70 / 116
70
E L E CT R I C AL CONNE CT I ON
S P R I NG 2 01 5
SOLAR CERTIFICATION
On the mark
F
or some time, the Australian Solar
Council (ASC) has been conducting
audits of solar installations on
behalf of the Clean Energy Regulator.
Throughout this process, the ASC
has recognised the need for ongoing
professional development and training
of solar designers and installers beyond
the Council’s standard accreditation
requirements. To this end, the Solar Gold
Certification program was born.
“The ASC launched Solar Gold with
multiple objectives: to provide a readily
available, online resource to help installers
stay on top of compliance issues; to protect
the reputation of the industry and ensure
all work is of a high quality; and see to it
that end users are able to easily access
reliable services for their systems,” says ASC
program manager Laurie Kane.
The Council also sought to make it easy
to identify solar installers and designers
who are willing go the extra mile to
maintain currency with Australia’s constantly
changing standards and regulatory
environment. With new technologies
frequently entering the market, and
components like micro-inverters and power
optimisers being refined and modified, the
ASC places no small importance on staying
up-to-date with developments in this
burgeoning industry.
For installers, the benefits of certification
(and displaying the accompanying Solar
Gold Trust Mark) are manifold. The program
provides leads for installers through their
‘Find an Installer’ look-up that features both
on the ASC website and Solar Gold website.
This helps to promote the installers the ASC
endorses. In addition to this, the program
hones in on a host of industry specific
problem areas.
“We provide content on areas of the
market we’ve identified as problematic
or confusing, such as the different
inverters on the market (including how
to deal with transformer-less inverters)
and the possible fault currents of
different situations and different earthing
conditions,” Laurie says.
“The voltage rating of isolators can
also be a cause of confusion because,
depending on the inverter, the rating can
apply to the isolator as a whole or can be
calculated per conductor.
“DC isolators are another important
issue as it’s probably where most serious
errors occur, particularly in terms of water
ingress. There’s also a lot of information
relating to compliance issues.”
For installers and designers to secure
a Solar Gold Trust Mark, they must first
undertake baseline training and then
complete a compliance checklist. The
initial training is comprised of seven
online modules that can be completed at
any time.
“Often it’s about taking the Australian
standards and regulations and
demystifying them - giving some practical
examples of what’s expected and showing
installers how to work to maintain those
standards. A big part of that is effective
communication and team supervision.
On any given job, the accredited designer
and installer are ultimately responsible
for ensuring everything is up to scratch
on site, so it’s imperative they can clearly
communicate those requirements to their
counterparts,” Laurie says.
Interested parties can register for Solar
Gold Certification either as an individual
or a company. In the case of company
registration, all employees have access
to information and training to promote
a deeper understanding of issues and
industry requirements company-wide.
> Solar Gold
www.solargold.com.auThe Solar Gold Certification
program is an initiative of
the Australian Solar Council
that aims to benefit installers,
designers and end users alike.
Jacob Harris
explains.
P
V
B
E
S
T
P
R
A
C
T
I
C
E
CerƟfied
Company
solar
GOLD
A
U
S
T
R
A
L
I
A
N
S
O
L
A
R
C
O
U
N
C
I
L
The ASC has recognised the
need for ongoing professional
development and training of solar
designers and installers.