Electrical solar and battery installer safety webinar 2026

Electrical solar and battery installer safety webinar 2026

Robert Wicks: Good morning, and welcome to the 2026 Electrical Safety Fortnight Solar and Battery Installer Webinar. My name is Robert Wicks. I'm the Executive Director of the Electrical Safety Office. Thank you for joining us online. It's great to see so many of you have tuned in from right over Queensland. And this morning, you'll hear from electrical safety experts as they share practical guidance for installers, focusing on common installation mistakes, discussing compliance standards, our regulatory priorities, and battery equipment safety requirements for domestic solar and battery installations. Before we get started, just a couple of quick housekeeping items. If you have any questions for any of our speakers today, please type them in the live Q&A box at any time. It's on the right hand of your screen, and we'll answer them during the panel session. If you have any technical problems during the live stream, please make sure the sound on your computer is turned on, refresh your browser, and if you're still experiencing issues, contact us via events@oir.qld.gov.au. You can also change the size of your screen to full screen by selecting the four small arrows next to the volume bar at the bottom of your screen. Before we go to our first speaker, I'll take this opportunity to provide you with some information about a major achievement this year, which has been the completion of the Electrical Safety Regulation remake. The new Electrical Safety Regulation commenced on the 1st of September, and it ensures Queensland's electrical safety framework remains contemporary, practical, and fit for purpose. The review process included significant stakeholder engagement. Consultation was undertaken in two stages. The first stage commenced in February 2025 and sought feedback on the effectiveness, relevance, and efficiency of the existing regulation, along with some opportunities for improvement. The second stage occurred between April and May 2026 and involved consultation on the draft of the regulations themselves. Feedback was received from industry, workers, employers, unions, and other stakeholders. And that consultation provided us with some valuable insights on how the regs could be made to be easier and navigate and apply in practice. Importantly, sunset reviews are not intended to introduce new policy, so where stakeholders have raised broader policy issues, those have been recorded, and they'll be considered in future policy matters outside the scope of the regulation remake. So what's changed? Although policy outcomes remain unchanged, a range of structural and drafting improvements have been made. You'll see sections and parts have been reorganized to better align with the Electrical Safety Act. You'll see related provisions have been grouped together to improve usability. Additional references have been inserted throughout the regs so that users can understand the relationship between the act and the regulations more easily. Duplicative and redundant provisions have been removed, and definitions have been consolidated and relocated to improve accessibility. These changes make it easier for duty holders, industry participants, and we as regulators to navigate and interpret the regulations. What hasn't changed?

Well, there are no new policy positions, there are no new regulatory obligations, there are no changes to compliance expectations, and there are no changes to the way inspectors will enforce the legislation. The remake is primarily about structure, drafting, and accessibility. One of the most visible changes you'll see is the completely revised structure of the regulations. The regs now consist of 17 parts arranged in a way that more closely aligns with the Electrical Safety Act. So for example, provisions relating to licensing, electrical work, equipment, and safety management systems are grouped into dedicated parts. This will make it easier for users to find relevant obligations and understand how those provisions interact. The regulation includes a comprehensive set of transitional provisions to ensure continuity. Existing licenses, approvals, notices, authorizations, they all continue to operate. And any applications that commenced under the 2013 regs, they'll continue to be dealt with under the appropriate transitional arrangements. So this approach avoids unnecessary burden on industry, and it provides certainty for stakeholders and us as the regulator. One of the specific areas to be aware of, though, is within the safety management system provisions. And so while the remade regs commenced on the 1st of September this year, the restructure of SMS provisions have been delayed at commencement until 1st of September next year. And that was done to provide electricity entities with more time to become familiar with the new structure. So what should industry do? Well, we're encouraging contractors, workers, businesses, and industry bodies to familiarize themselves with the changes, review their procedures and training arrangements, and engage with the guidance materials that we've published. And you can find that information by visiting us at worksafe.qld.gov.au. There's a range of resources that have been developed, and they're located on the internet. Those resources include a link to the regulations themselves, a range of comparison tables, and a summary of parts guide that's been developed to help you identify what those new provisions are grouped together around. That brings me to the end of the update on the electrical safety regulations. If you have any questions, please pop them in the Q&A chat box below. I'll now like to introduce to you Mark Pocock, one of the lead inspectors within the Electrical Safety Office's Field Services team. And Mark is joining us here today to talk about a range of common installation issues that inspectors are identifying while they're in the field and provide some practical advice on how to ensure the installation work you're performing meets the electrical safety requirements. Welcome, Mark.

