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Various videos and groups have appeared on the Internet where people advise each other how to install photovoltaic panels themselves, without authorized companies. This practice is illegal and extremely dangerous, being improvisations that endanger people’s lives and can affect the entire distribution network in the area, according to ANRE. Fines can reach 100,000 lei, and the distributor has the right to disconnect those installations.
Photovoltaic panels installed on the roof Photo: UrbanImages / Alamy / Alamy / Profimedia
According to the law, for the installation of a photovoltaic panel system, a company authorized by ANRE needs to draw up documentation and carry out the work. This documentation takes into account the consumption needs of that home and other technical details, so that the installation meets safety standards. Basically, the company makes a commitment that the installation will work optimally in relation to the production and consumption of the respective house.
In addition, the distributor in the area needs this information to be able to take over the energy produced by that prosumer and at the same time balance the grid.
Some prosumers, however, prefer to skip the step of involving a company and do the installation themselves, arguing that the rates charged by the companies are very high. They then pay someone from an authorized firm to certify their work.
“I’ve been ripped off by a company and I’m sick of them”
If we type in YouTube “How to make photovoltaic panels yourself”, we will find many videos of this kind, called “DIY” (“do it yourself”) or even “homemade panels”.
What people posting are saying:
- “How to do your own on-grid installation without rogue companies. For those of you who wrote to me that you want to make yourself an injection system (in the network – no), on grid. You all know that you need documentation to be submitted to the national energy or I don’t know which supplier you are with (actually it must be submitted to the distributor – no). Systems were installed privately, they had an electrician friend, he gave him a tick that it was ok, and much cheaper systems were installed”.
- “I was stung by a company and I’m tired of them and I tend to think that some comments are made by these companies who are bothered, you see, by the fact that the man does his system at home, separately. Well, if the man can handle it, what’s your problem? What, you lose commissions?”.
- “I’m on several groups where this sort of thing is being discussed. They were made and are being made, that’s it, I didn’t know, they stung me, but I installed the second string of panels by myself”.
- “These companies that overbid you – watch out for them! First find the right person to do your documentation, I’ll tell you, somewhere for 1,000 lei, someone with 300 euros will do it, I won’t give names, but there are companies and people who deal with the documentation”.
- “It’s a spell that it’s not possible, it’s possible, only you haven’t found the right person, but you’re still looking for it. Once you’ve found the person, you get your panels, you get your inverter, you install them yourself, you’ve got the tick and you’re good to go. Those with the companies that only know how to shove expensive inverters down their throats, that’s it, they suffer. If you are cheeky, that’s what you deserve, why do you make fun of people? Shame on you!”
- “Let’s make an educational video. I want to show you my photovoltaic system. Now, since they increased the prices of electricity, gas, everyone wants to get rid of the burden of bills. So I made a DIY photovoltaic system myself. Many have done so lately.”
There is also a private Facebook group called “DIY Photovoltaic Installations” that has 14,200 members where people ask for advice on various situations and equipment.
Any installation must be done only with authorized companies
Dumitru Chisăliță is an energy expert and the president of the Intelligent Energy Association, an organization that has been installing photovoltaic panels on the isolated houses of needy people in the countryside for several years.
“Any electrical installation must be done only with companies authorized by ANRE. Otherwise, all the improvisations that do not have approvals are extremely dangerous and can affect both the house in question and the network in the area”, he stated, for HotNews.ro.
These “do it yourself” practices are illegal, and the facts can be of a criminal nature, because both the people and goods in that home, as well as the entire network where they are connected, are put at risk.
Both the person who makes the installation himself and the company that shoots a work done by someone else under its own direction are committing illegalities.
Chisăliță also says that indeed the prices that companies ask for labor are high, as the demand has increased a lot recently, but people’s safety is at stake.
A recent tragedy is the one at Ferma Dacilor, where the electrical installation was undersized. What happened there is still being investigated, but it is certain that the guesthouse was supplied by a consumption point 650 meters away, which had approval for a water pump and connection certificate for a residential house with photovoltaic panels, when in fact he needed an entire transformation station to cover his consumption.
Pay attention to whether the companies are authorized or not by ANRE
Another dangerous phenomenon is represented by companies that install photovoltaic panels even if they do not have authorization from ANRE.
Beneficiaries of the Casa Verde program have at their disposal a list of companies authorized by both ANRE and the Environmental Fund Administration. But most of the prosumers are not beneficiaries of this program and install their panels with their own funds, being tempted to hire a company that asks them for less money.
If we do not work with authorized companies, we expose ourselves to dangers such as the use of poor quality materials and the neglect of electrical safety rules, which lead to an increased risk of short circuit and fire.
ANRE: It is illegal and the distributor has the right to disconnect the improvised installations
Although the internet is full, ANRE representatives say that they are not aware of such practices.
“It is illegal for the design and execution of works to connect users to public interest electrical networks, including those related to the electricity production facility, to be carried out by persons other than authorized persons or economic operators certified/certified by ANRE, according to the legislation specific in force”, the authority sent, at the request of HotNews.ro.
The method of doing the installation ourselves and asking for a signature from the authorized ones or a “tick” as those who posted such tips say, is not in accordance with the law either.
“The regulations applicable to the connection state that the documents that are sent to the distribution operator together with the request for the connection of the photovoltaic panels to the places of consumption and that are part of the user installation file (DIU) must be drawn up by the executor of the respective installation”, he explains ANRE.
From a technical perspective, those who make improvisations expose themselves to the risk that the electricity production facilities will be executed non-compliantly and, during the connection process, they will not be able to be energized by the distribution operator, say the authority’s specialists.
Even after energizing, there is a risk that such installations made without authorized expertise will generate non-compliance with the technical quality parameters of electricity at the delimitation point, to the detriment of both the owner of the place of consumption and production, as well as the other connected users to the electric network of public interest in that area or even accidents.
In such situations, the distribution operator has the right to request the remedy of non-conformities.
If the prosumer does not comply with the operator’s request, he disconnects the production facility, taking all the necessary measures to prevent its reconnection, or disconnects the place of consumption and production if the prosumer refuses access to the distribution operator in the premises where the production facilities are located production.
From a legal perspective, according to the provisions of the Electricity and Natural Gas Law, the design, execution and verification of electrical installations without a certificate and authorization constitutes a contravention and is sanctioned with a fine from 1,000 lei to 2,000 lei in the case of natural persons and with a fine from 5,000 lei lei up to 100,000 lei in the case of legal entities. According to the law, the determination and application of sanctions in the case of this contravention is carried out by ANRE’s authorized representatives.
Regarding the rates set by the companies that do such works, which people complain are very high, ANRE says that it has no powers and powers to regulate them. “Therefore, we are not in a position to issue an opinion on these.”
Guides with the necessary steps for installing and connecting photovoltaic panels can be found both on the ANRE website and on the websites of energy distributors.
Read also Photovoltaic panel fraud: Some prosumers illegally change inverter settings and inject more electricity into the grid / What solutions does ANRE see
Photo source: Profimedia
