Grid Tie 240 VAC w/ transfer switch? [RE-wrenches]
Chris Daum
info at oasismontana.com
Thu Aug 9 07:58:27 PDT 2001
Hi Joel and others:
I live in a remote part of western Montana, and do not have the luxury of
meeting face-to-face with most of the electricians, contractors,
brothers-in-law, or homeowners who install the components I've sold to
them. I have systems all over the world, and I work out the details by
e-mail and faxes, providing wiring diagrams and tech support as needed. I
try to keep my basic designs simple, for minimal hassle, ease of
installation, and have had relatively little troubleshooting (thank god!)
to do. Most of my systems are off-grid. I have also helped out folks
who've had systems put in by others, and have had problems--but I only do
so much of that without assessing a fee. I am probably one of those
"dot-commers" y'all dislike, but I have many, many happy customers. And if
they want a local service person who can sell, install, and do it all, I'm
happy to refer them to one of you. I'm quite busy, as I'm sure you all
are, and I don't expect a return for the favor--to me it's just common
sense.
Anyway, many thanks to Bob-o, Todd, Allen and Jeff for your helpful
comments. My customer wants to upgrade his 100A entrance service to 200A,
so maybe I can talk him into utilizing his old 100A service as a separate
sub-panel for his inverter loads. I like recycling!
Regards,
Chris Daum
Oasis Montana Inc.
406-777-4321 or 4309
406-777-2632 fax
http://www.oasismontana.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Joel Davidson [SMTP:joeldavidson at earthlink.net]
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2001 8:12 AM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Re: Grid Tie 240 VAC w/ transfer switch? [RE-wrenches]
Most of us get together with other designers face-to-face to discuss system
design over sketches, block diagrams and drawings. How can RE-Wrenches
facilitate electronic collaboration on systems like these?
"Bob-O Schultze, Electron Connection" wrote:
> Chris,
> ASSUMING (because you don't say) that your customer wants a manual
> switch (else how would he know he had an outage and to "power down"?)
> and that he has a 200A service, you could put in a manual 200A DPDT
> or 3PDT switch. Two cautions. One, they are a big mother, far bigger
> than a separate service panel, so what's the point? Two, you'll have
> to have the utility power the house down or work getting the feeders
> into the switch hot. Doable, but a little scary. Feeding a dual 60A
> CB and can from the utility side of the switch to the AC1 inputs
> should be no problem IF you can find a way to do it without sticking
> your #6 wires in the same lug as your 200A (probably 4/0 AL) feeders.
> That would work but be a NEC no-no.
> Bob-O
>
> >Dear Wrenches:
> >
> >My client's system is in California; he has two Bergey XL 1's on order,
and
> >has two Trace SW4024's and six 120W modules. He is in a place with
rolling
> >power outages and wants back-up (vis a vis eight of the Surrette S460
> >batteries). His power is rarely out for more than an hour at a time.
His
> >site offers excellent sun and winds, with 15 to 18 mph averages.
> >
> >But, he doesn't want a separate sub-panel for his important loads. Has
> >anyone done a grid-tie with a transfer switch (located before the main
> >electrical service panel), where one side of the transfer switch is from
> >utility power, and the other leg is 240VAC from the inverter's output?
My
> >client wants total back up not just dedicated loads, and says he'll
"power
> >down" in the event of a power failure (and yes, I've cautioned him that
if
> >the grid fails, it would be easy to max out his inverters). There is no
> >fuel generator integrated into this system.
> >
> >I've talked with a nice fellow from Asco (http://www.asco.com) about
> >whether their transfer switches would work for this application. We
both
> >think it would--but know of no one who's tested or tried this.
> >
> >One thing I'm uncertain about, code-wise, is feeding the utility input
into
> >the AC 1 "in", from the utility side of the transfer switch (like, with
a
> >separate 60A circuit breaker).
> >
> >Anybody got any ideas or experience with this type of system? I'd
> >appreciate any advice you could offer.
> >
> >Chris Daum
> >Oasis Montana Inc.
> >406-777-4321 or 4309
> >406-777-2632 fax
> >http://www.oasismontana.com
>
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