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Plug-in Solar supposedly going to be 'easier'?

Steve Nixon76

Hi all, new to the forum.

I've been reading (various media outlets are running with the story) that the government is planning to make it easier (no mention of safety) for consumers to connect solar PV panel inverter directly to the mains using a 3 pin plug and socket arrangement.

Considering all of the current guidance regarding the connection of a solar PV inverter to the mains (dedicated circuit, own RCD, no 3 pin plug), how is this all of a sudden going to be 'safe'?

The argument that 'Balcony Solar' is all the rage on the continent surely doesn't negate the potential risks all of a sudden. Surely the IET is in discussions with government and arguing that the dangers cannot simply be swept under the carpet?

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  • Steve Nixon76 said:

    Considering all of the current guidance regarding the connection of a solar PV inverter to the mains (dedicated circuit, own RCD, no 3 pin plug), how is this all of a sudden going to be 'safe'?

    The argument that 'Balcony Solar' is all the rage on the continent surely doesn't negate the potential risks all of a sudden. Surely the IET is in discussions with government and arguing that the dangers cannot simply be swept under the carpet?

    Yes these systems are common in Europe, Germany being one of the major markets and lets be realistic, German engineering and standards are generally pretty good, they're as good as here in the UK, so these safety issues are likely to have been considered and measures taken to manage them.

    The starting point for the UK, having started some years behind, should be to review the existing German standards for these products and their use, to understand what the risks are, how they are managed and what the operational and safety experience is with the systems to date. That then informs the view on how to safely bring them into use, the extent to which adopting existing German and European requirements into UK standards and regs is sufficient, or whether there are new or additional risks, unique to UK systems/equipment/practices which need considering.

  • in reply to TurboGen
    TurboGen said:
    German engineering and standards are generally pretty good

    Who could possibly disagree?

    I don't know Germany at all, but I suspect that they have adopted 'green' politics more readily than we have.

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  • in reply to TurboGen
    TurboGen said:
    German engineering and standards are generally pretty good

    Who could possibly disagree?

    I don't know Germany at all, but I suspect that they have adopted 'green' politics more readily than we have.

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  • in reply to Chris Pearson
    Chris Pearson said:
    German engineering and standards are generally pretty good

    I somewhat agree,  BUT

    In recent years the Germans introduce AFDD into their Electrical Regulations DIN VDE 0100-420:2016-02+Amendment A1.   This standard made the use of AFDDs mandatory in certain types of new or upgraded electrical installations from December 18, 2017

    After a lot of debate they then downgraded the requirement from Mandatory to strong recommendation

    While the German downgrade was happening the UK made AFDD mandatory in certain instances

    Now after a decade of AFDD in Germany the industry is now starting to see AFDD version 2 products.  Why is a version 2 needed?  Well because the product and the standards were not mature enough.  

    The above decisions are normally made by Committee and there is a majority rule but sometime the various Committees as swayed by industry somewhat.

    I am sure there are people from the IEC and JPEL with far more indepth knowledge of how this system works than myself

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