Mark Pocock: Thank you very much, Rob. As Rob said, my name's Mark Pocock. I'm a lead inspector with the Electrical Safety Office in our Field Services division. I'm here today to let you know what we are seeing in the field in terms of non-compliant solar and battery installations, some of which are creating serious electrical risks. And I want to challenge us today to look at why we're seeing those issues. That's probably the main thing that I want to get across in terms of the purpose of today is to see why we are seeing these issues. Because when I look across the non-compliances and when you see them today, when we look at the slides and what we're seeing, you're going to see a common thread. And we keep coming back to competency, understanding the requirements, and importantly, properly testing and verifying the installation before we walk away. When I thought about today and how I want to get my point across, I did think back to probably 2011 floods for myself when I was still working as an electrician out in the field. And after that had happened, the company I was working for, we were going out and we were testing installations. We were trying to get just a socket outlet back on in the switchboard so that people would have power back on, and we were just working nonstop at that time to try and get everything back up and running. Now, when we did that, there were situations where we would rock up to a large business and we'd find, say, a really, really big generator there that we needed to connect to installation. Say, a business to get it up and running so that people could buy white goods and things like that, to get fridges up and running. Now, one of the things that I can remember was how exhausted we were, particularly at one that I can recall when we got there early in the morning, we were exhausted, and we just had to get this connected. But it's something that was outside of the realms of something that I'd done at the time, and something my boss had done at the time. So we were both there, and the one thing I can really, just thinking back, that I can really remember doing is sitting down with the standard, with the generator standard, with the installation manual, and just systematically going through what we needed to do to get that connected. Now, the other thing I can remember is even after we did that, we made calls to people who we knew with entity backgrounds to find out, "Hey, we've done this. We've followed the standard. Have we done everything we needed to do?" Then before we did connect it, I just remember testing everything methodically, really going through that testing process just to make sure that we haven't done anything wrong, so that when we energise, we 100% knew we were compliant with the standard, we're compliant with everything we need to do with that piece of equipment. And we checked with people who'd actually done that piece of equipment before as well. Everything was good, and we powered that up with no issues. And that's the point I want to make today in terms of what we're seeing out there. We need to have a look at this in terms of understanding the requirements either before we get to site, and if we don't when we get to site, that we're looking that up. And recognizing when we don't know something and asking for help. And then once we've done that, properly testing and ensuring the installation is fundamentally electrically safe before we energise. And that's what we're not consistently seeing through some of the solar and battery installations, and you're going to see that up here. So let's start with what we're actually seeing. Now, I want to put three questions to you today, while I give you a chance just to read through some of the main common non-compliances we're seeing with BESS systems. So the three questions that I want to have in the back of your mind is, are you reviewing the requirements before you install? If you don't know, are you asking someone for help who does know?

And when you're commissioning the system, are you actually testing everything that you need to test? So looking at this slide here, we can see we've got noncompliance issues, and you're going to see a common thread when we go move from BESS to solar to multi-mode. It's a very common thread, and it's why I have those three questions that you just need to have in your mind. I don't want to go through every single point, but I do want to focus on one, which is neutral continuity on circuits supplied by the backup system. We're seeing situations where that continuity to the backup hasn't been correctly established. What's really concerning is in a lot of the cases where we're seeing where it hasn't been established, no one's physically verified it. Instead, we've got a reliance on things like the lights came on, or the power's working, or the inverter did a diagnostic test, and it said everything's okay. And that's being taken as confirmation that the installation is operating correctly. Big point there is the system working is not the same thing as the system being electrically safe. And when we have our interviews with the people, essentially, that's the conflict that we get. So what goes wrong when we get that? If the neutral continuity isn't maintained when the system is operating in the alternate supply mode, we end up with a voltage rise on the earthing system on a single-phase system. So then we get a situation where we get exposed conductive parts at a hazardous voltage relative to earth, and that's when we get the potential for electric shock. On three-phase systems, if you have the same thing, we also see overvoltage occur, where we get equipment destroyed throughout the installation because we get 300 volts or more put across anything that's attached to the installation. So when we're looking at this, and when we're looking at trying to identify that neutral continuity, we're not talking as simply of ticking a box, which often we'll see, "Here's a commissioning sheet, and we've ticked we've done that." But when we drill into that process, it is, "Oh, yeah, we check the lights are on, or we run the diagnostic test on the actual battery backup system." This is why that physical test matters. If the system changes into an alternative supply mode, we need to know what is happening electrically, not just whether the lights come on. Just shifting to solar installations and seeing the common thread here. It's not just a battery issue. Solar installations have had this for as long as I can remember when we've looked at these ones. We see similar concerns on the PV systems. One of the ones I really want to focus on here is the IP protection and the mismatch of DC connections. When we get the IP connections, it sounds really minor. Often when we talk to people, they look at it as something minor, an installation detail that was missed. But as soon as we get moisture or contaminants within the equipment or in that system that was designed to keep them out, we end up with corrosion, we end up with deterioration, we end up with tracking in there, and it just creates the right situation that when we get it, it's a fire. It's turned into a fire situation. It's a fire risk. The second issue is the mismatch of DC connectors. I've had conversations with people when they might have equipment dropped on site, and then from that, they will have their own DC connectors that they use.

