Megging PV Arrays [RE-wrenches]

Joel Davidson joeldavidson at earthlink.net
Thu Feb 6 17:43:48 PST 2003


Dear John,
Auto-megging and storing the readings are two nice features. (I thought that
grounding the negative meant filing down the hole in the battery terminal so
you could use a bigger bolt.)
Best regards,
Joel Davidson

jberdner at sma-america.com wrote:

> Joel:
>
> The Sunny Boy automatically meggers the array as part of the initial
> start up sequence.  The inverter will not clear the yellow GFDI LED
> unless it passes the megger test.
>
> In Europe, where they do not kneel before the temple of the false god of
> array conductor grounding, the Sunny Boys continuously megger the array
> and store values of leakage from either the positive and negative array
> conductors. You can even record this data and check it from time to time
> to see if you have an insulation system breakdown.  That way you can see
> that the array leakage current is getting to high and take corrective
> action before it becomes hazardous.
>
> Here is the USofA we don't believe in any of them new fangled ideas and
> stick with our 150 year old traditions to ground everything even if it
> don't need no ground. Higher costs, reduced reliability, and less safety
> that's the way we like it.
>
> Question: Anyone know why the GFDI value is set at 1 Amp when it takes
> about 0.050 Amps to stop your heart ?
> Answer: Because John Wiles had a 1 Amp Heinemann breaker in his garage
> at it worked pretty well.
>
> Question: Anyone know why the 690 requires us to ground the PV negative
> ?
> Answer: The guy who wrote that into 690 told me he didn't remember but
> "It seemed like a good idea at the time"
>
> 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: Joel Davidson [mailto:joeldavidson at earthlink.net]
> Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 2:21 PM
> To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
> Subject: Megging PV Arrays [RE-wrenches]
>
> Wrenches:
> Quick survey.
> Do your megger test the PV array string circuits that you install? Yes
> or No.
> If yes, Dry or Wet?
> Do you megger test as a Standard Practice or as a Customer Requirement?
> Thanks for your feedback.
> Best regards,
> Joel Davidson
>
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