RE and Regulations, both UL and IEEE [RE-wrenches]

Joe Schwartz, Home Power joe.schwartz at homepower.com
Fri May 3 11:15:12 PDT 2002


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>Richard, stop it! Your voice of reason is tarnishing Homepower guerrillas'
>bad-boy reputation :-)

Hey Joel,

Thanks for the laughs!

Thought I'd chime in on the guerrilla thread.

All the GS articles in Home Power come directly from HP readers and 
are unsolicited. For years we've been receiving a steady stream of 
letters from on-grid RE users that couldn't jump high enough to get 
over their local utility's hurdles for interconnection. We saw the 
trend, put a name to it, and began covering these systems in the 
magazine. Even though we now have net metering in 35 U.S. states, the 
letters keep coming, often from states that have net metering 
legislation in place. People trying to do the right thing are fed up 
with stubborn utilities and the often complicated (sometimes 
expensive) requirements for interconnection. We have to remember that 
there's a big world outside of California where utility intertied RE 
isn't anywhere close to becoming mainstream.

I think that most folks on the wrench list would agree that the 
possibility of a listed UI inverter backfeeding an islanded grid in 
the real world is close to impossible. And the possibility of a line 
worker getting killed by the output of this inverter is even closer 
to impossible. If the situation did technically exist, the lineman 
would still need to ignore the safety procedures they use every day 
in the field (grounding potentially energized conductors ) to be 
injured.

In terms of component safety, I'd be willing to bet that few other 
pieces of consumer electronics have been as closely scrutinized by UL 
and other listing agencies as the UI inverter. Headaches aside, the 
result is that our industry has high safety standards. Fine with me.

Then there's the issue of inspections. I'm all for code compliant 
systems that are inspected for good wiring and installation 
practices. This is the safety step the guerrillas are skipping. 
Another reality check. The number of inspected off-grid systems is 
probably less than two percent, and there' over 100,000 of them in 
the U.S. How many of these systems have resulted in death or loss of 
property?

Most folks running a new electrical circuit in their home shine on 
the inspection and permitting process. In this case the 
quality/safety of the installation becomes their responsibility. The 
do it yourself aspect of RE isn't going anywhere. The best we can do 
is educate folks to do it safely.

The guerrillas create a classic "good cop, bad cop" situation, as 
Bill points out. They let the utilities know that if they don't make 
interconnection easy for folks, they're just going to do it anyway. 
Any successful movement occurs simultaneously on many different 
levels. The environmental movement needs the Nature Conservancy 
working the big bucks folks and Greenpeace crazies hanging off of 
buildings with banners. This diversity is what makes the movement 
strong.

The more people that approach the utilities head on for fair 
interconnection agreements, the better. And guerrillas constantly 
reminding the utilities that they can't stop it, is part of what 
makes our movement work.

When blacks sat down at lunch counters in the south in the early 
1960s, they were peacefully breaking local segregation policies, in 
an effort to change those policies and improve their lives. I see 
solar guerrillas in the same light - peacefully breaking local 
utility policies, in an effort to improve their lives.  Civil 
disobedience goes solar if you will.

Off the soap box,

Joe

>Richard, stop it! Your voice of reason is tarnishing Homepower guerrillas'
>bad-boy reputation :-)
>
>"Richard Perez, Home Power magazine" wrote:
>
>>  Hello Bill and Wrenches
>>
>>  Well, Bill, I clearly see that we disagree on the issues of RE and
>>  regulation. Here are some responses to your post.
>>
>>  I didn't state
>
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-- 

-------------

Joe Schwartz - Tech Editor
Home Power Magazine
joe.schwartz at homepower.com
www.homepower.com

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