Solar and renewables for customers

New Inverter Standard Update – December 2021

The standard relating to solar inverters is about to change. The new inverter standard AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 has new inclusions to address grid stability issues – a new feature that is necessary to further enhance the hosting capacity to accommodate more solar and renewable energy systems.

From 18 December 2021, AS/NZS 4777.2:2015 will be superseded by AS/NZS 4777.2:2020.

During commissioning of an AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 compliant inverter, installers will be required to select a region before the inverter begins to operate. All inverters installed within Jemena electricity network will require ‘Australia A’ settings for protection and response modes.

Prior to 18 December 2021, inverters must comply with either:

•    AS/NZS 4777.2:2015 and Power Quality settings as described in Jemena’s ‘Inverter Energy System Embedded Generators Protection Requirements and Settings Summary’; or

•    AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 with the default regional setting selection set to ‘Australia A’ Inverter Requirements & Settings (AS/NZS 4777.2: 2020) 

If you wish to install an inverter that complies with AS/NZS 4777.2:2015, it is strongly recommended you submit your application on Jemena’s online portal by Friday 12 November 2021 to ensure you receive a connection offer and the contract is entered into before 18 December 2021.

Applications received after this date cannot be guaranteed to receive a connection offer and contract is entered into before 18 December 2021. In addition, if an application is submitted by 12 November 2021, but is incomplete or incorrect, we cannot guarantee we will be able to finalise our assessment and issue a connection contract to be entered into before 18 December 2021.

All connection contracts entered into and inverter installations from 18 December 2021 must comply with the latest AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 as required under the National Electricity Rules, Electricity Safety Act 1998 and Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019.

For the installation of AS/NZS 4777.2:2015 compliant inverters, you must have both:

•    The connection contract entered into before 18 December 2021, and

•    Signed Certificate of Electrical Safety (CES) for the AS/NZS 4777.2:2015 compliant inverter with a completion date before 18 December 2021. 

Both of these requirements are regulative/legislative obligations of the National Electricity Rules, Electricity Safety Act 1998 and Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019.

All inverters must be Clean Energy Council approved. A list of approved AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 inverters can be found here. Inverters compliant to AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 will be identified in the CEC list by the addition of the text ‘(AS4777-2 2020)’ after the device model number.

For eligibility criteria in relation to:

•    The small-scale technology certificates and large-scale generation certificates, compliance with AS/NZS 4777.2 current version is part of the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) eligibility criteria. With changes to the standard, the affected installation should refer to the regulations for eligibility criteria for these certificates, as provided by the Clean Energy Regulator on their website.

•    Solar Victoria Rebates, refer to Solar Victoria notice to market
https://www.solar.vic.gov.au/notice-to-market

Jemena approval of an installation may not meet the eligibility criteria of CER or Solar Victoria Rebates. This is the responsibility of the customer and supplier/installer to manage.
 

Installing Rooftop Solar or Battery Storage

All customers who install embedded generation such as rooftop solar or battery storage must complete an Embedded Generation application. Jemena requires the Embedded Generation application to be completed online via Jemena’s ‘Connect and manage my electricity’ portal.

In most cases the application will be completed by your solar installer or registered electrical contractor (REC). Once the application is submitted, an Embedded Generation application ID (or EGid) is automatically assigned, which Jemena and your retailer will use for reference when connecting you to the grid.

The Embedded Generation application has been expanded to capture information about the solar and renewable devices you install such as the number of panels, and make / model / serial number(s) of the panels and inverter. These details are required so that the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) can better plan for the future use of solar and renewable energy devices.

The following table describes our digital process. Applicants should submit their application before they start the installation.

What do our customers need to do?

An inverter is one of the essential features of your rooftop solar system. It is the device that converts your solar energy into power you can use in your home. It also links with our electricity network and is a safety device. The inverter will automatically switch off your rooftop solar system (or ‘trip’) if something goes wrong.

Since December 2019, smart inverters are mandatory on all Victorian rooftop solar systems.

These advanced units have power quality and voltage settings that will make your system more resilient to fluctuations in power voltage on our network. Otherwise, these can cause trips which mean your system will not be generating power anymore for your home or to export.

Check with your solar installer to make sure your smart inverter is set properly in order to get the best results from your system.

The following summarises what can be installed under our Model Standing Offer for Micro Embedded Generator Basic Connection Service.

For solar and renewable installations and alterations, when you’re ready to have your solar or renewable power connected to the grid, you must provide the following information to your energy retailer:

i.     EGid - Embedded Generation application ID, 
ii.    EWR - Electrical Works Request, and
iii.   CES - Certificate of Electrical Safety.

Make sure you ask your installer / REC for this information. Note: some installers / RECs may pass this information directly to the energy retailer on your behalf. If for some reason your installer / REC fails to complete the Embedded Generation application, you can log in to Jemena’s ‘Connect and manage my electricity’ portal, complete the required information, and generate an EGid yourself. 

Metering Requirements

To have your site successfully reconfigured to start recording any generation being fed back into the grid, a Co-Generation meter needs to be installed. For Jemena, smart meters meet this requirement.

If you only have a single smart meter installed at your address, you retailer will submit a reconfiguration request to Jemena to commence the meter recording this generation.

If you have multiple meters installed at your site, (either non smart meter, or multiple smart meters) they will require to be consolidated into a single meter. This will be performed through an Alteration request and in most cases will require a truck appointment to be arranged ensuring you REC is present for any additional rewiring to occur.

For further information and help please follow the links below or contact the Jemena Customer Service team:
p: 1300 131 871
e: networkconnections@jemena.com.au

Embedded Generation Application: