Exposed Battery Cables Are Everywhere. Regulators Don’t Seem to Care.

Once again the solar and storage industry is facing some uncomfortable questions about whether the rules we work with actually line up with each other.

Finn did an excellent job of explaining this issue a few weeks back¹ but strap in and we’ll get into the weeds of wiring rules and ask, why are they being ignored by installers, inspectors and regulators and who is going to bear the cost of getting this right?

The cables used to carry the DC electricity from both solar panels and batteries are the same type, but the rules about protecting them are very different.

Rules For Solar Panel Wiring Are Strict

Solar panels can only push out so much current. Even if you create a dead short circuit, a string of panels will only deliver about 15 Amps. The cables used are so oversized they’ll never overheat. That’s why solar wiring hardly ever² needs a fuse or circuit breaker.

The solar standard (AS4777) requires these cables to be double insulated and enclosed in protective tubing (called conduit) for their full length, from the panels on the roof all the way down to the inverter. The one exception: up to 300mm of exposed cable is allowed where the wires plug into the inverter, because you need a bit of slack to make the connection.

The cables circled in red are compliant loops of solar DC cable, and the conduit arrowed green could even have 300mm of DC solar cable exposed either side of it. However there’s a few other rules broken here, which is often par for the course with cheap equipment attracting cheap installers.

Rules For Battery Wiring Are Stricter

A battery is a different animal.

If you short circuit a battery it will try to deliver all the energy, all at once. Some of the warning stickers on batteries look like nanny state hyperbole, but it’s worth considering a decent arc flash from a battery can turn a spanner into a shower of white hot liquid, quicker than you can blink. Overalls and a face shield aren’t unreasonable requirements.

Under the battery standard (AS5139), battery cables must be physically protected for their entire length. No exceptions, no 300mm of slack.

If you have an all-in-one stackable system like the GoodWe ESA for instance, this problem has been engineered out of existence.

But for systems with a discrete, wall mounted battery or hybrid inverter, I have seen different makers scramble to protect the cables where they come out of the battery at one end and into the inverter at the other.

You can see this Swatten battery has plastic plugs hanging out the side. It takes little imagination to see a toolbox dropped off the top, or a rake falling over, to smash one of these off. Without mechanical protection this simply is not compliant.

Red arrow shows missing conduit isn’t compliant, this should be reported to your local technical regulator. Cheap batteries will sadly attract even cheaper installers, but blown out bricks and ineffective shades are just typical of slap dash work.

Good installers have been crafting air conditioning duct, sheet metal or 3D printed covers because there’s genuine concern. The plugs on a battery are fine under normal conditions, but they’re not tough enough to survive garden tools, bikes or other garage gear crashing into them.

GoodWe Lynx with appropriate battery terminal housing. A real credit to Dino from Eastern Solar Solutions.

Thankfully there are ethical installers like MC Electrical in Brisbane and manufacturers like BYD working together, to fix this by designing compliant covers for Australia.

BYD HV batteries needed a cover made so MC Electrical stepped up to make them available, then helped BYD design their own.

However someone at BYD’s Australian agent, Alps Power needs to return this installer goodwill. I’m told they have been taking months and months to deliver BYD’s new covers. It means these premium products are not compliant unless your installer cares enough to make their own cover.

SolarQuotes has spoken to highly qualified industry types who say vast numbers of installations aren’t fully compliant.

Incorrect labelling is the main culprit, but unprotected battery cables come second. And in my opinion it’s a problem created by manufacturers who aren’t offering a compliant product in the first place.

Thousands of these battery hybrid inverters are already out there in the wild, so the question begs, are we going to ignore the standards or is someone going to have to go back and fix them?

The Fix Is Simple: Supply A Cable Cover

When you look at Sungrow Hybrid Inverter, it looks neat and tidy because there’s a cover, supplied by the factory, protecting the wiring plugged into the inverter (but it wasn’t available when the inverter was originally released).

Sungrow inverter + cover. Credit: Positive Energy Solutions

Kudos to Fox ESS

Recently realising the problem with their product, Fox have been shipping new units with terminal covers this year. We’re waiting to see how they make good for existing owners.

Budget brands done right by DQ Electrical.  

But Why Are Some Products Even Allowed?

Installers should not be copping penalties from the authorities, when the CEC are allowing “approved” products which don’t meet the rules when installed.

Thanks go to Aussie Solar Batteries for submitting this to our vetting council. We’re glad to reject this kind of junk at SolarQuotes, it would be nice to see the CER auditing it though.

Covers Aren’t Always Simple

There are examples where products are made non-compliant because a cover blocks access to the DC isolator on the inverter. In fact AlphaESS require an unusually long screwdriver to reach theirs.

Some Sigenergy fans say you don’t need a tool to unclip a cosmetic cover, so they’re fine, but without really specific labelling, they’re kidding themselves. They could easily remove a “knock out” in the moulding, but don’t for aesthetic reasons.

I’ll argue that if you can’t see the handle, and operate it with one hand, it’s not accessible and not compliant.

Why Isn’t Anyone Enforcing This?

Every day I see examples that don’t meet the rules, all over social media. What puzzles me is that the Clean Energy Regulator has access to photos of every single installation and yet they don’t seem interested in policing anyone.

As an installer I have to take geotagged photos of everything, plus selfies to prove I was the qualified electrician on site at setup, midpoint and finish. This system is designed to prevent fraud. It’s quite rigorous and it’s been tightened recently, but maybe it’s time to actually look at these images and knock back government incentive payments for the ones that obviously don’t comply.

And I’m really confused as to how non-compliant products make it to market in the first place, given the Clean Energy Council runs an inspection scheme and approved products list. It costs thousands and takes months to get products approved, and apparently they’re still no good?

We’ve levelled criticisms of the CEC before but their approach to accountability is simply to ignore, obfuscate and delay. The CEC answers to the Clean Energy Regulator and it’s only when we’ve repeatedly pushed the government authority that we’ve got any answers at all.

What’s The Upshot?

Battery wiring must be protected, and the standards exist for good reason.

For the industry, it’s about improving training and limiting the financial damage to installers who might be required to go back and fix products that were badly designed from the start.

For the end user: we’ve shown some good and bad examples here. What you’ve got installed might not be fully compliant. Maybe it’s tucked in a corner and poses little risk, but it’s worth having a look and asking your installer if anything needs tidying up.