For those involved in the growing solar panel sector, awareness of installation and safety standards is crucial for system performance.
The recent solar microgeneration boom reflects the impact of feed in tariffs (FITs) that came and the associated arrival of free installation schemes that enable the property owner to benefit from solar electricity while the installer receives the FIT payments.
Any PV installation seeking funding from the FITs initiative must use Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) approved contracting companies. MCS is a quality assurance scheme and approval is therefore a pre-requisite for any company seeking to take advantage of the growing demand for solar panel installation.
Alongside MCS accreditation, the installation process itself is unlikely to be too difficult for a qualified electrician, although there are significant differences from the usual installation wiring technology that they are likely to encounter on a day to day basis.
PV installation overview
The installation of PV systems presents a unique combination of hazards linking the risk of electric shock with implications of working at height. It follows therefore that stringent health and safety practice must apply to the installation, commissioning and testing of a PV system.
From the outset, therefore the designer and installer of a PV system must consider the potential hazards carefully and systematically devise methods to minimise the risks. This includes mitigating potential hazards present during and after installation phase.
Detecting Faults
PV systems are unusual in that the energy source cannot be switched off. If there is a daylight falling on a PV panel it will produce electricity and it is possible for a relatively small array of only a few panels to deliver a lethal shock.
Undetected faults may also develop into a fire hazard over time. Without fuse protection against such faults, elimination of a fire risk can only be achieved by both goof system design, and careful installation with appropriate inspection and testing.
Installation and testing
Between them, the various installation requirements for PV systems are designed to ensure the electrical safety of the installation, the electrical safety of installation personnel and the verification of performance and power output of the system.
Under the electrical tests the standard sets out specific requirements for:
- Earth continuity of array frame to earth and connection to main earthing terminal
- Polarity of all DC cables
- PV string open circuit voltage test
- PV string short circuit current test
- PV array insulation test
- Operational test-PV string current
- Fuctional test
- Irradiance
The installation of a PV system by property owners is clearly only undertaken after careful consideration of the costs involved and the potential return on investment provided by lower energy bills and FIT payments.