in order to save on costs i’d like to draw my own diagram [at least the basics], as i have little knowledge of electrical ‘sign-language’ and even less so the specs, i at least would like to have a look at what would be an acceptable diagram for sseg application - could any of you assist or give a link - thanks in anticipation!
regards
gg
A very good question by Gabriel!
Schematics should be easy to draw with all the computer programs we have these days but this hasn’t happened.
I bought Visio (part of MS Office) years ago but found it was too ambitious with all the types of drawings it tried to cater for. You definitely want a library of the regular gear that you use…
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tx @_a_a_a and i agree with @Richard_Mackay ! i have surfed the net and found plenty of cad-solutions and some basic but unusable sets [for solar] of electrical symbols in other ‘free’ programs, yet none with a dedicated ‘solar/renewable enegry’ option - not even on the major installer/provider sites i visited and definetly not on the government /municipal or other stakeholders sites - bad slip-up! no, i believe they
a- totally underestimate the average guy to at least try his/her hand and in so doing actually learning, and/or
b- want to ‘protect’ the specialist niche of those ‘in the know’ for monetary gain and whatever other protectionist purposes
just my twopence…
I do like qElectrotech. It’s not the easiest software to work with, but it is free and after a few hours of playing with it you will get the hang of it.
When things changed on my side, and I needed a new diagram, I took the original PDF and pulled it into Paint (Windows) via Snagit Editor, and altered it there, printed it again as a PDF.
@gabriel That what I emailed, was done in Windows Paint. 
I think @Bobster posted the diagram he recently submitted somewhere on the forum, so you can probably use that as a starting point if you can find it.
tx @plonkster , just installed the program… only diffs is it will take me days, not hours to get something worthwhile done 
edit
i found two solar system pdfs in the programs ‘library’ at https://download.qelectrotech.org/qet/schemas_pdf/
indeed, i sit with a Xara Designer program but getting a library with electrical symbols [like a font package] has evaded me for years - or i am just too stupid to figure out how hehehe
wow, tx @TheTerribleTriplet - now that might just make my day 
edit, although the symbol for the pv seems to differ from place to place, a single solar cell symbol obviously won’t do… or maybe… dunno
qElectrotech has a symbols library with most of that stuff. It has simply been too long since I’ve worked with it to know exactly how and where I got it, but I don’t recall it being hard/difficult.
Indeed I did. It was redacted, so (for EG) my meter’s serial number is not really 12345678 (nor did the engineer submit the drawing with placeholder values at various points on the diagram). I attach a copy here for @gabriel’s consideration (or anybody else’s).
For SSEG application it is not enough to have a diagram. The diagram must be signed off by a suitably qualified person.
Then, in my case, the City came along, had a look and a poke around, and then asked the installer to demonstrate that certain things were done as described on the diagram.
SLD redacted.pdf (436.2 KB)
thanks @Bobster , yes, obviously the engineer will have to sign it off - but to save time and cost, and even more so to learn and see what’s a’cooking with the system I’ll try and draw the thing - mistakes there will be but …
boermaak’nplanGroetnis
At least in Cape Town, the line drawing (during the application process) doesn’t have to be signed off by an engineer. The final drawing, after installed, that is of course signed off along with the whole commissioning report. A suitably informed person can apply for permission to install a PV system without having to involve the big guns. At least, that was the case both times I registered my system.
In fact COJ mentions a sign-off by an engineer at commissioning time. But I registered some time after my system was installed, and so I suppose it’s a bit moot getting into when it is or isn’t ready to be comissioned.
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tx guys, the installer - actually old 3-phase friend - and engineer pitched and after checking everything and having a lenghty discussion about things in their own language as well as their common interest in growing chillies, and poking here and there with their instruments whilst switching things on and off etc seemed to be very satisfied indeed - some things seemed slightly ‘overkill’ - but rather that than having an ‘under-engineerd’ system; so at last it seems i will be ‘legit’ after years of sukkeling with unlisted stuff… maybe i should build a hevy duty ups with my old 5kw axpert 
thanks again for your assistance!
regards
gg
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