Trace UL and stupidity [RE-wrenches]

Drake Chamberlin - Electrical Energy solar at eagle-access.net
Mon Nov 26 09:32:28 PST 2001


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Hi Larry and Rob,

Thanks for your comments.

It is good to hear that Advanced Energy has a solution to the problem of 
islanding.  If it becomes available now, it may prevent yet another 
debilitating institutional barrier, hobbling the progress of small scale, 
privately owned photovoltaic systems connected to the grid.  I hope it is 
economical and easy to implement.

I agree with Larry that the utility disconnect is not used.  The 
requirement to install it has only been another hoop to jump through, as 
far as I can tell.  But, in the event that an inverter failed to shut down, 
a utility disconnect could be useful.

Rob said:
"Line-person safety is, as Larry Elliot, pretty much a red herring as the
NESC (the utility's NEC) etc. require a practice of testing and grounding
before working."

We all are apparently in strong agreement on this point.

During the days when "the powers that be" sought an energy economy based on 
the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR), it was acknowledged that 
tens of thousands of children would die of leukemia due to the 
technology.  It was argued that this was acceptable since coal and other 
technologies had similar degrees of health impact.

But, if solar electrical generation could "possibly" harm even one person, 
drastic measures must be taken!  I am just curious to learn if there has 
been one single problem to date.

If automobiles were held to the same safety standards as grid interactive 
inverters, driving would have been outlawed years ago.  In any city, one 
can hear sirens scream around the clock.

Maybe the islanding potential of Trace inverters really is a serious 
hazard.  I'd just like to see some examples of the havoc that has been 
created.  Maybe transformers are exploding like strings of lady fingers on 
the Forth of July.  Maybe crispy linemen are dropping off power poles like 
insects from bug zappers on a summer night in Louisiana.  ( - :

If so, lets see the statistics.

Peace,

Drake

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