Solar installers and inverter manufacturers are tearing their hair out over a spanner thrown into the works relating to new inverter standards in Australia. And the clock is ticking.
Briefly, the road to this point.
In November, many in Australia’s solar industry were rejoicing over the dropping of a requirement in the AS/NZS 5033 (Installation and safety requirements for photovoltaic (PV) arrays) standard that all solar system installations must include a rooftop DC isolator
A rooftop DC isolator is a manually operated switch installed adjacent to a solar panel array that stops the flow of DC current between the solar panels and the solar inverter when engaged.
Rooftop DC isolators were meant to be an added safety device, but they have been problematic; particularly where poor-quality devices have been used. Water ingress has been a common problem and I think it would be safe to say half of fires involving solar systems have been caused by these isolators, which is rather ironic – and traumatic for affected households.
Regardless of quality, it’s another reason why a professional solar system inspection every five years is a very good idea as this is one of the items that would be carefully checked1.
As far as I’m aware, Australia was the only country in the world that required their use. While AS/NZS 5033 also applied across the ditch in New Zealand, NZ installations did not require rooftop isolators. The Kiwis are clever folk.
Anyway, after years of the industry trying and finally succeeding to get rid of the requirement for the blasted things, a new isolator shitstorm has brewed.
Inverters With Integrated DC Isolators
One of the alternative devices that can be used is an DC isolator in the inverter, which makes good sense. Solar manufacturers have increasingly been integrating these devices into their products.
But a bombshell was dropped last month.
The AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 inverter standard is kicking in for new inverter installations from 18 December 2021 – just 8 days from now. Currently compliant inverters need to be re-listed as complying with this new standard for new installations. That’s not the problem per se.
This is what is – the safety of household electrical equipment in Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania is regulated using the Electrical Equipment Safety System (EESS). In late November, the EESS Standing Committee of Officials Equipment Working Group (EESS SCO EWG), decided it requires integrated DC isolators to comply with AS 60947-3, which involves low-voltage switchgear and controlgear switches, disconnectors, switch-disconnectors and fuse-combination units. The certification must be supplied by an approved testing facility.
But there is no facility in Australia approved to test to AS 60947-3 – or anywhere in the world for that matter.
According to a Clean Energy Council communication on Monday:
“The EESS SCO EWG has said that it plans to approve facilities for testing to AS 60947-3, but no one knows when those plans will be published. They will be too late for manufacturers who need to demonstrate compliance with AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 by 18 December 2021.”
The CEC says some manufacturers are now resorting to removing the integrated DC isolator from their inverters entirely; replacing it with an external, wall-mounted one.
AS/NZS 4777.2:2020, EESS SCO EWG & AS 60947-3: WTF?
It’s a confusing situation, with all sorts of information flying around. I don’t profess to have a great handle on it all.
For example, I’m not clear on the link between the EESS SCO EWG’s decision regarding AS 60947-3 and AS/NZS 4777.2:2020. How does this come into play and does this only affect inverters with built-in DC isolators to be installed in Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania?
SolarQuotes Founder Finn did a bit of quick digging around in AS/NZS 4777.2:20202 and found this (bolding mine):
2.12.2 Switch-disconnector
“Where a load break switching device that is part of or within the inverter is a switch-disconnector, it shall –
….
(e) conform to relevant switch disconnector standards …
It’s a bit vague, but my interpretation is it could mean an inverter must be in harmony with those standards across the states and territories. But my interpretation and a few bucks will get you a pretty bad cup of coffee.
A Lump Of Coal For Solar Installers
As for many in Australia’s business community, it’s been a challenging year for solar installers. This integrated DC isolator situation is putting some pre-Xmas solar power system installations at risk amid the confusion – and installers being left with what could be non-compliant inverters; albeit perhaps temporarily.
As at Monday, only nine manufacturers had makes and models of inverters compliant with the new standard on the CEC Approved Products List. More may have been added since then.
The issue has potential ramifications greater than just being incredibly inconvenient and unnecessarily stressful – as if this wasn’t enough.
From the start of 2022, Australia’s solar rebate reduces again as part of an ongoing phase-out, and the rebate (actually an up-front discount) is based not on when a system is purchased, but when it is installed. Installation delays resulting from this mess would mean less subsidy.
That puts installers in an even trickier position for contracts based on quotes assuming a 2021 installation, and puts jobs at risk.
New installations after December 18 with inverters not complying with the new AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 standard would mean no subsidy at all (or grid connection permission). Added to all this, some Distributed Network Service Providers (DNSPs) already require it for connection applications.
What is needed is immediate clarity and sanity from the powers-that-be involved, which includes time to get this mess sorted and allowing what would be otherwise compliant integrated DC isolators to be used with approved external DC isolators until then.
