Renewable energy system: five days to certify and five to interconnect

It is Chapter 9.2 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, inside the infrastructure and environment volume. It governs distributed generation systems with renewable energy sources: who designs them, how equipment sold for installation is certified, what documents the recommendation request and the construction permit application require, how plans are amended, how the finished installation is certified and how the project is energised. This guide is about electricity; potable water and sanitary sewer go under different chapters and have their own guides. And it is the renewable-sources one; non-renewable sources are in Chapter 9.5 and have their own guide.

Every Design and Installation Certification for renewable generation systems must be filed with OGPe, and for that certification the system must have certified equipment and have been installed by a certified installer under the DDEC’s regulation in force. Designers must be Professional Engineers duly colegiados and licensed to practise. The chapter classifies projects as large scale — over one megawatt — medium scale — over one hundred kilowatts up to one megawatt — and small scale — one hundred kilowatts or less, and expressly exempts rooftop renewable projects from the construction permit section’s requirements.

• That the system’s designer be a Professional Engineer duly colegiado and licensed to practise, and that the design match the site’s existing conditions.Verified against the official source
• That the system have certified equipment and have been installed by a certified installer under the DDEC’s regulation in force.Verified against the official source
• That each sheet of every electrical works plan include the endorsement seal the AEE specifies.Verified against the official source
• Submitting to OGPe, within five working days of the installation’s completion, the documents for the Renewable Energy System Installation Certification.Verified against the official source
• That every installer install according to the design made by the designer.Verified against the official source
• If a plan amendment includes changes in the endorsed capacity or others affecting connection conditions: filing a new Recommendation Request before the amendment, and not carrying out the change until OGPe approves it.Verified against the official source
• In non-residential projects: keeping a public liability policy covering property and personal damage of not less than one million dollars per occurrence and one million in the aggregate, in effect throughout construction and operation, with the AEE included as an insured if the system interconnects.Verified against the official source

• For the recommendation request: site plans with the location georeferenced to NAD 83; the AEE evaluation request for projects that will interconnect, with its annexes; an illustrative diagram of the installation including every component up to the interconnection point with the AEE; the manufacturer’s manual for the inverter or interconnection equipment if not on the AEE’s approved list; a protection and control scheme diagram; and an explanatory memorial with technology type, nominal capacity in kVA, location, geographic aspects, whether it will be grid connected or stand alone, and the project’s scale.
• For the construction permit: a digital file of the plans to scale, north-oriented and in DXF format, with a polygon of the territorial extent georeferenced to NAD 83; construction plans digitally sealed and signed by the responsible licensed professional, illustrating existing conditions and installations including electrical ones; and complementary documents with the date, the professional’s name, address and telephone numbers, digital signature and seal on each sheet, the total number of sheets and a legend of symbols.
• Reliable evidence of DRNA compliance where a redesign or habitat-modification mitigation entailing a conservation easement, land transfer or monetary compensation was required.
• For the installation certification: OGPe’s forms signed by the installer and signed and sealed by the designer; evidence of the installer’s current OEPPE certification; the final layout plan; evidence of the designer’s current licence and colegiación; a copy of the approved construction permit where required; an explanatory memorial with the physical address, capacity, technology type, installation date, equipment location, cost and type of use; and invoices evidencing the cost of materials, equipment and installation.
• For AEE interconnection: the AEE’s evaluation letter or registration notice, the Electrical Installation Certification — Distributed Energy Resource, and the DG Testing Certification. For stand alone systems: a non-objection document from the AEE.
• To certify equipment not on the published list: a pre-consulta through the SUI to the Building and Energy Conservation Division, with an explanatory memorial, the manufacturer’s technical specifications, a manufacturer’s warranty letter for a minimum term the DDEC deems pertinent, and any other document the DDEC deems relevant.

