third Party Installations [RE-wrenches]

[Drake Chamberlin - Electrical Energy]

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To answer the statement below:

You said:

"No offense intended, but what technicians? Developing what technology? 
Salesmen
exploiting what markets and weakening system design? PV is a developed
technology. In 2000, PV installers put in 65 megawatts in Japan and 45
megawatts in Germany. More PV is better. A lot more PV is a lot better."

****************************

There are a lot of solar watts out there for sure, but many systems don't 
produce half the power consumed. Sometimes they produce much less that half.

What takes time and savvy is designing the entire system, loads and 
production, to produce the necessary "end use tasks and conveniences."  The 
loads in the premise must be designed to function on a PV budget.  It is 
necessary to design house loads, heating systems, etc.  Load shedding or 
auto generator start for problem loads may need to be incorporated to 
protect battery investment.  It is generally necessary to specify many 
conservation measures and DC appliances where appropriate, along with a 
myriad of  other details.

I'm beginning to feel like a broken record on this. But people are used to 
being able to buy things off the shelf, plug then in and forget about 
them.  That expectation is what sucks a lot of customers into buying a lot 
of PV equipment that will do them little good.

"Plug and play" doesn't generally fly for PV.  Customers need to be 
educated about these issues.  It is amazing that many low ball sales 
outfits may either be oblivious to this issue, or don't care.  A sale is a 
sale.   The "selling point" heard from volume vendors, of just hook it up 
for solar power, makes educating customers that more difficult.  They 
already have been programmed with false expectations.

Designing a load that matches production makes all the 
difference.   Without that, a customer gets a lot of impressive looking 
equipment hanging on a wall, with a solar array that functions as little 
more than a political statement.  The customer would have been far better 
off spending a small fraction of that investment on energy efficiency.

I've seen situations where mail order outfits have happily sold systems to 
put on houses, with forced air heating systems, that alone use far more 
power than the PV system produces.  I've seen people tied to their houses, 
to run generators, to keep their homes from freezing up in the winter.

Yet a carefully designed solar solar electrical system can magically stay 
charged and run all or most of the loads.  You can't just slap up a bunch 
of equipment and expect it to be a meaningful, cost effective installation.

True, we are not inventing PV.  We are interfacing the limited power it 
produces with electrical reality. Systems that work are examples that build 
the industry.  Putting up $20K boondoggles that supply some minuscule 
portion of the electrical load gives PV a bad name.

Additionally,  Wrenches have done tremendous R&D for a lot of equipment, 
from wind machines to battery boxes.  Over the last decade or so, what 
works has been ferreted out from what doesn't.  Strategies for programing 
inverters have been developed.  Problems have been isolated and 
manufacturers contacted.  Much has been learned and much remains to be 
improved upon.

Drake

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