COC for PV installation

[GCE]

The "point of supply "definition is in the regulations

I am going to start at the beginning - I have listed definitions of what I see as relevant - Definitions , in red, are from the OHSA , Electrical Installation regulations 2009 ( the definitions are copied from the regulations and not my making )
The OHSA is what gives SANS 10142-1 teeth

electrical installation means any machinery, in or on any premises, used for the transmission of electricity from a point of control to a point of consumption anywhere on the premises, including any article forming part of such an electrical installation irrespective of whether or not it is part of the electrical circuit, but excluding
(a)
any machinery of the supplier related to the supply of electricity on the premises;
(b)
any machinery which transmits electrical energy in communication, control circuits, television or radio circuits;

point of control means the point at which an electrical installation on or in any premises can be switched off by a user or lessor from the electricity supplied from the point of supply, or the point at which a particular part of an electrical installation on or in any premises can be switched off where different users occupy different portions of such premises;

point of supply means the point at which electricity is supplied to any premises by a supplier;

supplier in relation to a particular electrical installation, means any person who supplies or contracts or agrees to supply electricity to that electrical installation;


One relevant part of the electrical installation definition is - including any article forming part of such an electrical installation irrespective of whether or not it is part of the electrical circuit,
This allows us as Electrical contractors to be in charge of installing cable trays , conduits etc and is relevant to the PV installations as well

Moving onto SANS 10142-1 - We start at the scope covered - Again regulations copied are in red , not mine

1.2 Aspects covered by this part of SANS 10142
This part of SANS 10142 covers
a) circuits supplied at nominal voltages up to and including 1 000 V a.c. or
1 500 V d.c. The standard frequency for a.c. is 50 Hz. The use of other
frequencies for special purposes is not excluded,
b) circuits, other than the internal wiring of apparatus, that operate at
voltages exceeding 1 000 V and are derived from an installation that has
a voltage not exceeding 1 000 V a.c.,
c) any wiring systems and cables not specifically covered by the standards
for appliances,
d) all consumer installations external to buildings,
e) fixed wiring in the power supply circuits for telecommunication equipment,
signalling equipment, control equipment and the like (excluding internal
wiring of apparatus),
f) the extension or alteration of the installation and also parts of the existing
installation affected by the existing extension or alteration,
g) fixed wiring needed to connect the various units of complex machinery
that are installed in separate locations,
h) equipment for which no standard is referenced ,
i) replacement or maintenance of components, and
j) earthing arrangements.

If we are going to refer to PV installations as machinery I would hazard a guess and say that PV is complex as describe in g above - So I would think it is covered under the scope

Moving onto Normative references - regulations copied are in Red and not mine - I have been selective to what I see as relevant
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents, in whole or in part, are normatively
referenced in this document and are indispensable for its application.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies. Information on currently valid national and
international standards can be obtained from the SABS Standards
Division.

IEC 62116, Utility-interconnected photovoltaic inverters – Test procedure of
islanding prevention measures.

SANS 60364-7-712/IEC 60364-7-712, Electrical installations of buildings –
Part 7-712: Requirements for special installations or locations – Solar
photovoltaic (PV) power supply systems.

SANS 61215/IEC 61215, Crystalline silicon terrestrial photovoltaic (PV)
modules – Design qualification and type approval.

SANS 61646, Thin-film terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules – Design
qualification and type approval.

As can be seen from the above SANS workgroup have used PV related documents to compile SANS 10142-1

The definitions in SANS 10142-1 that I see as relevant - regulations copied are in Red and not mine

3.33
electrical installation
machinery, in or on any premises, that is used for the transmission of
electrical energy from a point of control (see 3.56) to a point of
consumption (see 3.55) anywhere on the premises, including any article
that forms part of such an installation, irrespective of whether or not it is part
of the electrical circuit, but excluding
a) any machinery of the supplier that is related to the supply of electricity on
the premises,
b) any machinery that is used for the transmission of electricity of which the
voltage does not exceed 50 V, where such electricity is not derived from
the main supply of a supplier, and
c) any machinery that transmits electrical energy in telecommunication,
television or radio circuits

3.9
Certificate of Compliance
CoC
certificate that is issued by a registered person in respect of an electrical
installation or part of an electrical installation

