[RE-wrenches] electrical permit requirements

[Keith Cronin]

William

Good points. One thing I'd like to mention out here in the 50th state- on the residential side, they don't do any calcs. They count on the installer. The electrical inspectors aren't privy either or aren't very interested. Even on some of the commercial projects, small commercial, they are taking the word of the PE that stamps the drawings. Just like electricians, some PE's are diving in to this and asking PV guys how to do the calcs, as they are more trained in the commercial strip mall, high rise, hospitality genre and not boned up on string sizing.

Hopefully fires don't result, and breakers or fuses alleviate the worst case scenario.

I mentioned in a recent marketing post that enphase is simple, easy to sell and easier to install. It is more forgiving on the design and IMHO, most homeowners won't measure the difference of a percent or 2 off of production. They should be more concerned with the proper tire inflation recommendations by the tire manu- and get more "mileage" out of their commute.

Prediction: micro inverters will get cheaper and cheaper over the next 3-5 years. More choices and become a super-commodity. Sure it can be a PIA to replace one or a bunch of them if they fail, but people will put up with the inconvenience in year 10, or whenever they quit producing. Sure it is an electricians challenge to replace them, but I look at it as an opportunity to help those in need.
It is akin to all of the equipment folks on this list have installed for 10 years or so- we are starting to see things fail. SW4048 I had that I gave to a friend finally quit (very salty out here); they decided to upgrade. Same for the numerous Xantrex in 02 that I installed that also went haywire and had numerous replacements.
Not too sure, but I think when you've been at this a while, you (we) come to expect better life spans of products. It is hard to stay on the bleeding edge and fulfill the needs of our customers (as they see new products and want them and have us install them), with not stepping into the future and risking their hard earned dollars.

I'm sure alot of us 10 years ago didn't get requests from planning departments- they were asking us how to do the designs and needed our help. At least that is how it was out here back then. A partnership of sorts. Now, they are overwhelmed with permit applications and the workload seems to have them approving things that we seem deserves more attention....

Aloha

Keith



________________________________
From: William Miller <william at millersolar.com>
To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Tue, June 15, 2010 3:02:19 PM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] electrical permit requirements

Nick:

Rhetorical questions to follow:

If you do not provide string calculations, how do you verify that Voc
will not exceed NEC limits?  How do you verify DC feeder
ampacities?  Does your jurisdiction not verify such
parameters?   We know you have a handle on these factors, but
how about the Johnny-come-latelies trying to take your business? 
Should they not be kept to uniform standards meant to protect the safety
of the consumer (and ensure fair competition)?

Can you really expect a field inspector or the customer to verify these
parameters?  I believe all of these issues are best handled by
stringent plan check.

What is more important to you:  saving a few bucks in permit fees or
preventing house fires?

William Miller




At 05:01 PM 6/15/2010, you wrote:

Hi Jeff:
>>    My standard permit docs are comprehensive, but do not
>include documentation regarding string sizing, thank goodness.  A
>permit technician/ plan reviewer should not be overseeing string
>sizing.  You should be thankful that the permit fees are so low,
>because that is the best thing a jurisdiction could do to support
>PV!  
>>    Any fly-by-night, incompetent installer can check
>string sizing on the inverter manu's web site.  I would suspect
>that, regardless of the plan review process, the less experienced
>installers will still be accountable to the inspector and their
>customer.
>> 
>>Nick Soleil
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