High Voltage Safety [RE-wrenches]

[John Berdner]

William:

Thank you for your tips.
It is good to hear common sense about working at higher voltages.

I am offering training.
Since it doesn't make sense to go to Germany I am starting to do regional
training seminars here.

If anyone is interested, I would appreciate a "wish list" of the things you
would like covered.
This would help me to prepare so we can be as productive as possible durign
the seminars.

One item to note about your tips.
The inverter includes a GFI circuit in addition th the GFDI required by 690.
When you are installing the array, the array must be floating (not connected
to ground).
The inverter does a megger test on the array and will not start up unless it
measures no leakage (< 30 mA)to ground from either the positive or negative
connectors.
If the wiring looks good then you install the GFDI fuse and this bonds the
PV negative to ground and the inverter starts up.

If you have any questions or I can be of any further assistance please do
not hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,

John Berdner

SMA-America, Inc.
20830 Red Dog Road
Grass Valley, CA  95945
Tel: 530.273.4895
Fax: 530.274.7271

-----Original Message-----
From: William Miller [mailto:wrmiller at slonet.org]
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2001 7:07 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: High Voltage Safety [RE-wrenches]


Friends:

I may have mentioned that I work in the communications industry as well as
in power systems.  Our broadcast transmitters have power supplies of 15KV
and higher.  Broadcast engineers usually do not get formal training for
working in this environment.  They can get training tailored to a
particular transmitter (a service I have never heard of an inverter
manufacturer offering).  This training is at their factory and is
expensive.  This training will include some safety procedures.

There are some common sense precautions one can take.  Don't forget, this
equipment is limited to 600 VDC by definition.  Here are some tips:

1. Do not work on high voltage systems alone.  Discuss procedures as a team
before taking action.
2. Design the system so there are disconnects where appropriate to allow
shut off at critical points for maintenance.
3. When working on a series module string, consider making final
connections during non-daylight hours or covering the modules.
4. Have a current CPR certificate.
5. Double check each connection.
6. Install GFI protection.
7. Do not use conductive ladders.
8. Whenever possible (measuring voltages, tightening a connection), keep
one hand behind your back (don't laugh, this is an old timers rule that has
saved lives.  You want to keep any fault current out of your chest area).
9. Bond all equipment carefully.

This is by no means a complete list.  Anyone care to add?

William Miller



At 05:54 PM 5/8/01 -0700, you wrote:
>Bill,
>
>Who is going to train us to work on high voltage
>systems?  Does the CEC have time to conduct workshops
>on this topic?
>
>What kind of things do we need to know about working
>specifically with high voltage dc?
>
>Jerry Caldwell
>
>--- Bill Brooks <billbrooks7 at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> High voltage
>> systems are a new
>> ballgame. If you are not trained to work on these
>> systems, you have no
>> business doing the work. Don't forget that
>> electricity is lethal, and we
>> certainly don't want people getting hurt or worse
>> because they assumed they
>> could work on a system because they know "solar".


__________________________________________________________________
William Miller
SLO Communications: Communications and Power Systems Consulting
PO Box 50, Santa Margarita, CA 93453
Voice :805-438-5600		Fax: 805-438-4607	VMail: 805-546-4875
email: wrmiller at slonet.org
License No. C-10-773985
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