1. International Testing and Certification Services
Head Office,
4-6 Second Street
Bowden, SA 5009
Phone: (08)
Fax: (08)

2. Clean Energy Systems Statutory, Regulatory, and Technical requirements of Grid-tied Inverters for Australian market
ITACS Lab
Phone: (08) , option 1
Disclaimer: The slides and the presentation are for information only and cannot be relied on in commercial decisions for your company. The regulations, standards, and market data are all changing quickly and cannot be applied uniform to every enterprise. These have to be analysed at the time, location for your company and your market at your own responsibility.

3. International Testing and Certification Services
Today’s presentation:
Requirements for approval to supply energy to a grid
Clean energy systems
Australian Standards in details
ITACS authorities, facilities and licences
The process to get a product listed and approved for Australian market

4. Requirements for approval to supply energy to a grid
Inverters must be tested against AS and by an accredited test laboratory
Equipment approved by CEC (Clean Energy Council of Australia)
An installer accredited by BCSE (Australian Business for Sustainable Energy)
Customer signs a retail buyback agreement for the purchase of excess energy.
Install an import/export energy meter (Electric Utility)

5. Clean Energy Council
Approved inverters to be marked with an Approval number and a date of testing. The testing date should be less than 5 years old.
Approved Grid Connect Inverters and PV modules are suitable for installation under the government rebate programs and Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) schemes
The CEC lists but does not approve inverters - electric utility is responsible for approving inverters used in its jurisdiction.

6. Clean Energy Council
The CEC is a membership based industry association representing the clean energy and energy efficiency sectors. 
> 300 member companies
involved in the development or deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency technologies including wind, hydro, wave and ocean, solar photovoltaic and thermal, bioenergy, solar hot water, geothermal and cogeneration.

7. Types of energy systems Types of energy systems
Solar powered PV Array
Wind powered
Fuel cells
Hydro-generators
Other types (bio-mass, sea wave, tidal power, etc.)
Grid-connected inverters (AS 4777:2005)
Portable Inverters (AS/NZS 4763(Int):2006)

8. Electric Utilities and Retailers1
ETSA SA 2
Ergon Energy (1)
QLD 3
ENERGEX 4
EnergyAustralia
NSW,VIC, ACT & QLD 5
Loy Yang Power
VIC 6
Integral Energy
NSW & QLD 7
Powerlink
QLD (gov) 8
Western Power Corporation WA 9
Delta Electricity
NSW 10
United Energy (1)
and Retailers

9. Australian Standards relevant to Grid-connected inverters
Australian Wiring Rules AS/NZS 3000:2007
Grid connection of energy systems via inverters
AS —2005, Part 1: Installation requirements
AS —2005, Part 2: Inverter requirements
AS —2005, Part 3: Grid protection requirements
AS/NZS 3100:2009, General requirements for electrical equipment
AS/NZS Electromagnetic compatibility - EMC - Limits - Limitation of voltage changes voltage

10. AS 4777.1, 4777.2 and 4777.3 Second edition 2005; (the 1st was 2002),
Revised to:
(a2,3) simplify requirements for EMC;
(b2) clarify harmonic limits;
(b3) clarify the grid performance test including tolerances on test values.
(c2) clarify test parameters and tolerances; and
(d2) resolve some issues found as a result of application of the Standard.
Committee EL-042, Renewable Energy Power Supply Systems and Equipment.
ITACS is the only testing lab accredited to test all required clauses of AS & .3 including: AS/NZS 3100, AS/NZS , AS/NZS and EMC.

11. Testing to :2005
Grid connection of energy systems via inverters Part 2: Inverter requirements 11

12. Testing to
4.1 Compliance to AS/NZS (IR, leakage current, HV, Earthing, cords, mechanical strength, IP??, Temperature rise, Abnormals, GW, NF, Marking, instructions, etc.)
4.2 Compatibility with electrical installation AS (Voltage 230/400 V, +10%, -6% at point of supply)
4.3 Power flow direction
4.4 Power factor (0.8 leading to 0.95 lagging from 20% to 100% of rated output power, in steps of 10%)* Test described in Appendix A

13. Testing to 4777.2 Diagram for testing inverters (cl.: 4.3, 4.4, 4.5)13

14. Testing to
4.5 Harmonic currents.
Test described in Appendix B

15. Testing to 4777.2 4.6 Voltage fluctuations and flicker
AS/NZS for equipment rated less than or equal to 16 A per phase;
AS/NZS for equipment rated greater than 16 A per phase.
Testing to

16. Testing to 4777.2 4.7 Impulse protection IEC 60255-5;
0.5 J, 5 kV with a 1.2/50 waveform
Testing to 16

17. Testing to 4777.2 4.8 Transient voltage limits
Test described in Appendix C

18. Testing to 4777.2 4.8 Transient voltage limits
Test described in Appendix C 18

19. Testing to 4777.2 4.8 Transient voltage limits
Test described in Appendix C 19

20. Testing to 4777.2 4.9 Direct current injection
single-phase inverter, the d.c. output current shall not exceed 0.5% of its rated output current or 5 mA,
a 3-phase inverter, the d.c. output current between any two phases or between any phase and neutral, shall not exceed 0.5% of its rated per-phase output current or 5 mA
4.10 Data logging and communications devices
AS/NZS Information technology equipment – Safety; Part 1: General requirements

