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DANNY HARMSWORTH: WE CAME ACROSS THIS ON A RECENT JOB: A SOLAR INSTALLER TOOK THE POWER FOR THE SOLAR CONSUMER UNIT DISTRIBUTION BOARD STRAIGHT OFF THE MAINS TAILS RCD RCCB WITH NO OVERCURRENT FUSING USING 2.5 MM PVC TWIN AND EARTH CABLE – VERY DANGEROUS, I THINK!
As more solar PV installations are requested, there is a good chance we will see some poor quality installations along the way – installations which risk being put together with little or no basic understanding of solar PV systems or their integration with an existing installation by designers or contractors.
The installation in this photo also shows a lack of basic understanding of isolation, as the PV consumer unit can’t be isolated as it’s fed from the incoming side of an isolator, which also means it was probably energised while live!
A PV inverter may be supplied by a sub-board, as the inspector points out, but the supply to it, which is effectively a sub-main, needs to be designed and configured correctly. The sticker stating ‘AC Isolator’ is also indicating that the main CU is providing isolation. This is not the case, and even if the sub-main were fed from an MCB, this still wouldn’t be the case. The isolation needs to be via a separate device, which may or may not be the sub-board’s main isolating switch.
The types of devices used must also be capable of operating under operating conditions that will allow current flow bi-directionally, as this is a requirement for allowing the generated energy to flow into the user’s network.
Solar PV installations can be complex and must be designed and installed by appropriately skilled and competent people. Whichever way we look at this, alarm bells will be ringing due to the poor design characteristics being displayed.
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