New rules aimed at preventing “high risk and dodgy” battery storage systems being installed in homes and businesses in Australia have been backed by regulators.
The Clean Energy Council (CEC) said the expected introduction of a new standard, which follows a five-year consultation period, was “a major win for a safe and credible battery industry and puts an end to the risk from poor quality battery installations in Australia”.
A set of “national rules” will be derived based on the standard— ‘Electrical installations – safety of battery systems for use with power conversion equipment’— so that installers, industry bodies, technical professionals, government agencies and regulators are all “on the same page”.
The CEC said it would continue to work with Standards Australia’s technical experts to iron out aspects of the standard that “are not yet perfect”. However, the standards organisation said on 24 July the proposed new rules had “strong support” from key industry and government representatives and were expected to come into effect soon.
There are no current Standards Australia regulations for in-home battery installations in the country. In 2017, the body dropped initial proposals that could have banned the introduction of selected lithium-ion battery storage systems in homes following a review of fire safety regulations.
At the time, CEC said the move would have been “overly restrictive and require batteries to be installed outside of a house”.
Separately, energy consultancy and testing authority DNV GL is leading a federal government-backed project to define a “performance standard” for home battery storage systems connected to solar power systems.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency said last year the aim of the project is to develop a standard that covers battery systems ranging from residential to small commercial systems, with estimated maximum size estimates of 100kW/200kWh.
