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Solar

ICE

Oh Well
Joined
Jun 23, 2011
Messages
12,852
Location
California
Solar contractors can be difficult to work with. The company will have a C-10 or B license so they will install a new service along with the solar equipment. I wish that they wouldn't.

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Is that insulation under the screws?!?!?!?!?!

We had one solar contractor install the DC Disconnect with one of the two DC supply wires running through the box right next to the disconnect with the other going into one side of the disconnect at the top, coming out of the bottom then back into the disconnect on the other side and out the top.
 
pyrguy said:
Is that insulation under the screws?!?!?!?!?!We had one solar contractor install the DC Disconnect with one of the two DC supply wires running through the box right next to the disconnect with the other going into one side of the disconnect at the top, coming out of the bottom then back into the disconnect on the other side and out the top.
DC disconnects have a particular way to configure the wires. I takes a diagram and if the installer doesn't have one it can be found on-line. I heard from a manufacture today and was told that the diagram will be inside every disconnect in the near future.
 
The panel-board is Zinsco. At the first inspection, the solar circuit breaker that had been added was a third party breaker with a ETL sticker and made in China. The breakers were 40 amp and the plans specified 30 amp.

At this inspection, the claim is that the breakers are re-manufactured, 30 amp Zinsco breakers. I asked the technician to remove the breakers so that I can see the markings. I need documentation and a listing that allows back feeding these breakers. I didn't hold the door for him because he was working it hot. The kid couldn't remove the breakers.

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The roof is aluminum and the solar installers beat the Hell out of it. The roof can't be seen from the ground, so the HO is unaware of the damage. This is one case where I'm thankful that quality control isn't my bag.

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Thanks.....I get the feeling that you are easy to entertain.....me too

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The owner's wife is not happy with anyone that's involved. She is especially upset with me.
 
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It's kinda hard to see but the lugs are mounted with self tapping sheet metal screws.

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They try that a lot here. They, the fittings, have specific bolts, washers, nuts, and torque requirements.
 
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Most AHJs here want stainless "through bolting" with a nut on the back when they bond aluminum screen cages. I bet they would want to see that on a solar rack too.

The dissimilar metal thing you get in tropical salt air, with thread forming screws, tends to show up as a white fuzzball where the screw is supposed to be.
 
This is attached to a solar water heating system. It is labeled for indoor use only. The plumbing contractor insists that the metal enclosure renders this to be "indoors". I told him that at best, this is a damp location. So far, the contractor will not agree. He is adamant that he has done this hundreds of times and I am the first to challenge him.

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Regarding the Taco pump if, and it's a big if, they keep the door on the water heater shed I would think the pilot light and heat generated by the water heater would keep the inside of the shed dry enough that the dampness shouldn't be an issue; I will say the whole setup looks pretty Micky Mouse.

P.S. The installer working on the panel without pulling the meter is asking for it and will end up being a statistic if he keeps doing stuff like that.
 
ICE said:
Solar panels are more efficient in a cold condition.
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They fixed it.



11:45 AM

The shaded panel is dead and has been dead since sunrise. The panel next to it may have been dead for the first half of the morning. After lunch, the same will happen to the panels on the other side of the vent. The system has two strings so the inverter might ignore the string that is shaded.

This is a customer owned system so the company doesn't care if it operates at 50%.

There isn't a code violation so apparently I don't care either.





When the solar industry first started rolling along, I figured that the electricians would get in the game.

Not many did.

The government did.

So naturally suits showed up with mouths open wide.

Initially there were two players.

Those two birthed sport coats looking to become suits.

Well none of them are electricians.

They don't hire electricians.

Recently I asked a man that was installing solar equipment what he did for a living prior to entering the solar field.

He said that his previous career was with a school district as an administrator.

The CSLB created a C-46 classification.

That is a Solar Contractor.

These companies aren't contractors.

That's like calling the kids at Jiff-Lube mechanics.

Be careful about allowing these contractors to perform work beyond the scope of a solar system.

An electric service upgrade is not part of a solar system.

 
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How is that big pecker standing up there going to hold up in the wind?

The palm trees indicate to me that the top of the flue is going to be solid waste in the hurricane cleanup.
 
gfretwell said:
How is that big pecker standing up there going to hold up in the wind?The palm trees indicate to me that the top of the flue is going to be solid waste in the hurricane cleanup.






 
ICE said:
They fixed it.

11:45 AM

The shaded panel is dead and has been dead since sunrise. The panel next to it may have been dead for the first half of the morning. After lunch, the same will happen to the panels on the other side of the vent. The system has two strings so the inverter might ignore the string that is shaded.

This is a customer owned system so the company doesn't care if it operates at 50%.

There isn't a code violation so apparently I don't care either.



I don't think that flue is throwing enough shade to disable the panel.
 
Re: Solar

I've worked with solar manufactures before for a potential commercial project and they wanted light poles removed because they say shading diminishes or completely knocks out a panel. I'm not sure but they were adamant about it.
 
ICE said:
Shade and Power: The Multiplier Effect Why does shading cause such dramatic power loss? The answer lies in the way cells are connected within solar panels and the performance optimization, done by the inverter. Solar panels are made of cells connected in series. Most panels have 60 or 72 cells built in. Each panel connects in series, creating an array. Arrays connect in parallel strings, feeding DC current into the inverter, which then converts DC to grid-quality AC, optimizing the PV arrays’ power generation through maximum power point tracking (MPPT).

This Solar array is most likely does not generate any power at this time.

To prevent the string failing when one cell underperforms — like Christmas tree lights connected in series — PV panels equipped with bypass diodes. The diodes re-route the current around the underperforming cells. The catch is that rerouting the current not only loses the potential energy from these cells, but also lowers the entire string’s voltage. This leaves the inverter with a dilemma: optimize the voltage for the underperforming string or maximize the energy harvest from the unaffected strings. Usually, the inverter chooses the former, causing the energy harvest of the impaired string to drop to near zero.

I'm sure there is good reason but why can't they connect them in parrallel instead of series?
 
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