The standards behind a compliant solar and battery install: what each one covers and where it applies, in plain English.
This is a plain-English overview of what each standard governs, not the standard text itself. Standards are published by Standards Australia / Standards New Zealand and the IEC, and are revised periodically; always work to the current edition and have a licensed professional confirm compliance. The focus here is Australian (AS/NZS), with the key international (IEC) product standards.
Standards Australia / NZ
Installation and safety requirements for photovoltaic (PV) arrays: DC-side layout, isolation, maximum array voltage, earthing and signage.
Applies to The DC side of every grid-connected and off-grid PV array.
Standards Australia / NZ
Installation requirements for grid-connected energy systems via inverters.
Applies to How inverter-connected grid systems are installed.
Standards Australia / NZ
The Wiring Rules: the overarching standard for the safety of electrical installations.
Applies to All electrical work, including the AC side of solar.
Standards Australia / NZ
Inverter requirements for grid connection: anti-islanding, power quality, and voltage/frequency response, including the regional settings inverters ship with.
Applies to Grid-connected solar and battery inverters.
IEC
Safety of power converters for use in photovoltaic power systems: electrical safety of the inverter as a product.
Applies to Inverter product-level electrical safety.
Standards Australia / NZ
Selection of cables: current-carrying capacity (ampacity) and voltage-drop sizing for conductors.
Applies to Sizing DC string and AC cabling.
Standards Australia / NZ
Safety of battery systems used with power conversion equipment: installation, location, and protection of battery energy storage.
Applies to Home and commercial battery storage installs.
IEC
Design qualification and type approval for crystalline-silicon terrestrial PV modules: performance and durability testing.
Applies to PV module performance certification.
IEC
Photovoltaic module safety qualification: construction requirements and safety testing.
Applies to PV module safety certification.
IEC
Requirements for testing, documentation and maintenance of grid-connected PV systems: commissioning tests and handover documentation.
Applies to Commissioning and handover of grid-connected systems.
Standards Australia / NZ
Stand-alone power systems: design and installation of off-grid systems.
Applies to Off-grid (stand-alone) power systems.
IEC
Photovoltaic system performance: monitoring equipment classes and measurement accuracy (Part 1), capacity evaluation (Part 2), and energy evaluation (Part 3). Part 1 also sets the data-quality screening a performance dataset is expected to pass: reasonable-range checks, missing values, stuck values and unreasonable jumps.
Applies to Monitoring, performance assessment and loss analysis of operating PV systems, including the data screening behind independent energy assessments.
Need the full text? Standards are available from Standards Australia and the IEC. This page is general information, not advice. See our Disclaimer.