Solar Lockout [RE-wrenches]

[Joel Davidson]

There’s been a lot of discussion about the locking AC disconnect switch
between a homeowner or business owner’s PV system and the utility
company. My PV system does not have a locking disconnect because
Southern California Edison (SCE) management could plainly see that a
well-designed PV system had at least two disconnect switches, the
service panel backfeed load circuit breaker and the main circuit
breaker. SCE management decided that field workers could pull the meter
if the PV system had to be disconnected.

Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) management and many
other utility company managers decided, or were told by the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) labor union, that
a locking disconnect switch is necessary for field worker safety. The PV
industry always emphasizes safety and generally supports the use of the
locking disconnect even though it is often redundant and adds to PV
system cost.

LADWP IBEW has a new use for the PV system locking disconnect switch.
IBEW union workers have turned off and locked out private PV systems and
are using the lockout as a labor contract negotiation issue. On April
25, 2002, LADWP management notified utility customers that their private
PV system was temporarily disconnected in order to insure the safety of
field workers. The lockout has delayed projects, caused PV businesses to
lose income, put an unwarranted shadow of doubt and fear in customers'
minds and undermines decades of PV industry work providing safe solar
power systems.

Turning people’s solar power systems off is anti-consumer and does not
build support for the union cause. It is only a matter of time before
news reporters tell the world that the IBEW has switched off the sun.

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