And I'll ask, "How do you make sure that the equipment that's dropped there is the same as the DC connectors that you've got so that you don't get the mismatch?" And they say, "We try our best to ensure that that's not going to happen." And I'll make it really clear that trying your best in that situation isn't how it's meant to happen. Those specific connectors are designed, if you go manufacturer to a manufacturer, in terms of one manufacturer versus a different one, the tolerances are slightly different. And all it means is that you're going to get a situation where they appear to fit together physically, and they'll operate initially, but that means the connection often is slightly off. There's a poor connection, you get resistance, we get heating, and then we've got a source of ignition for a fire. So again, it's the same thing. We see the same. The fact that the system is working doesn't tell you that the installation is electrically safe. Manufacturer's instructions really rely on them in terms of if you've got a piece of equipment that you need to install, pull that manufacturer's equipment out and just other installation instructions from the manufacturer out, and really rely on them in conjunction with the standard. Again, one of the big things, going back to that question, did we understand the requirements when we were going to install either the BESS system or the solar system? Did we follow the manufacturer's instructions, and did we actually verify the installation was safe before we energised? So I've looked at some of the things that we're finding in the field in terms of practical consequences. So what does good compliance look like? The first thing, we want to make sure the people doing the work are trained. Sorry, I forgot to click to the next slide for everyone. They're trained and competent. So if you look down here, ensure workers are trained and competent, and just have a glance at those dot points while I'm walking us through. Electrical work is becoming increasingly complex in everyone's minds. We think that. But it's always complex. There's always a new piece of equipment. There's always something new to deal with in the industry, just like that big generator that I had to deal with that I explained at the start. All it means is we have to understand the requirements that apply to the work that you're doing. And then you have to be able to carry out that work safely, and importantly, recognise when you don't know something and getting the right advice. Competency doesn't mean we need to understand those requirements of each piece of equipment. It's just we need to know our limitations and seek help when we need it. I touch here on issuing certificates of test and the details of the work performed. So the issuing of a certificate of test needs to accurately reflect the electrical work that's been performed and actually tested. It's one of the things that we'll see just going there, and if you said, "Yep, I've tested, everything's great," and then the tester says, "Installed a solar system." It doesn't really tell you a lot. And when we go into and drill into when something goes horribly wrong, what did you test? Often this is where people just aren't able to articulate exactly what they've done. Make sure that when we finish an installation, we have confidence that the work is going to be safe, not just because it works. Multi-mode inverters. Now, we touched on this a little bit with the multi-mode inverters in point one. So the difference with a multi-mode inverter is it can operate two ways. So it can be connected to the grid, but it also can provide backup supply when the grid is unavailable. And that change in operation mode is really important from an electrical safety perspective. When we look up here, the biggest question that I always ask when this goes wrong is what standard did you follow, and often people can't even answer that there is a standard to follow with this. Big thing as well, and this is going to get touched on by Brian, is we need to make sure the inverter itself is a compliant product in accordance with the applicable product recommendations. So the important point with these multimode inverters is when it changes from grid operation to alternative supply, the electrical conditions within the installation are now different. They're changed. So it's really recognising that and stopping and thinking, "What does that mean for me as the electrician?" Remember, we're going grid supply to backup supply. We've completely changed the state of the installation. So looking at that hazard. So we've talked about the fact that the multimode inverter can change from grid connection operation to alternative supply. I've already touched on the neutral continuity issue, so rather than repeat myself in terms of the neutral continuity, which is point one here, let's look at what happens. The first issue with neutral is the creation of the voltage rise on the earthing system, and the second is the relationship between the neutral and the earthing conductors. So we don't want the neutral and earth operating in parallel, and we've seen that as well. Because you have to consider where fault current will flow when the conductor's involved in that incident, because otherwise essentially you haven't got them sized correctly. And if they're not sized correctly and the fault current's going in parallel paths, is the protection now going to operate safely? So the question we need to pose to ourselves, when it transfers, does the entire installation remain safe and compliant in its configuration? And that's why these installations need to be properly verified, not just switched on and observed to see whether everything works. That's the thing that we're seeing. That the system just gets turned on. Is it working in backup mode? Yes. Does the system say it's working when I put it in diagnostic mode? Yes. Have we physically tested it to actually make sure it's working and operating as it needs to be? No. So we've talked about what can go wrong, and the obvious question is, how do we know we've got it right? And this is where, and I've spoken about it a lot, testing becomes so important. So we've got our mandatory verification testing under Section Eight of the wiring rules, but that's not the end of the testing requirements for these types of systems. We also have the requirements that apply, including 4777 for the inverter system, 5033 for the PV array, and 5139, which is when you're dealing with the battery system. They have their own specific testing and mandatory requirements that we need to look at. And then we've got to look at the manufacturer. Same as what I said with the generator. You have all of that lined up. For a multimode inverter, we need to specifically verify things we've been talking about. So we need to confirm the neutral continuity is maintained and the neutral earth aren't operating in parallel.

