At least in the U.S., in jurisdictions I have
worked in, an installer can connect "plug and
play" connectors. If a wire is to be cut, pulled
or connected to a terminal, an electrician is needed.
At 04:11 PM 10/14/2010, you wrote:
Wrenches,
a colleague of mine is looking for feedback to
the following email he received regarding PV
installers and electrical work. I have
responded to him, however, I am quite interested
to hear this list's response....
LETTER--
'Colleague' - next week Albertas major
municipalities electrical chief inspectors are
getting together to talk about issues. One item
I have asked to put on the agenda is
qualifications of solar installers. I hope to
see a start on forming some type of agreement on
is who is qualified to do what work on a solar
installation and what is considered electrical
work that only electricians can perform. There
seems to be courses popping up all over to teach
everyman to be a solar installer, but what work
is clearly reserved for electricians to do? The
Safety Codes Act speaks to Electrical Systems,
CE (Canadian Electrical) Code defines electrical
installation and electrical equipment.
What I hope we accomplish is a stance we can
take to the EIAA (Electrical Inspectors
Association of Alberta) conference then to
Apprenticeship and Industry Training who
ultimately enforces who does work in the trade.
To me the PV module racking can be done by
anyone, but almost all of the rest of the
installation from wire pulling to
interconnecting modules, mounting of the
inverters etc falls clearly into the scope of practice for electricians.
One of the bigger players in the industry is
saying its now getting to be all plug and
play and anyone can be an installer.
Hoping an agreement like this can make it a
level playing field and consistent across the Province.
What are your thoughts?
BACK TO ME
my thoughts are similar to the ones above, that
the racking alone can be installed by any
'properly trained' person. However pretty much
every other aspect of a PV install directly
falls under the scope of an electrician and
needs to be preformed by a journeyman or
apprentice under the supervision of a journeyman electrician.
the following paragraph is from recent past EIAA technical conference minutes.
"Alberta Municipal Affairs (AMA) was asked
(earlier in 2009 by a Municipality) for an
opinion on the Permit Regulation regarding
Homeowner Permits. The Permit Regulation states
a homeowner may be issued a permit where the
electrical system serves that dwelling. A
photovoltaic system that is tied to the grid
(utility interactive) serves other than that
dwelling. The response back from AMA confirmed
utility interactive PV systems do serve other
than the dwelling and as such permit issuers
should not be issuing homeowner permits for utility interactive PV systems."
My thinking is that this would include the
addition of 'plug and play' modules/inverters to
an existing system as well ...any comments on this one?
cheers,
benn
DayStar Renewable Energy Inc.
[email protected]
780-906-7807
HAVE A SUNNY DAY
_______________________________________________
List sponsored by Home Power magazine
List Address: [email protected]
Options & settings:
http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
List-Archive:
http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
List rules & etiquette:
www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
Check out participant bios:
www.members.re-wrenches.org
_______________________________________________
List sponsored by Home Power magazine
List Address: [email protected]
Options & settings:
http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
List rules & etiquette:
www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
Check out participant bios:
www.members.re-wrenches.org
