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Solar

404.1 says that it applies to circuit breakers that are used as switches. That is not the case with a residential service panel. A circuit breaker can be used as a switch but not all circuit breakers are switches.

I talked to an Eaton engineer and was told that the 200 amp restriction has to do with heat dissipation. This panel is rated for a 70 amp solar contribution if the solar is added at the far end of the bus bar.

Thanks jdfruit. There's plenty in the electrical code that I don't know.
 
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There are 22 panels laying on the roof waiting to go on the racking. There is a lay-in lug installed wrong on each one. You can see the asphalt on the setscrew.



The torn up roof is three weeks old.

 
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I would be out of line to tell you which Solar Company did this. I can't even give you an itty bitty clue.

I apologize for the blurry photo. It is a picture of my iphone screen because the array is on a second floor tile roof and I sent a kid with his phone to get a picture and then text me that picture. I am amazed at what we can do with our phones.
 
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Square D 125A panel with 225A busbar ratingNEC 705.12.D.2Supply power to a busbar or conductor shall not exceed 120% of the rating of busbar or conductor.Attached is the new panel from Square D for solar installation.

View attachment 1207

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As bad as this service upgrade is the damnable part is that they removed the dead front and left it unattended.



The corrections started with the clothes dryer in the way and ended with starting over because this cabinet is mounted over a hole in the wall.

I tried to call the contractor and tell them to never leave these open with nobody there. Nobody would answer the phone. So I finally got through to the solar company HQ which is located in Utah. I was assured that a VP in charge of construction would get back to me. That didn't happen. I am still learning contractor speak and just found out that what he meant was "We don't give a rats :butt"
 
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This is a rubber raceway from the picture above. It is flimsy and collapses with just a little pressure. When it comes to inspecting work done by a solar company, I always expect to discover the unexpected.



Everything they do is half-assed.

 
I was there for a solar final inspection. When I was there for the rough inspection there was a coroner's van in front of the service panel because the woman that lived there was expired. So I didn't get a look at the service until today. Right away I wondered out loud if the service is a bootleg. The solar contractor assured me that the first thing that they do is make sure that there are no bootlegs on the property.







I assured the contractor that he missed this.
 




That's where the owner wanted it so they wouldn't have to see it. The solar contractor said "Not a problem folks, we can put it wherever you want".
 
Great Britain is ending it's solar program, the wealthy took advantage of it and it's costing the poor, the utilities don't sell power, they install and maintain "poles and wires" somebody's got to pay for the poles and wires.

\ said:
Britain's solar boom is over after ministers announced they would offer virtually no subsidies for people to install panels on their homes.In a surprise move, ministers on Thursday said that they plan to slash the amount of money given to families who put solar panels on their homes.

Under the new proposals, the amount paid to homeowners under the “feed-in tariff” from next year will fall by nearly 90 per cent. Experts said that it will lower the payments to households by around £192 a year.

The Coalition government introduced a generous subsidy scheme to encourage households to install solar panels, triggering a boom that far exceeded ministers’ expectations.

Tens of thousands of people were trained to install the panels and around 700,000 families had them put on their homes to take advantage of the subsidies.

The annual cost of the scheme is now estimated to be in excess of £800 million a year - almost twice the level ministers originally anticipated, as a result of the early boom.

Critics say the scheme, which was heavily pushed by energy firms, enables wealthy families to rake in subsidies paid for by many who are already struggling with their energy bills.

The energy department on Thursday insisted said that households that have already had panels installed will not see their subsidies cut.

However, campaigners warned that the cut will mean that households will no longer benefit financially if they install solar panels, effectively destroying the domestic renewables industry.

Mr Cameron was in 2013 criticised after it emerged that he had told aides to “get rid of the green crap” which was adding money to homeowners’ energy bills.¹
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This should give the Tiger some breathing room if we follow suit, it appears that over half his poor quality work posts are solar.