And importantly, we need to understand what happens when the inverter changes operating mode. It's not enough to test the installation when the grid is connected and say everything's okay. We need to know what happens when the grid supply is lost and the inverter transfers to the alternative supply. This is where we're getting all of the issues. Everything a person might test is on the grid side, and when you say, "What have you done on the backup side to check that it's all compliant?" And we get crickets. Now, you've got to be aware some inverters can create an MEN connection internally when they transfer into the alternative supply. So in the wiring diagrams, you will see there are specific requirements around the earthing on the backup circuit. So you really need to have a particular understanding of the inverter that you've got and have a look at what it says you specifically need to do. So coming back to that point, we can't rely on the lights just coming on. We can't rely solely on the inverter's diagnosis telling us that everything's okay when we put it into a diagnostic mode. We need to physically verify the installation is safe on the backup side, because ultimately, commissioning isn't about proving that the system works. It's about proving that it's electrically safe. We've also got our RCD protection that we've got to look at. So 4777 specifically addresses RCD protection for final sub-circuit supplied by a backup. Again, I mentioned that in terms of the parallel path that you can get on the neutral and the earth. Is that going to affect the operation of an RCD? It's got to be really important that we look at that. And we can't just use the RCD that we usually might use in terms of the one that we might just have in our truck. The RCD needs to operate correctly with the waveform that you've got for your particular inverter, and not just when it's operating on grid side, but when it's operating on the backup side. So again, understand that fundamental, which is understand the equipment, understand the requirements for that equipment, follow those manufacturer's instructions, and test the protection you've installed is working properly. So let's try and bring this all together. What does a safe multimode inverter installation actually look like? And we're looking at four things on this slide. We need to make sure the MEN connection is correctly located at the main switchboard. We need to make sure that the neutral and earth conductors aren't operating in parallel. We need to verify that the neutral continuity is maintained through the installation. Big thing, we need to make sure that we've got the common neutral between the grid side and the backup side. This is where it's really, really important because this is where we're seeing the issues. This is where we see the really dangerous issues around that neutral continuity. Make sure that is tested. And importantly, we need to verify that the installation remains safe in both operating conditions, whether it's connected to the grid, whether the system is operating in the backup mode. So let's go back to where we started, and the reason why we're talking about this isn't because I want to add something extra for the electrician to do, another list of things to remember. It's because we're seeing installations where some of these fundamental requirements aren't being met, and in some cases, they are genuine safety concerns.

We'll go to installations where all the equipment has been destroyed within that installation purely because we've lost the continuity of the main neutral. So three questions before we go, or when we're going to one of these installations, should I say. Did you review the requirements before you started? If you didn't review them before you started, are you going to review them before you actually start doing the work on site? If you don't know about the system or you don't know what you're doing, did you ask someone for help? And when you're looking at commissioning one of these systems, did you actually test it or did you simply confirm that it worked? There's a big difference between testing it to make sure it's electrically safe and turning it on to make sure that it works. They're two very, very different things. Turning it on and saying the lights are working and the inverter's telling you everything's okay isn't the same as proving the installation is electrically safe. The standards, manufacturer's instructions, competency of the worker, and testing all have a purpose, and they all interlink. They all link to these common issues that we're seeing back at the start. And ultimately, the purpose is to make sure that the person who installs the system, the person who works on it later, and the people that are using that installation can do so safely. So challenge to the industry is pretty simple. Know the requirements, ask when you don't know, and test what you've installed. Thank you, and I'm going to hand it back to Rob.

Robert Wicks: Thank you, Mark. Some great examples of the types of issues inspectors are encountering and some key points to take away. I think that your point around making sure that you understand the difference between a system that's functioning and a system that's electrically safe is incredibly important. Installation standards, manufacturer's instructions, and appropriate testing practices can't be understated. Next, we're going to hear from Michael Gibson, the director of the field services team within the Electrical Safety Office. Michael's here to talk about the role of the ESO and the priorities of the field services team, and how it'll impact you in the industry. Please welcome Michael.

