AUTUmN/WiNTER 2010 ISSUE 20 (PDF) - Energy Safe Victoria

Your questions on electricityinstallation issues – and the answersCompiled by ESV Electricity Technical Advisor, John Stolkenergysafe continues its regular series featuring some of the questions which ESV receives on a rangeof electricity installation issues, some of them relating to gas installations. Also provided are the answerstogether with references to the Acts, Standards, Regulations and Clauses which apply to them.Question Answer Standard ClauseWhen installing a solar installation is it a requirementto install a DC isolator at the start of the DC circuiton or near the array?Yes, an appropriate rated DC isolator is required to beinstalled at the commencement of the DC circuit and signageshowing its location is required to be installed on the mainswitchboard and fire indicator panel if there is one installed.AS/NZS 4777.1 &AS/NZS 3000:2007& Electricity Safety(Installations)Regulations 2009.Clause 5Clause 1.5.2and 7.3.4.1Regulation 210Can I install a builder’s temporary supply pole in ahigh fire risk area?Yes, but in a high fire risk area you cannot install aerial orconductors supported by catenary, therefore supply to thebuilders temporary supply pole and other wiring external toan building must be installed underground.Electricity Safety(Installations)Regulations 2009.Regulation 22024In a solar installation if the inverter is installed nextto the switchboard do I need to install a circuitbreaker at the commencement of the AC supply?Can I use chain wire fence, the type commonly usedas temporary fencing supported on concrete blocksand bracketed together, to support a wiring system?No, the circuit breaker at the commencement of the ACsupply is not required if the inverter is installed within 3metres from the switchboard and is in direct view from theswitchboard.No, in fact most chain wire fences are not suitable to safelysupport an electrical wiring system.AS/NZS 3000:2007 Clause 7.3.4.1AS/NZS 3000:2007Clause 1.7.2 (a)& (d)When installing additional socket outlets to afinal sub circuit in a residential installation andthe existing protection device is a semi enclosedre-wireable fuse on the switchboard do I need toupgrade the circuit protection?Yes, the existing protection device must be upgraded to anHRC fuse or a circuit breaker and RCD protection must alsobe provided for the additional socket outlets and wiring.AS/NZS 3000:2007Clause 2.5.2 &2.6.3.4When installing underground consumers mains canI reduce the depth of cover where the conduit runsunder the concrete slab?No, the underground wiring system must be buried to adepth of at least 500mm2 below the surface of the ground.Electricity Safety(Installations)Regulations 2009.Regulation 214www.energysafe.vic.gov.auWhen installing underground cables in public areas towhat height do I need to provide mechanical protectionfor the portion of cable above the ground where theunderground cable is accessible to the public?Is the replacement of a switchboard within my livingunit prescribed electrical work?What is a Complex Electrical Installation?Any portion of an underground line on public land that is at orabove the surface must be mechanically protected from thepoint 300mm2 below the surface to a height of 2400 mm2above the surface.Yes, the replacement of a distribution board related to thecontrol of an individual occupier’s portion of a multipleinstallation is prescribed electrical work.A Complex Electrical Installation means an electricalinstallation that:a) has an installed generation capacity of equal to or greaterthat 1000 kVA; orb) is an electrical line that is on land that is not owned orleased by the owner or operator of the electric line.Electricity Safety(Installations)Regulations 2009.Electricity Safety(Installations)Regulations 2009.Electrical Safety Act1998Regulation 219Regulation238(d)Section 3DefinitionsHow long do I need to retain a paper copy of thecertificate of compliance?The responsible person who issues a certificate ofcompliance must retain a copy of that certificate for 3 yearsafter the date the responsible person signs the certificate.Electricity Safety(Installations)Regulations 2009.Regulation 254Green light forAustralia’s firstcommunity-ownedwind farmThe major contract for the constructionof Australia’s first community-ownedwind farm at Leonards Hill nearDaylesford has been signed and detailsof the final share offer released.More than 1100 members of the tradingcooperative set up to own and operate the windfarm have invested $7.5m so far in the project.These community funds, along with finance fromBendigo Bank and a $975,000 grant from theState Government, has enabled the cooperative,Hepburn Wind, to give the ‘green light’ for theconstruction of the $12.9m project.A final offer of 1.8 million shares in Hepburn Windhas been opened for all Victorians to participate.Hepburn Wind says members will receivedividends from the sale of the electricityproduced. In addition, the project aims tocontribute more than $1,000,000 to communitysustainability initiatives over the next 25 years.The two turbine Leonards Hill wind farm isprojected to generate 12,200 megawatt hoursannually, which is more than the estimated10,100 megawatt hours used by the 1887households of Daylesford.Construction is scheduled to begin in Octoberthis year, and the wind farm is expected tostart producing power in the second quarterof next year.New wind farm to power Victoria’sdesalination plantIn March, Victoria’s Energy and ResourcesMinister Peter Batchelor turned the first sodon the site of AGL Energy’s Oaklands Hillwind farm, a 32 turbine project located threekilometres south of Glenthompson.It is claimed that the wind farm will deliverenough renewable energy to supply morethan 30,000 households and save more than185,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas each year.The Minister said that once completed, thewind farm will provide 63 megawatts ofenergy, including providing power for thestate’s $3.5 billion desalination plant atWonthaggi.The wind farm is expected to be completedin the fourth quarter of 2011.