1. 1

   Step 1: Who may design and what seal the plan carries

   Three rules open the chapter and are best read together. Every Design and Installation Certification for renewable generation systems must be filed with OGPe. For that certification, the system must have certified equipment and have been installed by a certified installer under the DDEC’s regulation in force. And each sheet of every electrical works plan must include the endorsement seal the AEE specifies. On who designs, the regulation leaves no margin: designers of renewable generation systems must be Professional Engineers duly colegiados and licensed to practise. Designs must match the site’s existing conditions and be made under this Regulation, the DDEC’s PPPE regulation in force, the AEE’s applicable regulations and the applicable laws, regulations and codes.

2. 2

   Step 2: The equipment list and what to do if yours is not on it

   Every certification for equipment to be sold for installation is processed through OGPe via the Permit Manager in the Building Unit. Main photovoltaic equipment and electrical equipment for renewable systems meet the OEPPE’s regulation in force; wind and solar thermal equipment meet the DDEC’s. And there is a broad closing rule: any other equipment to be sold or installed in Puerto Rico intending to qualify for incentives under Act 60-2019, Act 241-2008, Act No. 78 of 1993 or Act No. 83 of 2010 — or any analogous act — to produce energy from renewable sources, including solar, wind, geothermal, ocean-thermal, ocean-kinetic, hydroelectric, methane recovery through high technology and alternative thermal conversion technology, must be evaluated and certified by OGPe. The list of certifications is available on OGPe’s website, periodically updated and easily accessible to the public. The applicant checks whether their equipment is included; if not, they must carry out the certification procedure, submitting through the SUI a pre-consulta to the Building and Energy Conservation Division, which refers it to the DDEC, with an explanatory memorial, the manufacturer’s technical specifications, the manufacturer’s warranty letter and any other document the DDEC deems pertinent.

3. 3

   Step 3: The recommendation request and the project’s scale

   Every request for recommendations on renewable system works needs: site plans including the project’s location georeferenced to NAD 83; the AEE evaluation request for projects that will interconnect, delivering either the Evaluation Request for the Interconnection of a Distributed Generator to the Electrical Distribution System or the Evaluation Request for the Interconnection of Generators to the Electrical Transmission and Subtransmission System for the Net Metering Programme, as the case may be, with annexes; an illustrative diagram of the installation including every system component up to the interconnection point with the AEE; the manufacturer’s manual for the inverter or interconnection equipment if not on the AEE’s approved list; a protection and control scheme diagram; and an explanatory memorial with the technology type, the nominal capacity in kilovolt-amperes, the location, geographic aspects, whether it will be interconnected with the AEE’s electrical system or operate stand alone, and the scale: large scale if over one megawatt, medium scale if over one hundred kilowatts up to one megawatt, and small scale at one hundred kilowatts or less.

4. 4

   Step 4: The rooftop exemption

   The construction permit section is long and written for the responsible professional: a DXF file georeferenced to NAD 83, plans digitally sealed and signed illustrating existing conditions and installations including electrical ones, complementary documents with a digital signature and seal on each sheet, technical specifications and construction and equipment details, plans clearly specifying any proposed relocation of existing lines — with one plan for the relocation design and another for the proposed infrastructure — evidence of DRNA compliance where habitat-modification mitigation was required, and, where the purpose is exclusively selling energy to the AEE under a power purchase agreement, every requirement of the AEE’s evaluation process. And at the end of that list, the sentence that matters to most people: rooftop renewable energy projects are exempt from this section’s requirements.

5. 5

   Step 5: Amending plans and the endorsed capacity

   Previously certified construction plans may be amended before or after the works have begun, provided the professional files the amendment request through OGPe’s electronic filing system. The plans must meet the same requirements and the same procedure as the original application is followed. Now the part that surprises: if the amendments include changes in the endorsed capacity or others affecting connection conditions, a new Recommendation Request must be filed before filing the requested amendment. And the proposed alteration or change may not be carried out until OGPe approves the amendment.

