Is my friend going to burn his/her house down?

pieter_pompers said:
I kinda understand the reason for the laws which is to prevent people like my friend from connecting chingchong UPS's/Inverters to the grid and to prevent them from potentially burning their neighbourhoods down but it's still dumb.
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Funny how no-one ever explains how this would actually happen.

No-one at the CCT would actually be able to explain why an off-grid inverter wired in the way that your friend wants it would cause any electrical safety risk as opposed to a hybrid inverter.
 
konfab said:
Funny how no-one ever explains how this would actually happen.

No-one at the CCT would actually be able to explain why an off-grid inverter wired in the way that your friend wants it would cause any electrical safety risk as opposed to a hybrid inverter.
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because then they would have to lie and put their reputation on the line.
 
wingnut771 said:
chingchong inverters that feed into the grid still have to abide by an international standard. Regardless, COCT wont even let you use chinchong inverters that are just dumb UPSs that cant feed in because they are too stupid to know the difference. Never mind the fact that you cant even feed in with the pay as you go meter.
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We'll my friends chingchong inverter can't reverse feed into the grid. Can only draw from the grid via wall socket.
 
pieter_pompers said:
We'll my friends chingchong inverter can't reverse feed into the grid. Can only draw from the grid via wall socket.
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Exactly, but that is not good enough for CoCT because they are too busy using all their brain power for breathing. You still need to hire an engineer and draw up CAD designs.
 
konfab said:
Funny how no-one ever explains how this would actually happen.

No-one at the CCT would actually be able to explain why an off-grid inverter wired in the way that your friend wants it would cause any electrical safety risk as opposed to a hybrid inverter.
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Probably due to incorrect grounding/earthing, not having the proper input/output current protection increasing the risk of electrocution and potential wires turning into heating elements and burning everything around it.
 
pieter_pompers said:
I kinda understand the reason for the laws which is to prevent people like my friend from connecting chingchong UPS's/Inverters to the grid and to prevent them from potentially burning their neighbourhoods down but it's still dumb.
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This read like a pineapple Smurf post.
 
pieter_pompers said:
Probably due to incorrect grounding/earthing, not having the proper input/output current protection increasing the risk of electrocution and potential wires turning into heating elements and burning everything around it.
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Why would that be the case with an off-grid inverter vs a hybrid inverter?

You need to separate electrocution vs overload, as they are two different problems.

To me, the safe way to do it is that for a wiring configuration like the one that your friend wants, all that should be necessary is that there is residual current protection on both the input and output of the inverter, along with overload protection matched to the inverter's specs.
 
konfab said:
Why would that be the case with an off-grid inverter vs a hybrid inverter?

You need to separate electrocution vs overload, as they are two different problems.

To me, the safe way to do it is that for a wiring configuration like the one that your friend wants, all that should be necessary is that there is residual current protection on both the input and output of the inverter, along with overload protection matched to the inverter's specs.
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It would be the case if someone doesn't do all things you just mentioned and what my friend wants to do.
 
konfab said:
Why would that be the case with an off-grid inverter vs a hybrid inverter?

You need to separate electrocution vs overload, as they are two different problems.

To me, the safe way to do it is that for a wiring configuration like the one that your friend wants, all that should be necessary is that there is residual current protection on both the input and output of the inverter, along with overload protection matched to the inverter's specs.
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My 1000W PSW inverter screams at me then turns off if I try the aircon or kettle or forget to turn the plug off before switching the main switch back on. House hasn't burned down yet and inverter still works.
 
konfab said:
What regulation actually stops someone from using a regular generator and a suicide cord? Answer is none.

Someone doing what your friend is doing is much safer.
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Just for the love of god don't put solar panels on your roof coz then you're a gonner, they will come for you.
 
wingnut771 said:
Just for the love of god don't put solar panels on your roof coz then you're a gonner, they will come for you.
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Yep COCT said they use google maps satellite images to track down unregistered solar installs. RIP
 
pieter_pompers said:
Hi all, let's just say, hypothetically, I have a friend that wants to split out his/her DB board into a secondary DB board that only has some essential breakers in it like lights and maybe a single plugs breaker that he/she want to power with a UPS during load shedding. Referencing the attached hypothetical diagram image, and ignoring any additional fuses and DC disconnect breakers etc, on a scale of 1(They're going to unalive themselves and burn down the neighborhood) to 10(this is absolutely genius) how good of a plan is this? Asking for a friend obviously. TIA.

Edit: Those who give scores below 5 please explain why.

Edit 2: For reference it's a Fivestar 1200W Hybrid UPS. Model AL1212
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back in 2019 I had a qualified electrician come in and remove all my roof lights & 1 side of the house wall plugs (light duty) - all live & neutral wires from my eskom DB and rewire into inverter DB. heavy appliances like washing machine / tumble dry / dish washer are still on eskom for now.

never had any issues with the setup.
 
wingnut771 said:
If the sun can see it so can google maps.
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True but with the whole roof mounting you need an engineers signoff, don't think that's the case if mounted on a wall and since COCT no longer allows the registration of standalone backup systems that feeds a secondary DB I believe my friend should be good to go if he doesn't follow through with his secondary DB board idea and just keeps the system completely standalone and isolated.
 
spiff said:
back in 2019 I had a qualified electrician come in and remove all my roof lights & 1 side of the house wall plugs (light duty) - all live & neutral wires from my eskom DB and rewire into inverter DB. heavy appliances like washing machine / tumble dry / dish washer are still on eskom for now.

never had any issues with the setup.
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Can you remember what the electrician charged for all that work?
 
spiff said:
back in 2019 I had a qualified electrician come in and remove all my roof lights & 1 side of the house wall plugs (light duty) - all live & neutral wires from my eskom DB and rewire into inverter DB. heavy appliances like washing machine / tumble dry / dish washer are still on eskom for now.

never had any issues with the setup.
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That's not the issue, the issue is if your inverter is approved by cape town.
 
pieter_pompers said:
True but with the whole roof mounting you need an engineers signoff, don't think that's the case if mounted on a wall and since COCT no longer allows the registration of standalone backup systems that feeds a secondary DB I believe my friend should be good to go if he doesn't follow through with his secondary DB board idea and just keeps the system completely standalone and isolated.
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The roof mounting is not the issue. The issue is when they see solar panels then you must register your whole system with approved inverter and university professor grade CAD drawings, it doesn't matter if the panels are hanging off the side of the wall or sitting in the grass in the garden.
 
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