Solar Panel Installation Guideline
October 2, 2023 Leave a comment
| 21.2.1 Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation System (NATIONAL BUILDING CODE 2016) | ||
| Building Type | Plot Size | Generation Requirement |
| Residential (Plotted houses) | 100 m2 and above | 1 kWp or 5% of connected load, whichever is higher |
| Residential (Group housing) | All sizes | Minimum 5% of connected load |
| Business, educational buildings having connected load of 30 kW and above |
500 m2 and above | 5 kWp or 5% of connected load, whichever is higher |
| Mercantile, hotels, motels, assembly, industrial and institutional buildings | 500 m2 and above | for buildings having connected load of: |
| (a) 50 to 1000 kW=10 kWp or 5% of connected load whichever is higher | ||
| (b) Above 1 000 kW=50 kWp or 5% of connected load whichever is higher | ||
| SOALR INSTALLATION -CENTRAL ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY-2023 (12.1) | |
| PATH WAY FOR SOLAR SYSTEM | Clear pathways of minimum 75cm in width with hand rails for roof access and emergency exit shall be provided for roof top system. |
| there shall be clear pathways, walkways between the rows or columns of solar panels which is necessary for cleaning and maintenance; | |
| FENCING | ground mounted solar installations shall be protected by fencing or other means not less than 1.8 meter in height so as to prevent unauthorized entry; |
| ISOLATING DEVICE | Disconnection switches or circuit breakers provided in combiner boxes to disconnect the photovoltaic system from all other conductors of the system shall be located at a readily accessible location; |
| three phases on the alternating current side, and positive and negative conductor on the direct current side shall be marked and identified with different colours | |
| manual disconnection switch to isolate the system from grid and shall be situated outside the alternating current combiner box | |
| INVERTER | inverter unit for solar photovoltaics shall be installed in the periphery of the building and as near as the solar panel: |
| PROTECTION | protection shall be deployed (for both input and output) on site for overload, surge current, surge voltage, short circuit, high temperature, over voltage, under voltage and over frequency, under frequency, reverse polarity and lightning. |
| the solar photovoltaic power plant shall be provided with lightning and over voltage protection by deploying required number of lightning arresters as per the relevant standards; | |
| Guidelines for Installation of Solar Energy System (Government of Kerala-Electrical Inspectorate) | |
| SOLAR SYSTEM APPROVAL | 10kW and up to and including 30kW : completion report and SLD shall be submitted by the consumer through a competent electricals contractor and sanction for energization shall be obtained from the district office concerned |
| 30kW to 5O0kW: Prior scheme approval and sanction for energization orders shall be obtained from the district office concerned | |
| above 500kW :Prior scheme approval and sanction for energization orders shall be obtained from the office of the Chief Electrical Inspector | |
| PANEL MOUNTING STRUCTURE | Galvanized iron (Gl) or aluminum shall be used for module mounting structures. |
| Be located at a height of at least 2.44 m above the ground level | |
| CABLE SIZE | Cable size for PV string cable, PV sub-array cable and PV array main cable shall be selected as per section 7.3.7 of IEC 62548/2016. |
| PV CELL | PV string connected in parallel shall have matched open circuit voltage within 5% per string to avoid circulating current. (Refer section 5.1.6 of IEC 62548/2016). |
| Solar PV module details such as number of modules, wattage, number of cells, voltage, current etc. shall be verified | |
| INVERTER | Inverter capacity shall be selected based on the solar PV generation, so that maximum generation can be utilized. |
| Inverter protection settings, installer details and emergency shutdown procedures shall be displayed on site. | |
| HARMONIC INJECTION | PV system shall not inject DC current greater than 1 percent of the inverter rated output current into the grid. |
| Solar inverters shall be rated for THD of less than 3 percent of power injected into the grid | |
| Harmonic current injections from a generating station shall not exceed the limits specified in IEEE 519 | |
