January 24, 20242 yr Hi Guys. My uncle had two solar panels fitted to the roof of his caravan and has the wires running down to a charge controller (not sure of the make) and from the charge controller to a 12V battery. This battery is for lights & a fridge. Everything is DC. He asked me if he needs a COC for this installation and I really couldn’t answer him. Can anyone assist with an answer please?
January 24, 20242 yr 24 minutes ago, Gandalf said: Hi Guys. My uncle had two solar panels fitted to the roof of his caravan and has the wires running down to a charge controller (not sure of the make) and from the charge controller to a 12V battery. This battery is for lights & a fridge. Everything is DC. He asked me if he needs a COC for this installation and I really couldn’t answer him. Can anyone assist with an answer please? @TaliaB I would guess it is on the very low voltage side and not covered by SANS.
January 24, 20242 yr 2 hours ago, Scorp007 said: @TaliaB I would guess it is on the very low voltage side and not covered by SANS. I would personally not issue a COC for the stand alone dc installation, but care must be taken due to the nature of batteries .The fault current on batteries could be higher than the incoming utility supply fault level and so the protection and wiring of the 12v circuits is of utmost importance. The fuses or Mcb's need to be DC rated as should the rest of the components. If it was a self install and the person is not qualified i would get it checked out for safety and insurance purposes. Sans 10142-1 Ed 2 has an introduction that applies to dc installation. SANS 10142-1:2017 Edition 2 1 Introduction In this edition an attempt has been made to move towards the IEC codes: extra low voltage (below 50 V) and d.c. applications (up to 1,5 kV) have been introduced as new requirements owing to the extensive usage of, and increased fire risk that result from, high load currents. This part of SANS 10142 does not intend to cover the LV control circuits of machinery or system components that are external circuits between separately installed parts of the machinery or system component Edited January 24, 20242 yr by TaliaB
January 24, 20242 yr It is normal for campers to use about 240-300W of panels. Normally used to be 80W or 120W panels put next to the van. If one looks at vans with DC and inverters coming out of a factory you won't easily find any DC rated MCBs or fuses. A lot use the glass fuses that were used in cars before the spade type used these days. Then there is normally a glass fused disconnector between battery and 220V DB. No fuses for each load as without inverters the loads are normally below 5A each. Do we get a COC fitting amplifiers and sound boxes in cars😃😃😃 that are high current units?
January 24, 20242 yr Author 1 hour ago, Scorp007 said: Do we get a COC fitting amplifiers and sound boxes in cars😃😃😃 that are high current units? Hey man, the way new laws are constantly being added these days, I would not be surprised! 😂 1 hour ago, TaliaB said: The fuses or Mcb's need to be DC rated as should the rest of the components. If it was a self install and the person is not qualified i would get it checked out for safety and insurance purposes. I haven’t seen the installation yet, but I think it warrants an inspection. I absolutely agree with a decently sized DC breaker and/or fuses. I will also check the cable being used. I have seen far too many newbies using “twinflex” as PV cable. Thank you guys, at least I have some sort of clarification on the matter. I have never heard of anyone getting a COC for a low voltage system that runs lights and a fridge.
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