Compliance

Well, you may be thinking its all very well to take part in installing my own solar system but how do I ensure meet all the rules and compliance set out?

You will need to be reasonably competent with the relevant Compliance and Standards used if you want to convince CEC accredited designers and installers that you are a capable person to do some of the work.

Mostly compliance in the domestic electrical area is derived around safety and indemnity of the home owner.  By this I mean the system must be safe, like any electrical system in the home such that the likelihood of electrocution, fire, damage etc is minimised or mitigated.

You need to comply in the following ways:

1. Panel installation. There are two aspects. Mounting Compliance including wind loading and Wiring Compliance
2. Wiring from Panels to Inverter. Wiring Compliance and   compliant isolation components.
3. Inverter Compliance. Must be of a certain standard to connect to the grid, and proper wiring of the inverter
4. Wiring and isolation of grid connection. Compliance of wiring and components used to connect back into the grid
5. Batteries. Only necessary where battery storage is used. Proper standard of installation is required. Batteries need to be properly maintained.

Here is a list standards used. 

AS 4509 Stand-alone Power Systems

• Part 1 Safety requirements
• Part 2 Design guidelines
• Part 3 Installation and maintenance

AS / NZS 5033: 2005; Installation of photovoltaic (PV) arrays
AS 4777 Grid Connections of Energy Systems via Inverters

Some other relevant standards:

• AS 3000 Electrical Wiring Rules
• AS 1768 Lightning Protection
• AS 1170.2 Wind Loads
• AS 3001 Electrical wiring rules for mobile applications
• AS 4086 Secondary batteries for SPS Part 2 Installation and maintenance

Investing in a set of these standards would cost a small fortune. Although not ideal, searching these terms on the Internet will take you a long way to getting a good idea of key points of these standards.  You could also visit a university or TAFE college library where these can be found.

Areas you should concentrate yourself with from above are points 1, 2 and 5 above if you are going to do some work yourself.  I will try to cover the areas of the standards for these points in later posts.

More on Location

There are a few more details to cover on the location of your Solar System before moving on.

• Non ideal roof layout solutions
• General form factor of Solar Panels
• Panel layout on a given roof area

Mounting on an ideal roof slope (North Facing) is normally achieved by fixing the panels parallel (flat) to the roof surface, but with a gap between the panels to allow air to flow underneath.  This assists the panels from getting hot.


For other roof surfaces, we can use an elevating bracket mounting system.

This illustrates an elevated system on a flat roof.  It is possible to also use the elevating system on a roof that sloping east and west.

This is less than ideal as the some of the west side panels will be partially shaded in the early morning and the same will happen on the east side late in the afternoon.  This depends on the pitch angle of the roof. 

A guide to Solar Panel Form Factor.  Solar panels are generally 1.5 to 2 times longer than than they are wide.

It is important to keep this in mind when planning a layout on the roof.  Consider panels that are L= 2 x W.  Placing two panels together with ajoining long sides will form a square.  Placing another two panels with these, ajoining on the short sides of the first two panels forms a L = 2 x W rectangle twice as large as one panel and so on.  Keeping these concepts in mind will enable you to plan how to lay the panels on your given roof area.

How many panels should you use?  This depends on how much electricity you wish to generate.  Currently the most common panels are in the range of 175W to 240W each.

If you have no idea how much electricity you want to generate then a good way to make a decision is to measure the typical consumption of your house.  You will learn how to investigate this next time.

Where to Start with DIY Solar

A few things to consider...this is important to the success of your project.  I am a qualified engineer and these things are part of the project process one way or another, so please consider carefully.

• Are you willing to do your installation the right way.  I mean make sure that everything you do is as required and not just "near enough is good enough"?  I completely understand at this stage you may know nothing and that kind of commitment is a little overwhelming.  The intention of this blog is to impart the knowledge required to do the job.
• Are you willing to talk through your plans with an electrician?  This may require some cost for the service but will allow you to check the plans and also have the electrician's buy in to go ahead and sign off on what you complete. You will need to fina a Clean Energy Council Accreditied Electrician if you wish to claim Solar Rebates.
• Are you willing to persevere?  As with any project you may find a few roadblocks along the way.  This doesn't mean there isn't a resolution, you just need to figure it out and there is help available here.

So I think that's about everything you need to consider before going ahead.  I am willing to answer questions, just submit a comment.

A few disclaimers: The information I impart will inform you on how to get the most out of sourcing and installing your own system.  It is important that you get the right approval (and advice if needed) from a licenced electrician.  I may earn money from any links you click in this blog as I will suggest certain products and services along the way that may help you.

Still interested?  The next things to consider are where will you will locate your system, the size (physical and power output) you desire and the quality of the components you wish to invest in.  Stay tuned, I will address these things...