the insanity of grounding DC side [RE-wrenches]

[Jeff Yago]

When I started this thread with a question about a lightning strike
that fried two new SW5548 inverters that were not grounded, I was
hoping for some clarity on this topic - I am now more confused than
ever!

Also, I keep seeing references to "If the majority of Europe feels it
is unnecessary to ground a conductor" .  I am not sure we should be
comparing everything to how they do it in Europe.  Last year I was
asked to inspect problems with electrical systems at military bases
all over "Europe" and at first I thought they were nuts, as there were
no ground fault outlets for any kitchen outlets, outlets for washers
and dryers, or outlets outdoors next to water hose bibs.  Since this
was all at twice the voltage of US, I could not understand how this
was safer than our grounded and GFI outlet systems until -

A local Italian electrician had a key for the utility meter box and
took me outside to see that each HOUSE was served by one big utility
ground fault circuit breaker feeding the house main panel.  This makes
every outlet, wire pair, and appliance in the house protected by GFI,
but this also means that every time a hair dryer trips the ground
fault circuit, every light in the place goes out!

Are we comparing "apples and apples" when we say Europe does not
ground their systems?

Jeff Yago

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