Michael Gibson: Thanks, Rob, and good morning, everybody. I did one last week where we went through some of the key priorities that we are facing. I just want to link those priorities to not only the solar and battery systems but a lot of the other installations. And you'll see some common, like Mark spoke about, you'll see some common issues that we are seeing across all electrical installations. So we just want to highlight those areas and provide some practical solutions. Obviously, the role as a regulator, we're there for compliance. We're there to achieve compliance with electrical safety legislation, and we do that through three core areas. We do a lot of enforcement activities, but we also have great value in our education and awareness strategies that we've got out there, and this is part of that process. If we can get the messages out there, if we can really start that education program running, it's going to assist us in our enforcement activity. We just want to get that balance right. As a regulator, it's not all about reactive work for us. We want to really start doing that proactive engagement work. So, we take these opportunities to spread the message and also share information with industry. And also industry gives a really powerful message back to us where we can use those strategies that they are putting in place. We talk about continuous improvement in your safety practices. It's really important that we encourage people to continually review their safe systems of work, how they're doing their risk assessments and everything else. And you'll see how that reflects in some of the issues we have in our core priorities. So these they are, and Mark probably covered off on a lot of these, too. So obviously, working on or near energised electrical equipment is the greatest hazard that you will undertake in the electrical industry. If you don't have a strong safe system of work, supported by your risk assessment processes, you're going to put yourself at risk of significant injuries, whether it's an arc flash type situation or electric shock. Strong processes in place to manage that hazard will keep you a little bit in a focused area. One way of achieving that would be the supervision and everything else that I'll talk about. So, it's not just around that area, but we want you to focus on all those five areas. Some of them are compliance related and some of them are just about your system. Mark spoke about the testing of electrical work and compliance with those installation safety standards. The wiring rules establish the fundamentals in Section 8. They're the mandatory tests. And on top of that, like Mark spoke about, each individual standard may have relevant testing requirements depending on the type of work you're doing. So there are additional testing required in your BESS and PV system on top of what's required out of the wiring rules. So ensure that you understand what's required, what are the mandatory tests, but also what results should I be achieving, what is compliant, what isn't compliant, and what do I need to do if my testing indicates there's an issue. We've seen time and time again where people are saying they've tested, they've got the results, but the results aren't indicative of compliant installations. So make sure your workers are competent to test, but also understand what requirements and what results I should be getting out of those tests. Once again, Mark spoke about supervision, and supervision and competency come together. If I'm correctly supervising someone, I've got safe systems of work in place. I've got processes and procedures. I've got auditing and induction. I'm supervising to something. I'm comparing what your worker's doing to what they should be doing. Supervision is about being on top of that. It's about being out in the field in the first instance, monitoring the work they do, continually reviewing your safe systems of work so they remain relevant, and to ensure that your workers are competent, not only in the work they do, but in applying your safe systems of work and your processes. So powerful and strong supervision can't be undermined, particularly around our apprentices. Our apprentices are there to be supervised at all times. So, as they develop their skills, that supervision can reflect that. But we really need our apprentices to have a level of supervision that's adequate and ensures everything they do is in a safe capacity. We still have concerns around unlicensed electrical work, and we know it's not just within our industry. But the little bit of bracket creep we're still seeing in our industry is where potentially we've got people with restricted licenses going beyond that and doing installation work, or people with workers' licenses are starting to conduct work that should have a contractor's license. So they're actually contracting, they're not just electrical workers. And there's areas that we will continue to monitor. We know people still use online platforms to advertise for electrical work, and we'll continue to monitor those platforms, and we've got some keyword searches in place. So we will monitor every ad on online platforms that include the word electrical to ensure that that person has got the appropriate license for the work they intend to do. The last area is in there with contact with overheads and undergrounds. While it may not be a part of this actual forum, it's still a reminder that we still have a lot of industries that work on or near, up in the air on our overheads and underground electric lines. So contact with HV is still the greatest cause of electrical fatalities in our state over the last five years. And particularly now, we're starting to get a lot more issues around contact with undergrounds as well. We have seen a bit of an increase, a bit disturbing in regard to copper theft, and people starting to interact with energised cables. So that's a whole new strategy for us and not only us, but the police and other services to monitor. It's certainly a concern where people are starting to do that. So we'll keep an eye on that area as well. To assist you and industry, the ESO's published six technical guides. These guides are intended to provide more practical information. It gets information from a lot of different sources into one document. We're not suggesting they're going to replace codes of practice or the actual legislative requirements, but they'll certainly support you and your business in understanding some of the ways to achieve compliance in a reasonably practical way. Some of the testing documents have some really good testing techniques and processes that you'll be able to, if you follow those processes, you'll certainly achieve compliance with the wiring rules. There is a QR code there. If you've got time, you can quickly zap it and access it, but they're all available on our website. And I just want to particularly talk about this particular one, the guide on working on electrical installations with connections to alternate supplies. Our domestic installations are far more complex now that we are incorporating PV and battery systems in our domestic properties. So it's understanding, particularly around safe isolation. We may be turning mains off. We need to ensure we are clearly aware of what circuits have got backup supply to them. How do I effectively isolate all circuits? Whether I've got to go upstream to do correct isolation. So in your safe systems of work that you have in place for isolation in those domestic installations, you really need to have a review of that document to make sure you are picking up these installations because there are lots of homes out there that will have battery systems now installed. And then your systems can reflect a really strong work process to ensure that you test, that you effectively isolated all possible circuits. They're the main areas. Thanks, Rob.

Robert Wicks: Thanks, Michael. I think a few of the key takeaways there, the focus that we have on working on or near, where we continue to see significant injuries occurring. Our focus on compliance with installation standards picks up on Mark's presentation earlier, and of course, the importance of effective supervision that can't be overstated.

We'll move on to our final presenter, but before I get there, I'll just leave a reminder, if you have any questions for Mark or for Michael, please drop them into our Q&A chat box as you go. Our final presentation will explore specific requirements for battery equipment and provide advice on marking and modular assemblies. So joining us today is Brian Richardson, the Director of Strategic Reform within the Electrical Safety Office. Welcome, Brian.