¹ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/energy/solarpower/11829471/Ministers-signal-the-end-of-Britains-solar-revolution.html
 
conarb said:
Great Britain is ending it's solar program, the wealthy took advantage of it and it's costing the poor, the utilities don't sell power, they install and maintain "poles and wires" somebody's got to pay for the poles and wires.This should give the Tiger some breathing room if we follow suit, it appears that over half his poor quality work posts are solar.

¹ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/energy/solarpower/11829471/Ministers-signal-the-end-of-Britains-solar-revolution.html
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It's not half.....now that my area has been cut I don't have many solar jobs. I am against subsidies in general. It is my money that supports tha solar industry. Any industry that will dry up unless they get their hands on my money should fail.
 
If Toyota made PV racking....



A plan checker showed me this lug and I said that it can't be used. The shop teacher didn't believe the plan checker because there are about twenty of them mounted on the rail.
 
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\ said:
A plan checker showed me this lug and I said that it can't be used. The shop teacher didn't believe the plan checker because there are about twenty of them mounted on the rail.
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But...... that shop teacher is teaching the next generation of tradesmen, inspectors, even architects and engineers.
 
conarb said:
But...... that shop teacher is teaching the next generation of tradesmen, inspectors, even architects and engineers.
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By the time that we are done, he should have a pretty good understanding of solar. I have to teach one person how to do it one time. There's not a lot of satisfaction in that.
 
ICE.

Is that a steel to aluminum connection with No-Ox goop? not sure what the Toyota reference means? Toyota's "Bonafide", there in NASCAR ya know!
 
Tiger and other California inspectors:

At 8:00 this morning Solar City arrived at the house across the street and started installing solar panels on the front of the house, fortunately I don't have to look at them because I look at the side of the house. I left at 11:30 and the same guys that installed the panels were installing the service, I returned about 3:00 and they were done with the Solar City sign in the yard. There is no evidence that they ever got a permit, but it's highly unlikely that they did from the looks of it, and the coordination with the AHJs required if one crew can do two per day. It seems to me that AHJs are aiding and abetting these illegal practices by turning their collective heads the other way.

Solar City shows 2 expired licenses, the yard sign violates the B&P Code by not showing a license number, but does give a website of jlandsman@solarcity.com, going there you are taken directly to Solar City's website that shows no contractors license. Looking up a Landsman or J Landsman on the license board website there is no such licensed contractor in California.

Are you aware of the fact that you are required to notify the State License Board if uncertified electricians are performing electrical work, even licensed C-10 contractors cannot hire uncertified electricians?

Go here to read the law.
 
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conarb,

The license classification for a solar contractor is C-46. The code says that PV shall be installed by qualified persons. The code definition of a qualified person is:

Qualified Person. One who has skills and knowledgerelated to the construction and operation of the electrical

equipment and installations and has received safety

training to recognize and avoid the hazards involved.
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No electrician required. We do not allow a C-46 to perform a service upgrade.

SolarCity: #888104

C46 - SOLAR

B - GENERAL BUILDING CONTRACTOR

C10 - ELECTRICAL

A - GENERAL ENGINEERING CONTRACTOR

C20 - WARM-AIR HEATING, VENTILATING AND AIR-CONDITIONING
 
ICE said:
conarb,The license classification for a solar contractor is C-46. The code says that PV shall be installed by qualified persons. The code definition of a qualified person is:

No electrician required. We do not allow a C-46 to perform a service upgrade.

SolarCity: #888104

C46 - SOLAR

B - GENERAL BUILDING CONTRACTOR

C10 - ELECTRICAL

A - GENERAL ENGINEERING CONTRACTOR

C20 - WARM-AIR HEATING, VENTILATING AND AIR-CONDITIONING
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Tiger:

The way the law reads now B, C10, C46 and any other contractors cannot do electrical unless the actual workmen doing the work are certified electricians, that means even our man in a kilt has to hire a certified electrician do hook up any electrical, even he he hires a C10 he has to be sure the contractor is using certified electricians. I linked it for you but since you didn't understand I'll print it out:

\ said:
CSLB Zero Tolerance Policy In Effect for Non-Compliant Electricians

Per Board direction at its June 11, 2013 meeting, this bulletin is being reissued.

