Nov 13, 2026, 5:15 AM> But "Australians aren't Germans", MEA national technical manager Matthew Duncan said.
> "Households either won't read the safety instructions or they'll ignore them.
Rude.
- Nov 13, 2026, 5:15 AM
Replies
- Nov 13, 2026, 5:33 AM
Quick look at the details here. For context this is the dangers of plugin solar I Australia. The max a system can output is 800W. Most households will have 2.5mm cable with 16A or 20A breakers.
There's a couple of concerns which I'll put in replies.
- Nov 13, 2026, 5:38 AM
The first concern is that a user has one plug in solar system, that's running at the max output of 800W. So with combined breaker current limit, plus the current from the plugin solar, it's possible to draw over the intended current capacity for the houses wiring for a segment of the cabling.
I don't think this is a huge concern as cabling doesn't instantly catch fire at the rating, most users aren't hitting anywhere the limit of their circuit breaker, and when the solar does turn off from darkness the breaker will trip.
Based on no issues on other countries, this I think is fine.
- Nov 13, 2026, 5:43 AM
The other scenario is multiple units plugged in to the same circuit. I don't really feel like like this scenario is likely to cause issues either. The user has to ignore warnings, and then if they do, I suspect you'd need like 4 of these at max output to actually cause a serious incident, which just isn't practical for the people who would be buying and using them. And to cause an issue you'd probably need both 4 of them and a decent load before the breaker.
I haven't done the maths or any experiments but I suspect its one of those things that could be an issue if someone ignored instructions and created a very rare situation.
- Nov 13, 2026, 5:46 AM
I feel like they should have standardized a power line signalling system that allowed detecting another unit on the same circuit. Though how to get that to work with apartment power being so close, I'm not sure
- Nov 13, 2026, 5:59 AM
I guess the question comes down to safety margins. This allows a user to eat into the safety margin. Is someone doing the wrong thing suitable to eat into the margin and by how much?
I think there's enough evidence from other countries that it's not an issue. I'm more concerned of mechanical mounting and panels falling (but that's so minimal to me)
- Nov 13, 2026, 6:11 AM
So most electricians are very good at knowing the rules, and following the rules to make installs safe. This is good. You should trust them for doing electrical work.
But engineering the rules, understanding the margins and risk analysis, less so. Their opinions still mater but need to test and validate the concerns.
AndrePCOWandre@jauntygoat.netNov 13, 2026, 6:10 AM@xssfox Given ethernet-over-power is workable in an apartment/MDU scenario it seems like some sort of signalling could work.
Then there would be a Standard and three more Standards and they'd all be licensable and they'd drive the per-unit cost up by $1000.
Lyndallyndaljane@bne.socialNov 13, 2026, 8:40 AM@xssfox would plugging them into a battery that regulated the output back into the circuit work?
- Nov 13, 2026, 8:49 AM
@lyndaljane the problem is so you don't know how how many inverters are plugged into the same circuit - battery or not
Gusprojectgus@aus.socialNov 13, 2026, 5:49 AM@xssfox One thing I've seen discussed about running EV chargers off outdoor 10A sockets (although that's starting at 2x the power) is that many older outdoor GPOs have quietly been oxidising for decades, and aren't really ready to run continuously for many hours.
Probably more of a problem at 10A than 3.5A though (and I reckon it's one of the reasons that new cars seem to often come with 6A or 8A slow chargers nowadays.)
- Nov 13, 2026, 5:53 AM
@projectgus oh interesting. Curious to know the cause of that.
I suspect if we reinvented power sockets today they'd have thermal fuses built in
- Gusprojectgus@aus.socialNov 13, 2026, 5:56 AM
@xssfox It's only something I've seen discussed anecdotally, so may not be as much of an issue as it was presented as.
But it kind of makes sense to me that the contacts inside an 40+ year old outdoor outlet may have some resistance that wasn't there when they were clean and new.
Patrick HerdPatrickHerd@aus.socialNov 13, 2026, 6:17 AM@xssfox the recent change over here to move the tolerance to +-10% from 230V nominal is going to cause way more fires than plug in solar for sure.
- Gusprojectgus@aus.socialNov 13, 2026, 5:42 AM
@xssfox My first thought was similar to @ThermiteBeGiants' here: https://aus.social/@ThermiteBeGiants/117601290914037416
- Nov 13, 2026, 5:43 AM
@projectgus @ThermiteBeGiants ha yes
- Nov 13, 2026, 5:45 AM
@projectgus @ThermiteBeGiants my mental worse case picture is someone with 8 of these on power boards floating on their pool powering the pools pump/filter
- Gusprojectgus@aus.socialNov 13, 2026, 5:46 AM
@xssfox @ThermiteBeGiants yes, shouldn't underestimate the limits of creativity!
Full Metal ArchaeopteryxDelilahTech@tech.lgbtNov 13, 2026, 6:18 AM@xssfox
One other consideration—honestly I consider it a mild concern unless an entire apartment complex is doing this—if the local power grid goes down, and these solar chargers are feeding into the grid, there is an electric shock hazard for the workers trying to restore powerIn California, there is a switch that automatically isolates the house from the grid when this happens, or the solar panels will stop powering the house
... assuming the panels were installed correctly and permitted
If Joe-Bob bought his own equipment and his brother-in-law installed it, then all bets are off; but Joe-Bob, et al will be held liable should an accident occur
- Nov 13, 2026, 6:46 AM
@DelilahTech tbh it's not a real problem. I'm not sure exactly what standard Australia is using for these but it's a pretty solved problem. There's the easy approaching of disconnect when voltage and frequency sags or the more complex check of the network impedance checking.