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46 E L EC TR I C AL CONNEC T I ON
AU T UMN 20 1 6
SKIN IN THE GAME
I
t’s that time of year – out comes
the sun, off comes the shirt, suntan
central.
But there are hazards associated
with getting that suntan, and we all
know that we should ‘slip, slop and slap’
as a matter of course. That is, slip on
a shirt, slop on the 30+ sunscreen and
slap on a hat. You could take it further
with: seek shade or shelter and slide on
some sunnies.
‘Slip, slop, slap, seek and slide’ is very
good advice for all tradies. But this
article is not just aimed at helping you
to be sun-smart.
The solar energy revolution has been
under way for quite a few years. By
the end of 2014, government support
had led to the installation of about 1.5
million small-scale solar power systems
across the country.
According to the Clean Energy
Council, these systems produced about
2% of the country’s total electricity,
and the figures can only have increased
through 2015.
Although this has been a boon for
clean energy production, it has been
far from smooth from an installation
perspective.
First, there were the more than
dubious installations using various
government rebates to provide ultra-
low-cost systems to the home owner.
This was devastating for the reputable
electrical contractor who wanted to
provide a quality installation with
quality components.
Basically, the bad guys cut out any
reputable contractor because of price.
Fortunately, things have calmed down
and there are many who now provide
that system at an effective price, using
quality products.
There were lots of horror stories of
poor workmanship and lack of service
back-up. If something went wrong,
home owners ended up with no support
whatsoever – they were probably left
with just a phone number. Most of the
cowboys have now left the market.
The AS/NZS 5033
Photovoltaic
Installations
Standard has been
published for quite a while, and in recent
times the AS/NZS 4777 Standards for
Inverters and Inverter Installations (Part
1 and Part 2)
have been published.
THINK ABOUT SOLAR
INSTALLATIONS THE SAME WAY
YOU THINK ABOUT SUNSCREEN,
WRITES
GARYBUSBRIDGE.
SIMPLY BUY QUALITY PRODUCTS.
THE BUZZ