Is this really how you do it?

[Dunc]

Went to a job this morning where the customer has PV panels on their roof. Now I'm not a installer of PV but the set up present seemed a little odd. At the consumer unit the PV side of the installation was back feeding in to the installation via a 16A MCB in the CU. Is this correct? I would have assumed that the PV install would be connected via Henley blocks pre CU so there is never the possibility that the CU can remain live when the main switch is off regardless of the fact that you can isolate the PV install from everything via the rotary isolator. On another note the warning notice stated that both DC and AC isolators should be open circuit prior to carrying out work on the CU. Is there a danger that the PV equipment could be damaged if you only opened the AC isolator leaving the DC isolator closed? Only asking this question so I'm better informed next time I come across a micro generation system.

 

[grandfortune]

if the system is on a rcd side of a split board then it is wrong , it should be on its own circuit so a high integral board should be used.

 

[northernsun]

The inverter will automatically dis-connect in the event of any shutdown of mains supply, wether it be power cut, switching off min breaker or ac isolator, this is part of the regulations for inverters so if the main switch is off then the pv system is off (the array is still live but the inverter shuts down and will not allow any feed into the ac system).
If the ac iso is off the inverter will cut off but it is best practice to turn off the dc isolator too.

 

[Dunc]

The inverter will automatically dis-connect in the event of any shutdown of mains supply, wether it be power cut, switching off min breaker or ac isolator, this is part of the regulations for inverters so if the main switch is off then the pv system is off (the array is still live but the inverter shuts down and will not allow any feed into the ac system).
If the ac iso is off the inverter will cut off but it is best practice to turn off the dc isolator too.

Cheers for that info. I'm never keen on touching stuff that i'm not sure about so it's good to know that i wouldn't be doing any damage if i didn't isolate the DC side too. As i'm sure you can imagine time is money so climbing up in the roof space a couple of times just to allow me to carry out a quick Ze for example is not something i'm going to bother with.

The CU in question had no RCD protection so it seems like all was okay with this install but i thought i would ask as you don't learn if you don't. Thanks for your replies lads.