Intertie Installation Shlock [RE-wrenches]

[Doug Pratt]

Wrenches,

  I worry about what the California Intertie Rush is doing to
installation quality.  This past weekend I cruised down to Silicon
Valley to visit my son-in-law and check out the Intertie system he just
had installed.  (I can speak freely on this one because I neither sold,
specified, or consulted on this system. This was the first time I'd seen
it.)  Sale and installation was done by a local electrician who
"specializes" in Intertie. (And will remain nameless here.)

  Josh was concerned, and asked me to come check it out because he never
saw the meter turning backwards.  Now, with a 5,500 sq.ft. house, a
pool, and a hot tub in his "starter castle", I wasn't too concerned.  My
attitude started to change when I found all the battery interconnect
cables finger tight, and no cover over the L-16 batteries in the garage.
The real shocker was finding the utility power connected to the AC-2
terminals on both SW-4048 inverters.  This puppy couldn't sell back if
it wanted to!   But then, with the SW's float/sell voltage set at 57.5
volts, the C40s set at 55.0 volts, and the modules wired in series sets
of THREE (!!), I guess it would be pretty hard pressed to find any
leftover wattage to sell anyway.

  Yikes!  I tightened cables, adjusted the SW float voltage down to 52.5
volts, pushed the C40s up to 59v, and corrected the AC wiring.  That got
us about 3,100 watts of output AC sell power,  but out of a 6,000 + watt
array (51 Solarex 120s), that's not too impressive.  There wasn't
anything (reasonable) I could do about the array wiring.  And even with
the float/sell voltage at a minimal 2.18 volts/cell, we're asking the
modules to deliver 17.5 volts.  In the California summertime sun?  Ain't
gonna happen son.  This system will always perform poorly in warm to hot
weather.

  Seems like our industry's biggest need right now is for knowledgeable
installers.  All you good ones reading this list, you're training
apprentices, right?  Good!

Best regards,
Doug Pratt

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