Stand alone Solar/Pv installations

[Dave A]

12v systems are still potentially hazardous, mind you. Maybe not a shocking hazard, but it certainly could be a fire hazard. As a youngster my aging mini tried quite hard to become a mini raging inferno with an electrical fire in the engine compartment. Nothing an inline fuse would have prevented from happening.

Rolling blackouts and the increased instances of backup generators caused a bit of a rethink on some aspects of standards and the COC - maybe something similar needs to happen with other alternative electrical supply sources.

[CollenD]

Thank you for the contributions guys, I'm gonna contact the ECA and DoL as well to get more info. Another thing, do Solar/PV contractors and installers have to register with the ECA?

[kleva]

My 2c add
A CoC is only a requirement for 50V or more, you can't comply with SANS10142 if the whole installation is 12V/24V.
It would be good practice for a Solar contractor to be registered as there are few instances where the whole installation will be 12V/24V, somewhere there will usually be an invertor which now crosses into the realm of SANS & CoC complience requirement.
Also, without a CoC, how are you going to sell/move later? (This was something that someone else mentioned to me about a month back)

Be aware though that the newest SANS10142-1 with the latest ammendments (I haven't seen it yet, but have been reliably informed) will have additional information specifically realted to Solar/PV and 12V installations related to integration into existing infrastructure (basically the connection of the invertor side supply to the consumer installation - similar to the way generator specifications have been made). Whether this includes the wiring code and other I am not sure.

[AndyD]

Rolling blackouts and the increased instances of backup generators caused a bit of a rethink on some aspects of standards and the COC - maybe something similar needs to happen with other alternative electrical supply sources.

I think the difference here is that back-up generators are generally 220v off the bat whereas most domestically available renewable energy sources (wind, solarPV, micro-hydro etc) and the storage systems related to them are inherrently ELV up to the point where an inverter is installed. I don't think it would be viable to ammend the existing domestic installation regs or the associated CoC to accomodate these systems. I agree with your unfortunate illustration though, ELV DC systems have their own very definate hazards associated with them and regulation would be a must for user safety.

[freetoadventure]

any news on when grid tie will become legal in SA?