UPDATE: 13 December
According to the Clean Energy Council, Energy Safe Victoria may have come up with a pathway forward that provides inverter manufacturers with models using internal DC isolators an additional six months to demonstrate full compliance. The CEC says it will work with the certifiers and regulators on the details, and continues to call on state energy ministers to follow Victoria’s lead.
UPDATE: 14 December
Yesterday afternoon the Smart Energy Council said details of the extension were yet to be finalised, but it understands the issue will be resolved before the end of the week.
UPDATE: 7.15PM 14 December
The Clean Energy Council has announced the DC isolator certification issues affecting some inverter manufacturers have been solved. Affected manufacturers will have until 30 June 2022 to demonstrate their integrated DC isolators comply with the Australian standard, as tested by a fully accredited test laboratory. A statement from the Electrical Regulatory Authorities Council (ERAC) and the Standing Committee of Officials (SCO) of the Electrical Equipment Safety System (EESS) can be found here.
Footnotes
- Read more about solar system maintenance in The Good Solar Guide. ↩
- A privilege that cost him $280 – Australian Standards documents should be free. ↩
About Michael Bloch
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Would you call this is an absolute sh*tshow or a total clusterf*ck?
My guess is that if you don’t want something to happen, make it more difficult and add some confusion. I think the energy providers in conjunction with the current government are behind this, follow the money! Now let’s see, the energy providers have been reducing fit’s, because they don’t want to loose too much money when people pay less for their energy requirements due to increasing PV installations. As an excuse they claim that the grid was only designed for a limited amount of power to ‘flow’ both ways, but mostly to the consumer, who pays for it. Now that it’s flowing the other way, they don’t like it because it affects their bottom line! They really need to upgrade the infrastructure then, which of course affects their bottom line also. It’s much easier to reduce fit’s, take the energy you produce and charge it back to the consumers at retail. Now there’s a ripoff right there! So, to try and reduce the number of people who take up PV installs, (which imho is the right thing to do) they make wild claims, add confusion and only maintain our aging antique infrastructure, whilst continuing to make exorbitant profits off a lot of consumers, who can least afford it! With the ‘confusion’ part I’m referring to the addition of another isolator. There is an isolator on the roof and another one by the inverter. Why is there a need to have one IN the inverter? The only isolation we need is from Covid 19 and the constant Bs that’s floating around! Can we afford to loose this industry? Probably not at this point in time, but at least make some moves in the right direction. Eg. create a subsidy for battery systems to be installed with existing, as well as new PV installations! Also how about filtering emissions from fossil fuel power stations or recycling emissions, similar to EGR valves in cars. There’s a couple of things that can already be done right now!
I could probably ramble on a bit more, but I’ll leave it here. There are plenty of ideas to think about right here.
As for our current government, I think it’s common knowledge that they are very coal orientated. They have proven this at the Kyoto protocol, the Paris accord and again at Cop 26! They won’t reach their emissions targets by 2030, let alone by 2050, 60 or 70! They only care about getting re-elected in May!
I understand that our coal industry is substantial, but the people that work in this sector need to be ‘repurposed’ inline with clean and sustainable energy. That is the challenge we face in this country.
I’m not sure what went wrong with my last comment, but when I posted it somehow the paragraphs got mixed up. So reading it as is doesn’t make any sense. The paragraph starting with “As for our current government…..should come after the ‘Bs’ sentence.
Interesting that everyone thinks that this is all the fault of the Electrical Safety Regulators, this is not the case. If manufacturers did the correct testing back in 2019 when this was actually already required, then they wouldn’t be in this mess now. Some preferred to take a short cut with the test requirements. It’s true that the Regulators have now made it harder, but they are not the only ones at fault here. Let’s see how this all pans out…
these isolating switching boxes are also used on every split system air conditioner installed on rooftops,why is this not a fire hazard
Aircon units are switching AC energy rather than DC. It’s DC that’s the problem (think an effect similar to a arc welder).
air conditioners do not use high voltage DC
I questioned whether a DC rooftop isolator would be installed with my installer and receive the following response.
Does this sound right?
“ Just addressing the DC isolator question – There are a fair few compliances we need to stick to if we are to go down the no isolator path and this would need another site inspection to happen and measure internal roof space for clearances and there is also a lot of administrative work to be completed and provide. We have always installed DC isolators and never had an issue with any of our installations. If you do want to go down the no isolator path there would be a extra fee of $500 to cover time and administrations.”
I’m afraid that at the moment it will be a major headache for an installer to change to no isolator installations. While I expect/hope they will become standard in the future at the moment we are at the beginning of the transition phase. An extra $500 is a lot, but I haven’t thought it through in detail, so I can’t say how fair it is. Personally, I would have no problem with a modern DC isolator switch being installed on my roof, provided it was from an installer I know does good quality work.
Hi
Just needed to know if DC Isolators are mandatory for commercial roof top solar installation or not.
Thanks ?