Brian Richardson: Thanks, Rob, and good morning, everybody. Today I'm just going to talk a little bit about battery equipment, to help you understand what it is you're looking at when you're installing this battery equipment into an installation. Particularly wanted to discuss the Technical Specification 5398. That's the new standard, been out for about a year for battery equipment. It replaces or will replace the best practice guide for battery storage equipment electrical safety requirements that had been used by industry to show their battery equipment met safety requirements. And the reason we need to consider this is because when you're installing to 5139 installation standard, you need to know whether your battery equipment complies to equipment standards or not as to which part of the standard you're using to install. So the technical pecification, it covers electrical energy storage equipment. It doesn't say battery equipment in its title specifically, and that's an intention to ensure that it's future-proofed. So when someone comes up with a different technology we haven't thought of yet and they say it's not a battery, therefore it doesn't comply, we'll say, "Well, it will be able to comply." So if someone can commercialize supercapacitors, as an example, for energy storage for the household, then we'll still be able to use the technical specification as a means to show compliance. And it covers both AC and DC, so your AC connection devices or your simple DC battery devices. Particularly, it gives the types of equipment, preassembled integrated battery energy storage equipment. They're the AC output type. Preassembled battery systems, they're just the DC batteries. Modular assemblies, which are becoming more common throughout industry, and leader/follower configurations where you can increase the battery capacity by adding extra parts into it. So while these are strange terms, a preassembled integrated battery system, it essentially means that's the batteries in the one box as supplied by the manufacturer. So your Tesla Powerwall might be an example of that. The preassembled battery is also just a battery. It doesn't have the AC output, doesn't have an inverter inside it. You'd need to connect that to an inverter in the system. And then module assemblies, we'll talk about them a little bit further in the presentation. Currently, the standards cover lithium-based and lead acid-based energy storage technology, but it can be used for other technology. It's a common standard, and it has an extra section for the particular technologies. Now, critically for installers, what you need to consider is obviously if it complies with the best practice guide or this technical specification, then you can utilize Section 4 or Section 5 of the installation standard as your means of installation. If it doesn't, then you have to go to Section 6 of the installation standard and consider all the additional requirements that that has. And just a point, although 5139 currently references the best practice guide, that standard will be updated to reference this technical specification shortly into the future as we do standards amendments. So you can use 5398 as a way to show compliance to install under Section 4 or Section 5 of the installation standard. It doesn't go back the other way. If someone's got compliance with the best practice guide, that doesn't automatically give compliance to the technical specification. They may need to reassess their products. Now, some of the battery equipment may be shipped in separate parts. The best practice guide and the technical specification allow for that to acknowledge that to ensure a safe shipping process. What that means is if the equipment does comply with the technical specification as a fully assembled product as tested by the manufacturer, then if you reassemble it on site in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, you're doing a reassembly. You're not the manufacturer of the equipment. So you don't have to sit there and go, "I've got to take responsibility of the manufacturer and have all those duties implied upon me." If it has been tested to technical specification and you install it or reassemble it in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, then you're just following instructions to reassemble the equipment. But as I said, they need to have been tested fully in that assembly by the manufacturer who's claiming compliance to the technical specification. So the main reasons for these, obviously as part of what Mark and Michael talked about, is low voltage parts and extra low voltage parts and the potential for electric shock and the potential for an arc flash situation to occur. So the technical specification requires that you have IP2X finger protection from any of the live parts or any of the battery module parts, whether it's fully assembled or not yet assembled. So you shouldn't be assembling something where you have the potential to contact or short out the battery module parts in that. But the critical thing is to follow the manufacturer's instructions, which I think Mark has said, and I'll keep repeating through my little presentation as well. And some of those things, again, as Mark said, cable routing and locations and configurations of the parts. So if you're assembling the different parts back into the enclosure that the manufacturer has provided, you need to make sure you put the wiring in the right place in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. And now obviously, when I'm talking about battery equipment, just want to reinforce that means it has one primary connection point for connection to the electrical installation. If you're connecting equipment up and the manufacturer is saying connect part A to the installation, connect part B to the installation, connect part C to the installation, that's either three different batteries or it's not battery equipment at all, and that means you'd be using Section 6 of the installation standard. So I want to talk about modular assemblies. The best practice guide didn't really address them, but industry moved towards this type of battery equipment, so the technical specification now captures those products and has a special section for them.

