ground rod question [RE-wrenches]

Phil Undercuffler p.undercuffler at conergy.us
Mon May 22 15:50:58 PDT 2006


Darryl Thayer said <snip> 
As I see it the ground rod on a PV array is for two purposes, .... Two to
protect grounded people from any errant voltages/currents that they might
contact during fault conditons.  (part two is what the electrical inspector
is looking for).....

Actually, this is one function the ground rod does NOT perform.  The bonded
conductor (neutral or negative, generally) provides the return current path
for any fault current, which trips the fuse or breaker thereby clearing the
fault.  

If you make a short between hot to ground (Please don't attempt this at
home), the breaker will trip no matter whether the ground rod is connected
or not.  However, if you remove the bond between the grounded conductor and
the equipment ground, the breaker won't trip no matter how many ground rods
you drive, thereby presenting potential voltage hazards to your grounded
people--and we all know how hard it is to find well grounded people
sometimes, so you don't want to waste them ;-)


Please note new phone extensions
 
---------------------------------------------------------
Phil Undercuffler
Technical Service Manager, ext. 0741
Conergy, Inc.
1730 Camino Carlos Rey Suite 103
Santa Fe NM  87507 USA
Tel 505-473-3800 ext 0741
Fax 505-473-2134
www.conergy.us
---------------------------------------------------------


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