Understanding some of the hidden costs with commercial solar, like:

• Network Application Costs

• Grid Protection Costs

• Testing of Grid protection Costs

• Roof structural engineering costs

• Cost of materials

• Cost of labour

This topic will ensure participants understand what's involved in a Grid Application process, including:

• Their cost implications

• Documentation required

• The importance of attention-to-detail

We'll cover the difference between Primary and Secondary protection:

• Where and when it applies

• What settings are looked at

• What the relay does.

After this, you'll understand what sized secondary protection will be needed for your upcoming projects

You'll learn SIT requirements as well as the nitty gritty of Injection Testing:

• What it does

• It's purpose

• Who requires it

• What it costs

After this, you'll be able to put together a preliminary costing. In the process, we'll cover off:

• The role of a preliminary costing

• Why it's important

• How to present one

• What should & shouldn't be included

• Bill analysis

• Authority to act

• Design based on financials, and more.

This component will help you understand how to put together a comprehensive site inspection form, so you can include one in your overall project costing. We'll cover:

• The purpose and aim of a site visit

• Organising where, when and with whom the site visit should be conducted

• General information that should be collected as best practice

• Detailed electrical information that we recommend collecting

• Time spent based on the project's complexity

Understand the importance of a comprehensive formal proposal, how it can set a customer's expectations, and what you should (and shouldn't) include.

• What to say about your company

• How to highlight your strengths

• How to promote your other services

• Site and project scope

• Presentation of data

• Guarantees, logistics, contracts and more

Get the confidence to put project management principles into practice on your next commercial solar project. We'll cover:

• What project management actually is

• What a RACI model is, and how to put one together

• The importance of good project management and documentation

• Delegation and accountability

You'll gain a comprehensive understanding of which inverters are suitable for a 1MW system; how to check approval status and take into consideration approval dates; and key criteria for selecting the right inverter for your next project.

Make sure you understand one of the most important elements of any commercial solar project: how to select your solar panels. We'll give you this ability by explaining what factors should be taken into consideration, from ease of installation, to overall cost. Stepping you through:

• Selection criteria

• CEC approved suppliers

• Design flexibility

• Panel degradation, efficiency and pricing

• Reputation, warranty and technical help

• Installation material cost ratios

• Payback, and more
  

At the end of this topic, you'll have a better understanding of the different methods of securing rail to the roof and basic roof structural concepts.

Learn how to accurately assess the ideal configuration for the inverters you've selected, and what selection criteria can be applied for finding the best DC cable solution. Learn about:

• Number of inverters and inputs

• DC cable selection best practice

• Capacity and heat dissipation

• Inverter tables

• DC voltage drop

• The importance of - and referenced standards for - DC voltage drop(s)

• Actual cable runs, and how they're calculate, and more!

Get the confidence to understand what's required from a design perspective when looking at DC and Earthing Cables, and selecting the correct cable trays.

You'll learn more about:

• Limitations of the Standards when looking at 1500V 120-degree rated DC cables

• DC and Earth Cables and trays

• Should & Shall

• Paralleling versus single strings

• Cost comparison of DC string options

• Earthing and material costs

• Cable tray costing comparison

Understand how to size the inverter breaker correctly by applying Australian Standard calculations, whilst remaining aware of breaker derating. Learn about:

• Inverter circuit breakers

• Calculating inverter current(s)

• The '1.25 Rule'

• Breaker sizing and derating

Understand how to size the main secondary protection breaker correctly by applying Australian Standards calculations, whilst being aware of breaker derating and MOCBs. We'll cover:

• Main Breaker, and calculating the cumulative current

• Do's and don'ts when sizing the Main Breaker

• The breakers sizes available

• MOCBs and more

You'll get an understanding of the logic behind inverter station design and the importance of both AC and DC cable runs, by seeing:

• Where can they go

• Spacing requirements

• An example diagram

• Distances from the DB or MSB

• Cable tray requirements

By the end of this you'll have the ability to accurately assess what AC cable to use from a 'Current Carrying Capacity' perspective, as well as its relation to cable tray configuration. Covering aspects like:

• Correct AC cable selection

• Inverter to GridSafe (CCC and cable tray)

• Advantages of high temp cable

• Using AS3008 to determine CCC

• Understanding derating tables

• Understanding differences in CCC due to cable tray covers

• Heat dissipation and the effects it has on CCC

It's important that you have the ability to accurately assess what AC cable to use from a Voltage Rise perspective, and its correlation to conductor temperature. We'll also give you insights into apps that can assist you, as well as AS3008 calculations. Core items include:

• Resistance, reactance, impedance

• Vrise: inverters to GridSafe

• Calculations based on the 'impedance method'

• Which inverter to base the calculation on

• How to calculate accurately, and Apps that'll do it for you (or will they!?)

• Importance of conductor temperature, and heaps more

Learn to take a systematic approach when selecting your cable and cable tray(s). In this section, we'll discuss all GridSafe to MSB, and:

• Taking a step-by-step approach

• Relevant tables in AS3008

• Circuit Breaker protection and Cable rating relationship

• Multi or SDI selection

• Cable routing, cable tray design

• Single cables vs parallel configuration

• Working with cable, flexibly

• Vrise calculations, and, you guessed it, plenty more!

This electrifying topic will give you the ability to - using a systematic approach - carefully make your cable and cable tray selection. Namely by looking into:

• The overall correct Vrise calculation sequence

• MSB to POS

• Measuring this run

• What can and can't be adjusted

Get your head around what documentation is needed for large projects and acquire the skills needed for best practice documentation. We'll cover:

• Why documentation is needed

• What documentation is needed for onsite and other

• The importance of having the right working drawings

• DNSP paperwork and commissioning

• Spreadsheet approach to documentation control

• Why customer documentation is critical to your process

It may sound scary, but it's incredibly important to understand what an inspector is looking for once everything's been installed, and the steps required to make sure everything's in order. Including what inspectors are looking for in:

• Cabling

• Circuit protection

• Earthing

• Shutdown procedures

• Vrise and Vdrop calculations

• Array structure and IP rating of components

• Inverter requirements

• Your switchboard, and more.