what is needed is a clear source of best practice how to do this well for intelligent adults of the internet era, the sort that do their own brakes on the car, and other DIY, rather than hand wringing advice not to do this, and to leave it to those electricians who have done a surprisingly expensive special course, which unfortunately also sounds rather like market protectionism.

    The next battle, perhaps next year,  will be a similar standard for the accompanying plug-in outdoor battery pack, also already a common if not fully regulated thing, here and on the continent.

    Mike.

Comment

  • The article seems to have missed two salient  points -

    First the technical aspects were bottomed out for continental 16A radial systems wired in 1.5mm2 some years ago - so just adapting the German product standard verbatim will be fine, although perhaps being overly restrictive by a factor of about two for 30/32A rings wired in 2.5mm.

    Second and more pragmatically, it is already here, there are plenty of self installed grey import solar systems both plug-in and wired and more are being fitted at pace, and all that is accomplished by delay is to leave time for more uncontrolled development. 
    Should we better have some influence than none perhaps?

    This does mirror the German experience, where between 1/3 and 1/2 of installations never get notified, and that in a country where you must carry ID at all times in public, and every change of address is registered with the local authority.  If they can't enforce it, what chance do we have ?

    This sort of thing won't be done by 80 year old ladies in unmodified 1950s houses, as putting panels out is physical, so what is needed is a clear source of best practice how to do this well for intelligent adults of the internet era, the sort that do their own brakes on the car, and other DIY, rather than hand wringing advice not to do this, and to leave it to those electricians who have done a surprisingly expensive special course, which unfortunately also sounds rather like market protectionism.

    The next battle, perhaps next year,  will be a similar standard for the accompanying plug-in outdoor battery pack, also already a common if not fully regulated thing, here and on the continent.

    Mike.

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