CEC list of eligible inverters [RE-wrenches]

John Berdner jberdner at sma-america.com
Mon Apr 4 18:24:37 PDT 2005


Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Get both the PlayStation2 and Game Cube for Free! Click here to 
find out how.
http://click.topica.com/caadlVCbz8Qcsbz9JC9a/Consumer Research
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Jerry / Wrenches:
 
I can not speak for all inverter manufacturers but, from what I have
heard, many of us are in similar situations.
First and foremost no one should panic. The present situation is not
permanent and CEC has committed to updating the List very frequently
during the next 4 to 6 weeks as some of the bugs are worked out with all
the different inverter manufacturers.
Remember, the CEC testing protocol was in flux up to the very last
second and there was much confusion about how to run the tests.
The tests take more than 24 hours per inverter and must be run in a
very exact order with special requirements on time periods, ambient
temperature windows, etc. 
 
The protocol was based on 4 documents including:
- An incomplete inverter test protocol from Sandia
- A list of exceptions to the incomplete Sandia protocol
- The CEC guidebook referencing the above
- A list of clarifications from Bill Brooks on all of the above, and;
- An 11th hour clarification of the requirements for format of
submitted data
As one can see from the list of documents, and from the present
situation on the CEC list, it was fairly easy to miss something when
working with multiple different interrelated documents.
In addition, the time line to complete all of the testing was very
short so everyone was really rushing to get it all finished before the
deadline.

 
In our case we turned in all our small inverter data on time but...
Bill Brooks (the guy with the thankless job of reviewing all these
mountains of test data) and the CEC have issues with some of our data.


 
For example: 
The protocol referenced maximum power levels and gave tolerances of +/-
5% but then elsewhere said the maximum power would be the minimum of all
the data samples taken.
We did not catch this minimum of all samples clause (neither did 4 UL
engineers) and so we have ran the tests as we thought they were
specified.
In the case of the 6000U at 240 Vac we ran the full power test as close
as possible to the full power setting but one of the data points was at
5920 Watts.
In the case of the 6000U one of the data points was at 5928 Watts,
etc.
Speaking for SMA, I am confident we will have all of the data issues
resolved within 2 weeks.
At worst we will have to rerun a couple of tests with UL (which we have
already scheduled).

 
I spoke to Bill Brooks late Friday afternoon and at that time he
thought CEC was going to accept data from manufacturers who made good
faith efforts and then give manufacturers reasonable time to clarify any
data in question.
This seemed like a reasonable approach that would minimize disruption
until manufacturers could clarify data or conduct additional testing. 
I was unable to reach Bill Brooks today (his voice mail says he is at a
training and will be back tomorrow) but apparently this situation
changed between late Friday and first thing Monday morning.
I am sure we will get further clarification as soon as Bill is back in
his office and he gets a chance to talk with CEC.
 
At this point, I am not sure which is the worst case scenario:
1) To have weird data up on the list for a couple weeks thereby
creating "special reservations" that need to be corrected or re-filed,
or;
2) Wait a couple weeks until we inverter guys re-test and get accurate
info to the CEC.
I am leaning towards the calm and patience approach as I think it makes
no sense to do all CEC paperwork twice.
Also, many of the other States look to the CEC list for approval so the
double paperwork nightmare could expand dramatically.
 
More information as soon as I hear it.
 
Best Regards,
 
John Berdner
  
>>>>>

Wrenches,

I noticed that the CEC's newly published inverter
efficiencies are on the CEC website. I see that many
inverter models that were on the list are no longer
there, and some manufacturer's entire lines are
completely absent.

A call to the energy commission yielded no
information, so hopefully someone on list can shed
some light. Are the absent models no longer eligible
for rebates in California?

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/cgi-bin/eligible_inverters.cgi 

Cheers,

Jerry Caldwell
NABCEP Certified PV Installer
Light Energy Systems
965 Detroit Ave
Concord, CA 94518

925-680-4343 office
510-205-2798 mobile





--
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Need a Laptop? Get a Sony Vaio Laptop Free!
http://click.topica.com/caadlVAbz8Qcsbz9JC9f/ProductTestPanel
-------------------------------------------------------------------

- - - -
To send a message: RE-wrenches at topica.com

Archive of previous messages: http://lists.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/read

List rules & etiquette: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquette.php

Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/

Hosted by Home Power magazine

Moderator: michael.welch at homepower.com
--^----------------------------------------------------------------
This email was sent to: michael.welch at homepower.com

EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bz8Qcs.bz9JC9.bWljaGFl
Or send an email to: RE-wrenches-unsubscribe at topica.com

For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit:
http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER
--^----------------------------------------------------------------






More information about the RE-wrenches mailing list