Guidance for plug in solar for Electricians

So you’re going for visual only?

Apologies if it was not clear -  vis + earth bond + 500DC L+N to E, no Hipot insulation tests.
Mind you if it was on the eaves of the house and out of reach, maybe visual is good enough.

rgds Mike.

mapj1 said:

Mind you if it was on the eaves of the house and out of reach, maybe visual is good enough.

With a pair of binoculars. Roofers seem to use drones nowadays for surveys.

Well, NICIEC have broken cover... here is their advice.

https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/safety-advice/products-and-appliances/green-energy/plug-in-solar-panels/ 

Unsurprisingly it is slightly biassed towards 'get in one of our members to inspect your property ' not, 'here is what to look for in your fuse-board' 
And they do seem to see AC RCDs as show stoppers, rather than a niggle.

Mike

an interesting divergence

There are a number of factors at play, firstly the Germans do permit 2kW of DC input per inverter if the plug is a Wieland connector on a dedicated breaker rather than a general use Schucko socket shared with the rest of the building. There is no exact equivalent of the UK plug and socket regs, so in Germany the problem of recommending a non-standard connector in a domestic setting does not arise... (personal grump I don't know why we can't do that as well)
However complete new circuits should  be connected and inspected by a VDE registered sparks, only DIY mods to existing circuits are permitted, though it is grudgingly understood that a lot just 'appears by magic' anyway, and is accepted 'installer unknown' so long as its safe and more or less to rules.

It is also worth noting that  Southern Germany, especially the bits near the Alps, does get quite a lot more solar flux than we do, so the actual DC output per given panel area on average will be higher to start with,especially when compared to the northern bits of the UK.
Also 16A German combined lights and socket circuits may be wired in 1.5mm2 or 2.5mm2, while our most common default is a 32A ring and in any case UK sockets are almost never wired in less than 2,5mm2, unless its in pyrotenax.

Note that a  lot of German flats and bedsits have a low current (16 or 32A ) 3 phase supply, rather then single phase as it would be in the UK, so the injected current is a larger fraction of that and the supply cables are thinner.

Mike

Well spotted Mike

The Competent Person's schemes only register "Enterprises", not individual electricians. A Logo on a van, fleece or t-shirt is not evidence of competency, only that your employer has paid a fee. 

Also they fail to mention engineers who may be an alternative to an electrician. 

If you want to find a competent electrician go to the JIB web site and look for an Approved Electrician. 

JP

I would like to have seen in the ESF advice make sure your intended purchase is marked UKCA or UKNI.

JP

As JP has already mentioned, ESF want bi-directional RCDs on the relevant circuits.

I wonder what proportion of dwellings have bi-direction Type A RCDs. 10%?

You can place an oder now, if you wish.

The pay-back time could be a bit lengthy, but possibly better than a full-fat 4 kW roof-mounted installation.

"homes with Type AC RCDs should not use plug-in solar systems without first upgrading"

which seems to leave homes with no RCDs at all without any constraint ... which seems a little inconsistent.

Never connect plug-in solar through extension leads or adapters

I wonder quite what the overheat risk is for 800W...

   - Andy.