- Solar PV installations have not kept up with technology.
- Rooftop installations are often poorly designed and unsafe.
- The installation and safety requirement is set to be updated in December.
REA Global Director Michael Mrowka has stated that changes to the national installation standards are needed to prevent unsafe and poorly designed rooftop solar installations in Australia. Over 2.68 million rooftop solar PV systems have now been installed in Australia.
Mrowka said rooftop solar safety standards, particularly those relating to the controversial DC isolators mandated in Australia in 2012, have not kept pace with technology and industry changes. “One example is the AS/NZS 5033 standard that mandates rooftop solar isolators, which have become the largest single cause of solar fires in recent years,” he said. “Combine that with low-cost Chinese products that can be quite dangerous as they age, especially when poorly installed, and you have a ticking time-bomb that can cause electrical shorts and fires.”
Mrowka stated that while an update on the installation and safety requirements standard is expected in December, he is not confident it will deliver the changes needed in the induustry.
“The safety issue is very difficult because governments have given out so many rebates for what may be potential fire hazards that this could be another pink batts installation debacle,” he said, referring to a government-funded insulation scheme that was abandoned in 2010, following the death of four workers and a string of house fires.
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