Who from the IET is working with the government to allow <800W inverters to be 'plugged in'?

The UK government made the following announcement at the end of March (www.gov.uk/.../government-to-make-plug-in-solar-available-within-months) regarding Balcony Solar/Plug-in Solar. The following section features in the 'Notes To Editors' at the end of the announcement.

"The government will work with the Energy Networks Association, DNOs and Ofgem to update the G98 distribution code and wiring regulations BS 7671 to allow UK households to connect <800W plug-in solar panels to domestic mains sockets, without the need for an electrician and with tailored safety standards."

So who is the government working with at the IET/JPEL64 to make these changes to BS7671? Or is the government simply going to bypass the IET and make amendments willy nilly?

  • So, you cannot quite rely upon a 13 A BS 1362 fuse, which reinforces my point. I do not think that anything makes the use of a 50 m extension lead conditional upon the installation of an RCD.

    Agreed as a basic truth, but since 16th Edition in 1991 (BS 7671:1992), our national wiring code has accounted for that use-case.

    Even if you discount that timescale based on the grounds that the requirements was for socket-outlets that "might reasonably be expected to supply equipment outdoors", the use-case has been accounted for since BS 7671:2008, some 18 years with requirements similar to our current 411.3.3 in the general case.