There are two different types of these things. There's ones, of course, sort of the Lego block type where you just stack them on top of each other. There's a connector that's in a key position for each individual manufacturer, and you just connect them together as you put the blocks on top of each other. And the other type has cable connections. So a Type A connection is this modular type with the connectors on the actual modules of the battery. And there are different ways of having isolation between those individual components. So obviously each battery module has the potential for arc flash. There's a lot of energy in each battery. So you can have either an internal air gap isolation device, so you can have an isolator switch in each battery module, or you have the IP2X can't‑touch‑things and de‑energised terminals. Now, de‑energised doesn't mean isolated, but it does mean the voltage is reduced via internal mechanisms to a value that shouldn't cause us any risk of arc flash occurring. Or for the series connection type where you can get potential increased current and potential arc flash issues, the manufacturer may have an internal process where, again, with IP2X, they also have the arc flash energy at a value that's low enough that we can accept that it shouldn't cause a risk. But with these devices, they'd also need a cover over the terminals, a warning label, and you would have to use the appropriate PPE working with that equipment. So it's critical for you to look when you're looking at the battery equipment what type of connection it is and then what information they have in relation to the isolation for each of the parts. Type B connections get a little bit more complicated. So these are the type where you're connecting cables between the modules, and the cables may have the isolation in the cables or the isolation may be in the battery module itself. So you need to understand which type you have. Now, these cables are supplied with the equipment. If you have to supply the cables yourself and make the connections on the cable so you can plug it into the battery module, then that's not battery equipment complying with the technical specification. So if you're installing that, it's Part 6 of the installation standard. So again, these type of connections, they may have internal air gap isolators. If not, then they can have overcurrent protection and isolation devices in the in‑line cable. And if not, they can also have a de‑energised situation as well. So again, you need to check the type of method of connection that these are using and then take the appropriate safety processes to install them safely. One of the things about the technical specification is clarifying the marking requirements that are needed on battery equipment: a unique model number, trade name, voltage, and current. Now, the critical thing about the marking requirements is there needs to be a maximum voltage, maximum current marked, and that needs to be marked by the manufacturer. There is some equipment out there, and they'll need to transition to comply to the new standard, but they allow the installer to set the equipment to a certain current rating and then mark on the equipment that's the current rating of the equipment. That's actually not compliant. They'll need to transfer. There needs to be the maximum current rating marked. You may have settings where you can set it down to a lower value because the distribution entity won't allow that much exported power, and you can mark those values, but the actual maximum current needs to be marked, and you need to install the equipment based on that maximum current rating. Not that, “Oh, it's got a 5KA setting, so I'll install it to an installation that's suitable for 5KA.” If it's rated maximum 10KA, you need to take that into account. Modular assemblies need to have individual markings on each component so you can identify that those components go together, essentially. And they should all have the same trade name. If you've got modular component assemblies that have different trade names, that won't be equipment that's complying with the technical specification. And there will be instructions. So the list of dot points there is straight out of the standard on what is required to be supplied with the battery equipment to help ensure that you can install it correctly, or you can identify it is the correct battery equipment that goes together. So it has things about the installation process and order of assembly, if there are parts you have to assemble. It has information about how to de‑energise the components so that you can know that you've got a safe piece of equipment to work on whilst you're putting it together. And then obviously, it has anything about any covers or other fixings you need to do and all the tests and inspections you need to do. As Mark said and Michael said, that's a critical point we're going to keep banging on about. You need to test correctly at the end to make sure everything's okay. Now, if the manufacturer's instructions and the wiring rules seem to conflict, then the wiring rules will take priority. But if that's the case, we have a problem with that battery equipment, so you can let us know, and we'll talk to that manufacturer to make sure their instructions don't conflict. So my last slide here today is just a little bit about the electrical equipment safety system. So battery equipment that is rated above 50 volts AC, 120 volts DC is in scope of the electrical equipment safety system, so it'll need to have the regulatory compliance mark. You can see that symbol there. We are increasing the risk level of battery equipment within the EESS system. It is currently level one equipment, which means the supplier has to ensure it's electrically safe and meets relevant standards. We are transitioning to a level three, where they'll need to get independent certification and register the trade name and model on the EESS platform. So what that means for you is on the EESS platform, ees.gov.au, you can go there and click on the public search, and then you can see on the side there of the slide where you can come up, and you can do a number of different searches. We have an image search there. That's the bottom slide showing there. If you've got your phone or your tablet and you're on site, you can take a picture of the nameplate  through this image search, and it will search the system to see if the equipment is registered. So that's an easy way to do it. If you can't find it there, you go to the advanced search and type in parts of the model number to do a search. Now, as I said, battery equipment is currently level one, so they don't all have to be registered, so they may not be on the system at the moment. But by February 28th, so another 12–14 months' time, they will all have to be certified and registered on the EESS platform. So you'll be able to check it there. And then finally, recalls.

You should always be checking for recalls. There's some battery equipment that has been recalled, and no doubt there'll be more in the future, and including some of the solar parts have also had recalls, so recalls.gov.au. It's always good to check that as a point before you start installing because you don't want to install something that is under a recall and find out later you've got to go back and replace it. So that's probably all I wanted to tell you. The batteries technical specification's out there now. You will see that more and more often because it's replacing the best practice guide. And check our electrical equipment safety system, not just for battery equipment, but for all household type equipment you're installing to make sure it's correctly registered. So that's it. Thanks.

Robert Wicks: Thank you, Brian. Some important advice about the technical standards and the specification guide and what industry should be following when handling and installing battery equipment. We're moving now to the panel Q&A session. If you have any questions for Brian, please pop them in the Q&A chat box. Thanks everyone who has already submitted your questions. We'll kick off with the first question. It's a question for you, Mark, and from Peter. So Peter asks, “Are you aware of multi‑mode inverter back feeding onto the grid, potentially putting Ergon workers at risk? And do you have any suggestions on preventing this?”

Mark Pocock: Let me just check mic's working. All right, perfect. Thanks, Peter. At ESO, yes, we have seen cases with a backfeed being put onto the grid. In fact, at the moment, we've got two cases of this that we're dealing with just purely on my side, on field services, Gold Coast, Logan, Ipswich, and Southwest, which is Toowoomba and Roma. One of the things, the tips that I can see for preventing this is when we drill into how it's happened, we look at basically when it does the changeover state, when it goes from a grid supply to an alternative supply, each inverter has a different way that it does it. And often it's one of the ones that probably isn't the most simple. It's a little bit more complex than just a simple changeover device. And that's where the person has either got themselves a little bit lost in what they were doing and haven't understood what they needed to do, and they end up bypassing the islanding protection of the inverter. And so one of the systems, just to let everyone know what happens, is one of the systems, when it goes to backup mode while the grid was off—so loss of supply on the street—the battery system was then attempting to power the street. And as it would attempt to power the street, it would go off in overload. So this would hit a go‑off‑in‑error, and it'd sit off for two minutes, and then after two minutes, it'd try and do it again. And it just kept doing that. And so Ergon or whatever the area that it was in, they've essentially gone to do some works on the network, and they test the voltage and find it there. So one of the biggest things, again, reiterating those points that I talked about with mine, which is understanding the equipment that you're installing so that when you do install it, it operates as it's supposed to and everyone's electrically safe.