SACRAMENTO — The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) established a zero-tolerance enforcement policy in 2010 and now issues legal action against any C-10 Electrical contractor who willfully employs an uncertified electrician to perform work as an electrician.

CSLB is legally required to open an investigation and initiate disciplinary action against the contractor (which may include license suspension or revocation) within 60 days of receipt of a referral or complaint from the Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS).

Labor Code section 108.2 stipulates that anyone who performs work as an electrician for C-10 Electrical contractors shall hold an electrical certification card issued by DAS; DAS is required by Labor Code section 108.2 to report violations to CSLB.

Electricians are defined as those who engage in the connection of electrical devices for C-10 contractors. It is CSLB’s position that electrical work must be performed by either a state-licensed or a certified electrician. An indentured apprentice or state-registered electrician trainee may also perform electrical work if supervised by a state-certified electrician. Trenching, concrete, framing, and other work that does not involve connecting electrical devices may be performed by noncertified workers.

Learn more about electrician certification by visiting the Electrician Certification Program website.
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They did this with fire sprinklers too, even sprinkler contractors have to hire certified sprinkler fitters.
 
Not in my jungle.

I'd be happy with Brent's electrical work but he'd have to stand on a street corner to get the job. I can see him out there in his dress....waving his hammer.

So conarb, I am way familiar with the Ca rule but trust me on this, virtually no AHJ enforces that. At least not in residential and few if any commercial. I have enforced it on large projects and the contractors were pleased about that. They made the effort to get it and nobody ever asks them for it.

Also note that the law is for C-10 license holders. C-46 and B contractors aren't mentioned. Homeowners can take out the permits and hire whomever they choose.

Another thing about SolarCity is that they've never seen a service panel that they didn't like.

Around here, SolarCity subs out the service upgrades....to the lowest bidder. But usually not until I force an upgrade. Some of these guys are 100 miles from the job. They get plenty of windshield time completing corrections.

SolarCity owns Sacramento. SB 2188 mandates that as of 09-30-15 we can only do one inspection. That would be a final inspection. It's hard to see much once the modules are installed. That's not such a big deal with a mounting system like SolarCity's Zep but what a dumb idea for all of the little outfits that use the other thirty or so rack companies.

I have studied UL2703 and many listing reports. The solar industry is like no other....and not in a good way.

A few years ago SolarCity went to the top and threatened to boycott my area unless I was banned from inspecting their jobs. Apparently they were bluffing. Since they bought the Zep Solar company their roof top work has improved dramatically but oh those service upgrades.
 
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\ said:
So conarb, I am way familiar with the Ca rule but trust me on this, virtually no AHJ enforces that. At least not in residential and few if any commercial. I have enforced it on large projects and the contractors were pleased about that. They made the effort to get it and nobody ever asks them for it.
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Well here they apparently don't enforce the permit requirement, at least you do that, looking at the wall there was no service change since the old recessed panel with the meter socket is still there, but there are 4 new ugly panels surface mounted on the wall.

So then you know a state statute (just like the building code) is being violated and the work is being done by an unlicensed contractor you don't feel obligated to enforce those statutes. You require all permittees to provide evidence of Workers' Comp don't you? Gosh, we have inspectors here who want to enforce federal law like the ADA, a discriminatory law, yet you don't feel the need to enforce state statutes designed to protect the health and safety of people. I guess you guys decide which laws you want to enforce, you'll cost someone thousands of dollars if lines and signs aren't the right colors or places, yet you won't enforce the statutes that are your job to enforce.
 
conarb said:
You suggesting that I sue you and get a writ to force you to enforce the law?
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Well you are retired and an attorney. You could start with San Francisco. After you succeed in shutting down construction, the State will repeal the law.
 
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