6. 6

   Step 6: The five working days to certify the installation

   This is the deadline most often missed. Once the system’s installation is finished, the documents required to obtain the Renewable Energy System Installation Certification must be submitted to OGPe within five working days of completion, so the Agency can keep a register of the systems installed in Puerto Rico. Every installer must install according to the design made by the designer. The certification is submitted with: OGPe’s forms signed by the installer and signed and sealed by the designer; evidence of the installer’s current OEPPE certification; the final layout plan showing where the installed equipment sits; evidence of the designer’s current licence and colegiación; a copy of the approved construction permit in projects that require one; an explanatory memorial with the physical address, capacity to generate, technology type, installation date, equipment location — roof or ground mounted — the cost of materials, equipment and installation, the type of use, and whether the energy is for commercial sale or exclusive use; and the invoices evidencing those costs. For AEE interconnection, the AEE’s evaluation letter or registration notice, the Electrical Installation Certification — Distributed Energy Resource and the DG Testing Certification are also submitted; and for stand alone systems, a non-objection document from the AEE.

7. 7

   Step 7: When the power arrives: the AEE’s five days

   Once the project is built, acceptance tests are run and the installation is inspected and certified under the AEE’s regulation in force. For projects requiring a construction permit, the owner or their authorised representative may ask OGPe or the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality for the Permiso Único, having obtained the installer’s certification, the Photovoltaic, Wind or other renewable technology System Installation Certification issued by the OEPPE, OGPe or the Authorised Inspector, the Designated Inspector’s certification that the project complies with the approved plans, regulations and applicable laws, and the system’s final description with its final capacity and technology type. And then the deadline: once OGPe or the municipality issues a Permiso Único, where the system connects to the AEE’s electrical system, the AEE shall permit the system’s interconnection within a maximum of five days after that permit is issued, unless it finds the built work has deficiencies or departs from the certified plans approved by OGPe, regulations or applicable laws, and those deficiencies and irregularities put life, safety or property at risk. In every case where the AEE finds the work departs, it must initiate the corresponding administrative process and immediately refer the case to OGPe and to the Planning Board. And if the installation was exempt from a construction or use permit, it may go directly to the AEE for interconnection after OGPe issues the installation certification.

8. 8

   Step 8: The public liability insurance

   The chapter closes with a requirement that surprises many commercial proponents. Every owner or operator of renewable generation systems in non-residential projects must keep a public liability policy covering property and personal damage of not less than one million dollars per occurrence and one million dollars in the aggregate. That cover shall be in effect throughout the system’s construction and operation. Evidence of the cover is required before construction or use permits are issued, but not as a prerequisite to filing a permit application. And if the system will be interconnected with the AEE’s electrical system, that public corporation shall be included as an insured in the policy, which must meet the requirements of the AEE’s applicable regulation.

Before OGPe: the design and installation certification, equipment certification — through the Permit Manager in the Building Unit — the SUI pre-consulta to the Building and Energy Conservation Division where the equipment is not on the list, the construction permit application and its amendments through the electronic filing system, and the Renewable Energy System Installation Certification. The Permiso Único is issued by OGPe or the hierarchy I-III Autonomous Municipality. The pre-interconnection evaluation and energising are handled by the AEE through the means it establishes. The installer’s certification is issued by the OEPPE.

• Letting the five working days to submit the Installation Certification to OGPe pass.
• Installing equipment not on OGPe’s published certification list without certifying it first.
• Having the design made by someone who is not a colegiado, licensed Professional Engineer.
• Omitting from each sheet of the electrical works plan the endorsement seal the AEE specifies.
• Installing in departure from the design made by the designer.
• Amending the endorsed capacity without first filing a new Recommendation Request.
• Forgetting the AEE’s non-objection document in a stand alone system.
• Counting on the permit issuing without evidence of the million-dollar policy in a non-residential project.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Permit Management Office

  ogpe

  ogpe.pr.gov