Independent journal · Est. 2004
Written for licensed contractors in Australia
Australia
The independent journal for licensed electrical contractors in Australia
Rooftop PV responsibilities, battery and hybrid systems, remote-area power and the defects inspectors keep finding.
Inspectors keep finding the same rooftop defects because the same shortcuts keep surviving handover. Missing labels, poor DC string work, roof penetrations, unprotected generation on old boards, and undocumented batteries are not bad luck — they are a sales-versus-licence problem.
Read Solar compliance inspections and the defects that keep turning up
A rooftop array does not make a 1960s fuse box solar-ready. This article covers the main switch, inverter isolators, generation labelling, busbar limits, meter isolation, and the point at which a PV job is honestly a board upgrade.
Read Inverter and switchboard changes when PV lands on an old board
A household battery is a second source of energy with fire, isolation and competence rules that a PV-only job does not teach. This article covers AS/NZS 5139 location, backup loads, inverter categories, DC versus AC coupling, and what a restricted licence holder cannot do.
The array is the visible part of a solar job. Isolation, labelling, switchboard capacity, earthing, CEC paperwork and a handover pack are the part that remains when the sales company has changed its phone number. This article is for the licence holder who still owns the defects.
Read Rooftop solar: the contractor's job after the panels go on
Remote power is a power station in a paddock, not a cabin fantasy. Generator integration, earthing in dry soil, array oversizing, maintenance contracts, and who actually certifies work in remote NT, WA and Queensland are the parts that decide whether the lights stay on.
Read Off-grid and remote-area power systems, without the romance