So It cam into effect two years ago. I see that the ESF article says:
'along with the addition of a new, UK-specific regulation, and note,
within Chapter 53:', which implies that IEC 60364 hasn't been amended. I
wonder why, and I note that IEC 60364-5-53 does actually have an
extensive amendment (Amendment 2) dated 2024.
On 2026-08-03 14:24, Andrew Wood wrote:
For interest, in the UK we recently had an “emergency” update to our
wiring regulations, BS 7671, to require bidirectional protective
devices to be installed where applicable.
https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/news-and-insights/amendment-3-of-bs7671-comes-into-effect/<https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/news-and-insights/amendment-3-of-bs7671-comes-into-effect/>
Best Regards,
Andrew Wood
*Compliance Manager – Hazardous Areas*
*Direct:* 01246 581592
*Address:* Land Instruments, Stubley Lane, Dronfield. England. S18 1DJ
*E-mail:* [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
**
*From:*Ralph McDiarmid <[email protected]>
*Sent:* 01 August 2026 07:02
*To:* [email protected]
*Subject:* Re: [PSES] Balcony Solar
****NOTICE*** *This came from an external source. Use caution when
replying, clicking links, or opening attachments.
Extracted from that article with my comments:
1. “Unlike plugs on ordinary appliances, a solar panel’s plug can be
electrically conductive with the device unplugged, which may
surprise unwary customers.”
1. There is technology in place today to mitigate that hazard.
Implementation of that protection is straight forward.
2. “Plug-in solar must also power down in the case of a local blackout.”
1. Protection from unintentional islanding is a well understood
and established protection scheme and can be applied easily to
plug-in inverters
3. “Plug-in panels inject power into the home electrical system
downstream of circuit breakers and other overcurrent protections,
making those safeguards blind to the extra load.”
1. Absolutely, but that could be solved by edits to national
electrical code requiring plug-in grid-tie inverters to use a
dedicated circuit. (one outlet/one circuit breaker) But, how to
enforce it if customers likely won’t register their balcony solar?
4. “Electricity flowing backward through the GFCI (ground fault
circuit interrupter), the electrical safety device built into
power outlets, could cause GFCIs to fail.”
2. I’m skeptical about this one. GFCIs measure the current as a
scalar quantity, meaning that direction of current is not sensed.
They’re not smart devices.
5. “For example, the bidirectional GFCI disconnect is not yet
commercially available.”
3. I don’t think that is an issue. GFCI measure *imbalance* between
conductors passing through its differential transformer. It’s
‘blind’ to direction of current (the sign of the power factor PF)
Circuit breakers are also “blind” to direction of current are
unaffected.
6. “Now, Germans can buy plug-in panels at Aldi or Ikea, and the
country has more than 2 gigawatts of balcony solar deployed
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.epri.com/research/products/000000003002035544__;!!HKOSU0g!B5YQMQQNeEyBuyOgH3oDEX2GyvNZ2ujVFdNzsaYN3NR4RN88q2GDYdxn751UPSXbdX6DGrqQNVOk3K5-KC4SXPw$>.
“
1. That represents a very large number of balconies deploying solar!
Has it been a problem in Germany?
I will have a close look at UL3700.
Ralph
(from smoke-free coastal British Columbia)
*From:*Richard Nute <[email protected]>
*Sent:* July 31, 2026 6:00 PM
*To:* [email protected]
*Subject:* [PSES] Balcony Solar
Hello from wildfire Oregon:
Safety considerations for solar panels small enough they can plug into
a typical household outlet, including a GFCI outlet. UL 3700.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/plug-in-solar-power
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/spectrum.ieee.org/plug-in-solar-power__;!!HKOSU0g!B5YQMQQNeEyBuyOgH3oDEX2GyvNZ2ujVFdNzsaYN3NR4RN88q2GDYdxn751UPSXbdX6DGrqQNVOk3K5-WYB1aBw$>
Enjoy,
Rich
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Best wishes John Woodgate RAYLEIGH Essex OOO-Own Opinions Only
www.woodjohn.uk If something is true: * as far as we know - it's science
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