Bonehead HV Installation (Formerly NABCEP and the Karma Chameleon) [RE-wr

[jberdner at sma-america.com]

Wrenches:

HV = higher electrocution hazard.
LV = higher fire hazard 

LV is worse for fire because the currents are higher so undersized wires
and /or loose connection over heat and burn.

Arc strike distance is proportional to the voltage so HV is worse but...
Once an arc is struck the plasma becomes conductive and it takes much
less voltage to sustain the arc.
Arc energy is proportional to the current squared (this is why breakers
and fuses are rated I^2*t) so here LV is worse.

Bottom line is that at these power levels both types of systems require
proper system design to avoid problems.  Bad installs are bad installs
no matter how you cut it.

If you have any questions, or if I can be of any further assistance,
please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best Regards,

John Berdner

SMA America, Inc.
12438 Loma Rica Drive, Unit C
Grass Valley, CA  95945
530.273.4595 (voice)
530.274.7271 (fax) 


-----Original Message-----
From: Matt Lafferty [mailto:pvpro at attbi.com] 
Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2002 11:01 AM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Re: Bonehead HV Installation (Formerly NABCEP and the Karma
Chameleon) [RE-wre

Marco, you silly Low Voltage guy, you....

>  waiting for a bonehead high voltage installation causing a house fire
or
worse?

The biggest fire blamed on Solar that I know of was off-grid.  Low
voltage.

3,127 Acres. 13 Houses Destroyed, 4 Damaged.  6 Mobile Homes Destroyed.
14
Trailers Destroyed (What's the difference?).  2 Other Dwellings
Destroyed.
(From San Jose Mercury News article, October 2, 2002)

Which one of us boneheads caused that?

Just a poke in the ribs, but serious nonetheless.

ALL installations require safety, knowledge and integrity.

Pray for Sun without Fire!  That doesn't make sense, does it....hmmmm.
I
got it.

Pray for The Sun's Fire, without SMOKE!  (Of the Forest Fire type,
anyway....)

-Matt Lafferty
pvpro at attbi.com

PS:  Links are below.  If they don't come through (snipped by Topica), I
can
send them off-list.  There's lots on this one....Google, Croy Fire.


http://www.bayinsider.com/partners/ktvu/news/2002/10/29_croy.html

http://www.fire.ca.gov/cdf/incidents/Croy%20Fire_76/incident_info.html

http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/1718667/detail.html

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