3.56
point of control
point at which a consumer can, on or in any premises, switch off the
electrical installation from the electricity supplied from the point of supply

3.58
point of supply
point at which a supplier supplies electricity to any premises
From the above definitions it would appear that the machinery (PV installation ) is being used for the transmission of electrical energy after the point of control

Now I get my COC form out and low and behold in section 2 - Installation it ask's me about alternative supplies and references me to 7.12 page 244

Is alternative power supply installed? (See 7.12):  Yes  No


7.12 Alternative supplies
NOTE Alternative supplies include but are not limited to low-voltage generating sets,
photovoltaic (PV) installations, gas generators, diesel generators, wind turbines and
hydropower plant.

7.12.1.1 Subclause 7.12 applies to an installation that incorporates
alternative supplies intended to supply, either continuously or occasionally,
all or part of the installation with the following supply arrangements:
a) supply to an installation or part of an installation which is not connected to
the main supply of a supplier;
b) supply to an installation or part of an installation as an alternative to the
main supply of a supplier; and
c) appropriate combinations of the above

Having a look at 7.12 it references in particular PV installations and then verifies that even if it feds only part of the installation it is still relevant

7.12.1.2 Subclause 7.12 covers, but is not limited to, the following
a) alternate supply that consist of a combination of an internal combustion
engine or a turbine, hydro plant, wind energy recovery installation or any
similar source of mechanical energy and an alternator or a d.c. generator;
b) rotary UPS (uninterruptible power supply) systems that consist of a
combination of an electric motor and an alternator, with batteries as a
standby power source for the electric motor, or with an internal
combustion engine, gas or turbine as a standby power source for the
alternator; and
c) static UPS systems that consist of static inverters with batteries as the
standby power source (with or without bypass facilities).
d) installations similar to those in 7.12.1.2(c), but sourcing energy from
photovoltaics or other sources.

Again 7.12.1.2 d references in particular PV systems
They then continue to reference in broad terms to various regulations that need to be complied to for alternative supply's - Their is then a section for additional requirements for PV in 7.12.4

7.12.4 Additional requirements for installations that incorporate
electrical supply derived from static inverters used with uninterruptible
power supply (UPS) equipment and photovoltaic installations off-grid
or on-grid

Further on there is another reference to PV and the requirements for color coding on the DC terminals
7.12.5.2 DC conductors and battery protection methods
Colour coding for AC/DC solar/photovoltaic installations shall be in
accordance with the requirements given in 6.3.3.3.
NOTE DC circuits may be identified by means of colours or symbols.


7.12.7 Additional requirements for photovoltaic (PV) and similar
installations that provide a supply as an alternative to the main supply
7.12.7.1 The photovoltaic installation shall comply with SANS 60364-7-712
and the solar panels shall comply with SANS 61215 (for poly and mono
crystalline) or SANS 61646 (for thin-film).
7.12.7.2 The DC component of the installation shall comply with 7.15.
7.12.7.3 The rated voltage of each circuit shall be clearly indicated at all
ends of the circuit.
In the case of combined circuits, every circuit shall be easily identifiable.
Where single core conductors are used, such conductors for each circuit
shall be tied together at intervals to ensure identification, unless another
suitable arrangement is employed.
7.12.7.4 Precautions regarding parallel operation as prescribed in 7.12.6.1,
and overcurrent protection as prescribed in 7.12.4.1 shall be provided.
7.12.7.5 In addition it shall be recognised that the supply from each inverter,
battery arrangement and PV panel (or identified clustered group), constitutes
a supply, and requires arrangements similar to point of supply, which shall
include switch-disconnection arrangements and shall comply with 7.12.5.
7.12.7.6 If applicable, all exposed conductive parts may require earthing as
prescribed in 6.12.3.

In the above they reference to PV being similar to a point of supply - similar being the operative wording
They also reference to PV systems complying to 7.15 DC Installations

I find it difficult that after all the referencing to PV systems in the code that anybody would say that PV systems are excluded - The COC asks if there is an alternative supply and then tells you were to look and what to do - When you sign Section 3 , Inspections and tests you are signing to say that you have followed the regulations which include numerous references to PV

Am I still misunderstanding something