Robert Wicks: That's great. Thanks, Mark. The next question is for you, Michael, and that's from Jared. “Have you or are you developing guides or information packages for EV connections to the household grid?”

Micheal Gibson: Yeah, thanks, Rob. This is an interesting question. And, as a regulator, we are involved in the development of the Australian standards. So it has been discussed as part of the process to consider how we integrate EV vehicles into an electrical installation. So in the first instance, we as a regulator will rely on the wiring rules to establish those minimum requirements. And then if we need to produce any additional information, we can certainly look at extra guides or some enforcement notes around that product. But certainly the wiring rules in the first instance is certainly considering the integration between an EV vehicle battery and an electrical installation.

Brian Richardson: Yeah. And I might just add as well in relation to the equipment, so electric vehicle charging equipment will also be elevated to level three in EESS system, the same February 2028 time. So those charging equipment will be required to meet safety standards and have suitable instructions to help installation processes along with following the wiring rules.

Robert Wicks: That's great. Thank you, gents. And Michael, while you've got the microphone, Macca asks if you could please clarify for the viewers what is deemed electrical work with respect to solar installations and the electrical license required for the work being performed.

Michael Gibson: Yeah, thanks, Macca. I'll do it over two points. In regard to earthing requirements, the earthing of the panels and the running of any earthing conductors back and connection to the installation earthing system is certainly electrical work. And where the string voltage is going to be greater than 120 volts DC, once connected, all of that work regarding the connection, the installation of those cables, and the connection at the isolators is all deemed electrical work. That would be a requirement to have an electrical fit and mechanic license to do that work. And at the end of the day, when we do all our testing, once again, that's electrical work to do the testing, particularly around confirming the earthing. That would be all electrical work and would need that fit and mechanic license.

Robert Wicks: Thanks, Michael. One for you, Mark, from Jordan. When performing polarity on MSB with MEN and main neutral out, whilst the installation has a battery alt supply, what potential implications to my testing might arise?

Mark Pocock: This is a question that gets raised not just by people installing solar and battery systems, but all electricians that end up at a site that has an alternative supply. The amount of toolbox talks that I've been asked to go to to help just general contractors where they might have had a shock incident that we've gone and investigated and they can say, “Can you just provide us with some help?” So one of the biggest things that we've got to worry about when we're doing that is understanding, and I talked about this in mine, is understanding what we're dealing with. So what contains the energy, what converts the energy, and then what controls the energy. So if we can understand those three things with the system that we're looking at, we know how to isolate it so that we can test what we need to test without getting the backfeed in the opposite direction. So it's again, understanding what we're looking at, and that's what I'd spend a lot of time doing with my toolbox talks is we get these systems that are like a hodgepodge of all these different things. So we might have had a solar system that was there originally, and then another solar system gets installed, and then someone installs a hybrid inverter with a battery system, and we end up with all of this equipment that looks different. It's all very hard for someone to—even just an electrician—to work out what's going on. Pull yourself back, look at what you've got, and then just think of those three things: what contains the energy, what controls the energy, and what converts it. And then from there, you'll be able to work out, how do I isolate it to test what I want to test?

Robert Wicks: Right. Thanks, Mark. A question for Brian from Grace. If a battery is listed on the CEC website but not on the EESS register, can I install it?

Brian Richardson: Good question, Grace, and the simple answer is yes. Complex answer is, how long have I got? But yeah, so we work with the Clean Energy Council quite closely to ensure that they understand the need for safe electrical equipment. The Clean Energy Council listing is obviously there to enable compliance to obtain rebates through the various programs that provide some rebates for solar and battery installations. So that's a critical thing about the CEC and their focus. Currently, as I've said, battery equipment in EESS is level one equipment, so that means it's not mandatory to register the brand and model. But over the next 12 months, come February 2028, they will be mandatory level three. So from now onwards, we'll start to see more people registering the battery equipment correctly on the EESS platform. So if currently you don't find it on the EESS platform, that's okay. It's on the CEC registered list. That's okay, you can install it now. But within the next 12 months, you'll need to see it also on the EESS platform.

Robert Wicks: Thank you, Brian. And the last question we have time for this morning is from Claire for you, Michael, and that is: What are we doing about claims of unlicensed people installing batteries?

Michael Gibson: Yeah, thanks, Claire. I'll keep this response particular around where the battery is installed as part of a BESS installation. We have lots of other batteries installed for many reasons that are not connected into an installation, so we don't want to confuse it. But yeah, where the battery is installed as part of electrical installation, it's a generation source, so it's licensed electrical work, particularly around the testing to ensure it's compatible and it's safe. So we do monitor that.

We get reports. We work very closely with the CEC and their inspection program to see who's signing off on those installations. And we have our own auditing program for the installation of BESS systems. So we are monitoring that from both a compliance perspective, but we want to do that education part as well. So that's pretty well it, Rob. Thanks.

Robert Wicks: Thank you, Michael, and thank you to everyone who submitted a question this morning. This brings us to the end of the Solar and Battery Installer webinar. I'd like to thank all of our speakers, Mark Pocock, Michael Gibson, and Brian Richardson for sharing their knowledge, insight, and experience with us today. Thank you, everyone, for joining us this morning. I hope you take away some important and helpful tips. Enjoy the rest of your day and stay safe. Cheers.