Safety at 600v [RE-wrenches]

carl reuter solarcruzer at yahoo.com
Thu May 23 18:57:33 PDT 2002 

Doug: After what hack work I saw yesterday, supposedly done by a 
licensed electrician( ask the other Doug all about it) its even harder 
to imagine a homeowner installing a grid-tie system properly and to 
code. I've installed quite a few Sunny Boys and every time I handle the 
interconnects I treat it like I'm handling Rattlesnakes. You just dont 
tell someone who once owned a pet Chameleon that they'd have no problems 
with the new Cobra you sold them. There is a big differance between a 12 
volt module in the hands of a tinkerer and one of these series string 
arrays. 
Not only does the state of California give the benefit of doubt to the 
home installer, many inspectors know just as little and will do the 
same, but who knows how far down the line some of the shoddy workmanship 
shakes apart and causes an accident or fire. I'm all for people giving 
things a go on their own but Joe Homeowner should'nt be playing with 
450volts, period. Carl Reuter

douglas bath wrote:
> As a technical staff member of a big West Coast mail order solar 
> catalog, I
> too share the concern for the safety of every one of my clients. This
> includes the discussion of the dangers of high voltage DC and the
> recommendation that systems be installed by qualified humans. 
> 
> We have successfully advised literally thousands of clients who have
> installed energy systems of all sizes all over the world, and a lot of 
> these
> were done by people who might be considered "unqualified", and yet the
> overwhelming success of these people may prove that the necessity and 
> value
> of "qualified installers" is perhaps (dare I say) over-rated. 
> Fortunately,
> the State of California gives the benefit of the doubt to the
> owner-installer, as I would hope others would.
> 
> Further, I would hope that most of us have better things to do than to
> partake of specious personation.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Douglas B. Bath, 
> Senior Technical Advisor
> Gaiam- Real Goods & Jade Mountain
> 800-919-2400 x6903 voice
> 303-222-8700 fax
> http://www.realgoods.com
> Building a Sustainable World Since 1978
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Phil Undercuffler, Positive Energy
> [mailto:phil at positiveenergysolar.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2002 4:10 PM
> To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
> Subject: Re: Safety at 600v [RE-wrenches]
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bill Brooks" <billb at endecon.com>
> 
> > I know most of the wrenches design their own systems, but how do people
> feel
> > about the newbees designing systems? How about wrenches with 600 
> > Volts--we
> > talked about this over a year ago on the list and there was a lot of
> > well-deserved apprehension--I'm still worried.
> 
> 
> Forget about wrenches--how about Joe Handyman?  Last month I got the 
> latest
> catalog from the big West coast mail order solar catalog company that 
> will
> remain nameless.  Prominently featured on the back page was Sunnyboy 
> solar
> packages, both small and large.  Just for kicks n grins, I called up & 
> made
> dumb (insert easy pot-shot here).  The helpful person on the other end 
> of
> the line assured me that anyone with handyman skills could install the
> entire system!  He was still willing to take my credit card number after 
> I
> balked at pulling a permit or hiring an electrician, or even about 
> notifying
> my utility company, (although he mentioned that they wouldn't like 
> that).
> To his credit, he did suggest that I hire someone to look at my work,
> although I'm sure that doesn't really meet the intent of the law.  I 
> wiggled
> off the hook by protesting "what do you mean it doesn't work on 12 
> volts?
> Gee, I don't know if I feel safe working at linesman voltages!"
> 
> To take this a little further, I was tapped to lead a training for my 
> fire
> department regarding solar power systems.  A common part of fighting a
> structure fire is cutting a large hole in the roof directly over the 
> fire.
> The thought of being on the unhappy end of an 18" gas-powered roof saw 
> that
> accidentally cuts through an array conductor operating at 600VDC made 
> even
> the newest recruit blanche.  I know that we can tarp the array and be 
> safe,
> I THINK that smashing out a couple of modules will break the string and 
> make
> it safe, but I can also see the day when firefighters see the array on 
> the
> roof, the red box on the wall, put two and two together and unless there 
> is
> someone trapped inside they stand back and protect the neighbor's house.
> 
> Don't get me wrong, I LIKE the Sunnyboy.  I can't wait to get my hands 
> on a
> Sunny Island.  I think SMA has a great product line, support, and design
> philosophy.  I'm just really concerned about what happens when things 
> don't
> go right; in fact what happens when things go horribly wrong.
> 
> Enjoy the Sun!
> 
> Phil Undercuffler
> Positive Energy
> 
> "The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious....
> the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art
> and true science"  --Albert Einstein
> 
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> 
> 
> 



Land and Sea Solar
po box 1507,Soquel,Ca. 95073

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