A very basic understanding of the process from the design, to commissioning.

The first question would be what am I trying to achieve, do I want a backup system or do I want to save money, or both?

Then I would need to decide on the budget, how much can I afford, do I need to get a loan. Will the system save money and how much over what period of time?

Find suitable company for the task:

A registered DOL electrical contractor, with an IE or MIE, who have completed solar training or have years of experience in solar installations.

A team to design, install and commission the system, who are all suitably qualified for the task under the supervision of the IE or MIE.

The team must be made up of suitably trained staff from the labourer to the elconops, to the electricians and the IE/MIE in both general electrical, solar installations and brand specific.

Then the brand of equipment would be selected, making sure it has some form of approval.

The roof structure would be checked to verify it can handle the weight of the panels to be installed.

The positioning of the panels and roof space would be considered to maximise the power generated.

A quote would be submitted.

Once the quote has been accepted, then the registration process with the metro/council would be submitted.(In some cases an ECSA approved engineer will be required)

The deposit to the contractor would be paid so that the equipment can be ordered.

The company would submit a list of staff members who will be working on the site with their relevant skills and qualifications, including the IE or MIE who will be required to do site visits to monitor the installation progress and testing.

Once the equipment is delivered, the safety equipment would be setup and the job would start.

The job would take a few days, under the general supervision of the IE or MIE (site visits to verify compliance)

Once the job is complete, and all the labelling has been installed, the job will be commissioned.

The commissioning will include:

Product registration for warranties.

A visual inspection to identifying everything is in order, cable are connected in the right terminals and isolated are correctly located and accessible, spacing between the equipment for ventilation, etc etc.

Cable testing, including insulation resistance tests to make sure there are no damaged cables etc etc.

Verify the batteries and comms cables are connected.

The system will be powered up in stages, making sure there are no loads connected to prevent arching.

A test report with all the test results, carried out by the IE or MIE and once cleared the COC will be issued.

The test report should include:

The original or supplementary COC, with a pile documents including the following:

The test reports for each DB

A single line diagram of the system AC and DC, the essential and non essential loads and very important the isolators locations to shut down the system safely.

A break down of the safe isolation procedure.

The parameters for the inverter and battery would have already been set on the work bench or uploaded.

Lastly, link to the wifi, download apps, run through the process with the user and hand over the system.