US versus DE installation costs [RE-wrenches]

[Joel Davidson]

John listed some possible reasons why residential PV systems in Germany cost
less than residential PV systems in America, but does anyone know how the
German systems are rated $/W DC or AC and if AC what is the calculation from
STC? Perhaps the price difference is not as big when you compare apples to
apples.

William Miller wrote:

> At 10:29 AM 4/21/2003 -0700, you wrote:
> >William:
> >
> >
> >Lastly, Joel started discussing installed system costs in Germany versus
> >the US. Having been there many times I would not say Germany is a third
> >world country.  Given that they have one third our population and five
> >times the installed PV that we have I think we should look at what they
> >do objectively and see what changes we can make that will help us
> >increase the amount of renewable energy in the US.
> >
>
> Friends:
>
> Apparently I was not clear on one point:  I was not saying Germany is third
> world.  Think, rather, of your last trip to a third world country.  I
> imagine you took note of the electrical infrastructure.   Not good, right?
> Installing a PV system in this environment, matching the standards and
> practices in use there, could be done rather cheaply, but is that what we
> want?
>
> What I read here on this forum is in contradiction:  One post says:  here
> is a completely unsafe installation with incorrect ground reference and
> many other problems.  Gosh, why didn't the installer follow the standards
> (code).  Next post:  Gee, the standards are looser in Germany, therefore
> the installation costs are less, therefore the standards are bad.  Question
> authority!
>
> My view of questioning authority includes:  be prepared to admit it when
> the authority makes sense.  Let's not get our knees a jerking here and
> lynch the entire code.  The code makes sense in 99% of the cases.
>
> I'll admit that I lead the discussion to eliminate the requirement to bond
> each module individually.  This was based on looking at the code only.
> Bill Brooks reminded us (me) that the code does not operate in a vacuum.
> UL testing indicates relying on frame to rack contact for a ground is not
> reliable.  I sure don't have a laboratory where I can test and dispute
> this.  I sure as heck want to do all I can to make sure I dont leave a
> system out there that could cause my client or future electricians a safety
> or reliability problem, so I'm relying on Bill Brooks advice, knowing that
> it is backed up by lab testing.
>
> I have my doubts about bonding negative leads.  We now remove the GFI fuse
> from Sunny Boys when servicing an array.  This is contrary to posted
> labels, but I don't want the rack and modules referenced to negative while
> working on the positive leads.
>
> William Miller
>
> __________________________________________________________________
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