| The distributed generating resource shall not inject direct current greater than 0.5 % of the full rated output at the interconnection point | |
| PARALLELING THE SYSTEM | Paralleling device of distributed generation resource shall be capable of withstanding 220 % of the nominal voltage at the interconnection point. |
| VOLTAGE FLUCTUATION | Every time the generating station is synchronised to the electricity system, it shall not cause voltage fluctuation greater than ± 5 % at the point of connection |
| The distributed generating resource shall not introduce flicker beyond the limits specified in IEC 61000 | |
| EARTHING | Up to 5kW solar plants, 2NO’S of earth electrodes are sufficient and LA shall be provided in lightning prone area. |
| Above 5kW and up to 100kW solar plants, 3NO’S of earth electrodes are sufficient and LA shall be provided. | |
| These earth electrodes shall be interconnected to existing earth electrodes and total earth resistance shall be less than 5 Ω. |
|
| Equipotential bonding shall be done as per IEC TR 63227:2020 | |
| Minimum size of earthing conductor for solar PV cells is 6Sq/mm of copper / 10Sq.mm for Aluminum and 70 Sq.mm for GI Strip. | |
| Resistance between any point of PV System and earth should not more than 5 Ohm. Earthing should be 2 no’s of separate parallel path with 2 no’s of separate earthing rod. | |
| Solar panel supporting structures, inverter neutral, body etc. shall be earthed as per standards. | |
| SURGE PROTECTION DEVICE (SPD) | DC surge arresters shall be provided at DC side and it shall be of Type 2 (as per IEC 61643-1, IEC 62548/2016) rated at a continuous operating voltage of at least 125 % of the open-circuit voltage of the PV string, and a flash current of more than 5 A. |
| As the string inverters used for roof top PV systems do not allow more than 800 VDC, surge arrestors rated for 1,000 VDC are commonly used. | |
| The surge arrestors should be connected to both positive and negative outgoing terminal of the string junction box. If the inverter is provided with in-build SPD this may not be insisted | |
| AC side of inverter shall also be provided with a SPD of adequate rating. SPDs shall be selected based on the voltage impulse withstanding capacity of the equipment to be protected. | |
| Breakers having adequate rating and surge protection device (SPD) shall be provided in the array junction box. | |
| LIGHTING ARRESTER | For large PV systems a dedicated lightning protection system shall be provided as per IEC 62305 and section 7.4.2 of IEC 62548/2016. Existing lightning protection of a building may be considered sufficient for this purpose, provided it adequately protects the installation area. |
| BACK FEEDING TO GRID | Lockable CB/SFU shall be installed at the point of interconnection with the grid connected SPV system which should be accessible to the utility staff to isolate the system at the time of maintenance of distribution system. |
| If the proposed installation is having a DG set, reverse power relay shall be provided to avoid back feeding to DG set, if necessary. | |
| In the grid System, ensure that there is no back feeding to the grid when grid supply is off and anti islanding protection shall be ensured. Certificate from the manufacturer shall be obtained. | |
| In the grid System, ensure that there is no back feeding to the grid when grid supply is off and anti-islanding protection shall be ensured. Certificate from the manufacturer shall be obtained. | |
| INGRESS PROTECTION | All PV equipment installed outdoors should have an ingress protection rating of at least IP65. All the inverters installed outdoor shall be recommended to provide an additional shading arrangement to avoid direct sunlight and rain. |
| LABELING | All the PV equipment shall be labelled as per IEC 62446-2009-05 |
| Main AC isolating switch shall be clearly labelled with dual supply warning and a single line wiring diagram shall be displayed. | |
| METER | If it is grid tied, it shall be ensured that Bi-directional meter (Net meter) is provided at the interconnection point to record the import and export of energy. |
| Solar meter shall be installed at the delivery point of the solar energy system to measure the solar electricity generated. | |
| The meters shall be tested, installed and sealed. | |
JIGNESH PARMAR
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