[RE-wrenches] AC modules verses codes and safety

[William Dorsett]

The major diy difficulty I see is in anchoring the systems to the roof. They are plug and play, with DC voltage limited to that of only one module, not a series string. A home owner could get into trouble crossing conductors in the array j-box (duct-taped interior), or installing the breaker in the panel, using wiring with the wrong insulation...without conduit.... nailed to the roof...... 

But AC modules put solar into the skill set of any minor-league electric shop in the country.

Bill Dorsett 

SunwrightS

1715 Leavenworth

Manhattan, KS  66502

Home/Office 785/539=1956

Cell  785/564-2583

wmdorsett at sbcglobal.net

--- On Sat, 4/3/10, penobscotsolar at midmaine.com <penobscotsolar at midmaine.com> wrote:

From: penobscotsolar at midmaine.com <penobscotsolar at midmaine.com>
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] AC modules verses codes and safety
To: jryago at netscape.com, "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Date: Saturday, April 3, 2010, 5:16 AM

Hi Jeff,
   We were contacted the other day by Lowes, who asked if we would be
interested in installing their (highly overpriced) "plug and play"
systems. They are selling Andalay Solar's 3kw package (they us
Enphase). I told them we would at an installed price much higher than
we usually charge. They agreed on a price. I'd rather do this than have
solar get a bad name with owner installed systems.
   Throughout my 20+ years installing PV, the majority of our service
calls in any year is on owner installed systems. New England in
particular seems to be particularly prone to resident DIY's. With grid
tie, the ante is upped dealing with high voltage ground faults and just
high voltage DC in general.
   I expect these service calls only to grow.

Daryl




> <DIV style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt;">Since the new
> micro-inverters can be easily wired into the nearest 240 VAC circuit, odds
> are this will be the new do-it-yourself project for homeowners. 
> However, odds also favor new round of outlaw solar systems that are not
> inspected, do not have properly sized wires and breakers, and do not have
> exterior utility dis-connects (although many states are no longer
> enforcing this requirement).<BR><BR>So, it appears to me all the codes
> still apply regardless of where the inverter or inverters are located, so
> are any of you seeing an increase of these micro inverter systems
> installed by the homeowner?<BR><BR>Jeff Yago<BR>DTI
> Solar<BR><BR> <BR><HR>Netscape.  Just the Net You Need.</DIV>
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