21. Testing to :2005
Grid connection of energy systems via inverters Part 3: Grid protection requirements

22. Testing to 4777.3 4.1 General (grid protection device)
4.2 Electrical safety (AS/NZS 3100)
4.3 Connection to low-voltage distribution network (same as , cl. 4.2)
4.4 Voltage flicker (same as , cl. 4.6)
4.5 Impulse protection (same as , cl. 4.7)
4.6 Data logging and communications devices (same as , cl. 4.10)

23. Testing to
5.3 Voltage and frequency limits (passive anti-islanding protection)
5.3 Voltage and frequency limits (passive anti-islanding protection)
(a) Vmin shall lie in the range V for a single-phase or V for a three-phase system;
(b) Vmax shall lie in the range V for a single-phase or V for a three-phase system;
(c) fmin shall lie in the range Hz; and
(d) fmax shall lie in the range Hz.

24. Testing to
Input supply 24

25. 5. 5 Active anti-islanding protection
5.5 Active anti-islanding protection. The grid protection device shall incorporate at least one method of active anti-islanding protection.
shifting the frequency
power variation
monitoring for sudden changes in the impedance of the grid (current injection)
Testing to

26. Testing to
Input supply
Load (b) or (c) 26

27. Testing to 4777.3 5.6 Reconnection procedure
(a) the voltage of the electricity distribution network has been maintained within the range Vmin–Vmax for at least 1min, where Vmin and Vmax are as defined in Clause 5.3; and
(b) the frequency of the electricity distribution network has been maintained within the range fmin–fmax for at least 1 min, where fmin and fmax are as defined in Clause 5.3; and
(c) the inverter energy system and the electricity distribution network are synchronized and in-phase with each other.

28. Testing to
Input supply 28

29. EMC Compliance Electromagnetic Compatibility
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) regulates the EMC industry in Australia.
EMC Compliance is mandatory for all electrical electronic products
Australian EMC framework based on European style approvals scheme
Main difference with the 2 frameworks:
Only emissions standards are mandatory in Australia
In Australia inverters must be labelled with C-Tick

30. EMC Compliance Electromagnetic Compatibility
Compliance is based on self declaration.
It is the responsibility of manufacturer/supplier to comply with the mandatory regulations by;
Ensuring that products meet the prescribed standards
Self declare that the product complies (compliance folder)
Label the product (C-tick and C-tick No.)
Establish and maintain a compliance folder for up to 5 years after product ceases to be supplied to the market

31. Applicable EMC Standards
Emissions
AS/NZS (Emissions standard for Residential, Commercial & Light-Industrial Environment)
The standard calls:
CISPR for radiated emissions
IEC for Harmonic
IEC for Voltage fluctuation and Flicker
CISPR for Conducted disturbance on Mains terminal and DC power port
CISPR 22 for conducted disturbances on telecom ports
CISPR 14-1 for Discontinuous disturbances

32. Testing inverters at ITACS
One-stop shop for compliance testing of inverters to Australian Standards
All required standards, all clauses
“Certificate of Approval”
Ready for listing by: Clean Energy Council of Australia

33. Testing inverters at ITACS Lab

34. Facilities for testing inverters at ITACS Lab
AC power 3-phase up to 30kVA (var f, var U)
Photovoltaic array simulator (14kW, 800V, 22A+) or specially arranged circuits (180A, low voltage)
High power loads, resistive, inductive
D.S.O.
All equipment calibrated to National Standards with traceability

35. Facilities for testing inverters at ITACS Lab
AC power 3-phase up to 30kVA (10kVA/phase) 35

36. Facilities for testing inverters at ITACS Lab
Photovoltaic array simulator (14kW, 800V, 22A)
or specially arranged circuits (180A, low voltage 12, 24, 48 or similar) 36

37. Facilities for testing inverters at ITACS Lab
High power, loads, resistive, inductive, capacitive
Supply transformer
250 kVA
Input: 415 V, 3Ø
Output: 350 – 1200 V
412 – 120 A 37

38. Facilities for testing inverters at ITACS Lab
High power, loads, resistive, inductive, capacitive 38

39. Facilities for testing inverters at ITACS Lab
High power, loads, resistive, inductive, capacitive
3-phase
Load,
Resistors
&
Inductors 39

40. Facilities for testing inverters at ITACS Lab
Test corner, Temperature chamber, 40

41. ITACS Open Area Test Site

42. Testing inverters at ITACS Lab
All equipment calibrated to National Standards with traceability
NATA accredited testing lab
ITACS can issue “Certificate of Approval” under JAS-ANZ accreditation schedule
One-Stop shop for INVERTER testing 42