Plug-in solar // Balcony solar // DIY solar // Solar Revolution

To be fair though efixx is a good channel, its really leaning to trades not general consumers and they do have a few things like some footy stuff
Its a little towards building a community as opposed to straight subject matter

I would take their views over most of the other stuff about plug in solar right now
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
To be fair though efixx is a good channel, its really leaning to trades not general consumers and they do have a few things like some footy stuff
Its a little towards building a community as opposed to straight subject matter

I would take their views over most of the other stuff about plug in solar right now
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Can you tell us the new news then with regards to plug in solar that this video contains? :D
 
alexakasloth said:
It's about the advertising and standards agency telling ecoflow not to advertise their products as "no electrician required for installation."
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I assume in Europe people just buy them and plug them in whereas here they'll expect a qualified professional to plug it in for you and charge accordingly. :cry:
 
Uther said:
I assume in Europe people just buy them and plug them in whereas here they'll expect a qualified professional to plug it in for you and charge accordingly. :cry:
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You can imagine if an electrician wasn't in the loop with these things, and you book him for an install and he turns up to see that all he's got to do is plug it into the wall, he'll think you've gone ******* barmy.
 
lovelyhead said:
I am very interested in plug in solar and keep seeing people mentioning bi-directional RCBO's.

The way I would set up my plug in solar is put a couple of panels on my garage roof, which would connect to an inverter in the garage which would plug into a wall socket in the garage. The garage has its own circuit and is connected via armoured cable to the consumer unit.

I have taken a look at my consumer unit and the RCBO labeled garage has no other markings to state whether or not it is bi directional.

My question is, is it necessary to have a bi directional RCBO? If it is then I am going to have to call out an electrician to inspect the consumer unit which will no doubt add hundreds to the cost of plug in solar and kind of defeats the plug and play nature of the project whilst also adding to the pay back period.
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I’m not sure of the latest regs and it would depend on your garage circuits, but it might still be possible to wire this to a switched fused spur of an existing circuit. Most RCBOs probaly can tolerate low levels of feed back and maintain protection. At least in theory.

The most critical potential problem with any system that’s live in both directions is maintaining the ability to control and safely disconnect. You might also get into g99 regulations regarding compliance during loss of power.

My advice would be to get an electrician out to have look and quote for the work. If the quote is reasonable pay him. If not possible ask if adding a fused spur is an option.
 
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jigger said:
I’m not sure of the latest regs and it would depend on your garage circuits, but it might still be possible to wire this to a switched fused spur of an existing circuit. Most RCBOs probaly can tolerate low levels of feed back and maintain protection. At least in theory.

The most critical potential problem with any system that’s live in both directions is maintaining the ability to control and safely disconnect. You might also get into g99 regulations regarding compliance during loss of power.

My advice would be to get an electrician out to have look and quote for the work. If the quote is reasonable pay him. If not possible ask if adding a fused spur is an option.
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I think your post sums up why plug in solar is really not plug and play. If bi-directional RCBO's are not required then yes plug in solar is plug and play. But if they are not actually required why have I read multiple times that they are required? If they are required then surely the government can't just allow plug in solar to be sold in shops without the buyer having some sort of certificate to show that their home electrics are up to spec.

Are the government really going to just say it is on the home owner to ensure that their electrics are up to spec and allow people to buy these kits, take them home and potentially plug them in to systems that might not be safe to do so?
 
Are circuit breakers from the past 25 years at least bidirectional? Could end up just slapping a big red sticker on the solar/ battery boxes saying only for use with bidirectional circuit breakers
 
Bluecube said:
Are circuit breakers from the past 25 years at least bidirectional? Could end up just slapping a big red sticker on the solar/ battery boxes saying only for use with bidirectional circuit breakers
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99.9% of the population have no idea what a bi-directional circuit breaker is. I have done research on the subject I don't know if the circuit I would be potentially planning to plug solar into has a bi-directional breaker. The RCD's in my consumer unit have no markings other than their amperage.
 
The way things have been handled so far seems reasonable to me - the government has said that we need to get moving on it, and they'll determine what safety constraints / tests / equipment should be for products to be sold.

Unfortunately with the way things work now, plenty of companies have started selling to the general public already with kits that are not actually allowed to be plugged in. Fully knowing that they will be plugged in.

Sure, if the guidance comes out and it's nonsense, then fair enough, but we've ended up in a mad situation where the news that "permission will be coming" has resulted in people buying kits off random websites that they barely understand.
 
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Plug in solar is only putting a few amps into the local circuit. The circuit breaker will be looking for many tens of amps to trip on a fault condition, which a short circuit will produce pretty much instantly whether solar plugged in or not. I think it's a red herring.
 
Uther said:
I assume in Europe people just buy them and plug them in whereas here they'll expect a qualified professional to plug it in for you and charge accordingly. :cry:
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Sparks minimum wage, about 350 an hour…
lovelyhead said:
I think your post sums up why plug in solar is really not plug and play. If bi-directional RCBO's are not required then yes plug in solar is plug and play. But if they are not actually required why have I read multiple times that they are required? If they are required then surely the government can't just allow plug in solar to be sold in shops without the buyer having some sort of certificate to show that their home electrics are up to spec.

Are the government really going to just say it is on the home owner to ensure that their electrics are up to spec and allow people to buy these kits, take them home and potentially plug them in to systems that might not be safe to do so?
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The problems are probably because of all the different possibilities of regulations houses will have been wired too and type of earth the house has is also a factor. I’d also imagine a lot comes to interpretation of the regs and peoples opinions. The latest Bi-RCBO might required for 32 amp charger, but not for a 3 amp solar system etc.

I’d imagine back feeding 3amps in at least some situations isn’t a problem at all, but I am well behind on the latest regulations and what’s important is you have a safe and stable installation that is signed off by a qualified electrician.
 
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