[RE-wrenches] What is a solar installer...?

SOLARPRO at aol.com SOLARPRO at aol.com
Fri Oct 15 08:12:34 PDT 2010


Hello:  
The reason California instituted the (C46) solar classification 25 years  
ago is simple: to resolve these issues.  At a point in the past, before the  
C46, in order to operate as a 'solar contractor', one needed a license in  
the following specialties:
Plumbing
Electrical
Sheet Metal or
Heating and Air
Swimming Pool
Roofing.
This being a forum dedicated to discussing technical issues, I feel  
compelled to restrain my political self.
A great percentage (>90%) of the problems we are asked  to resolve for 
stranded adopters have been caused by properly licensed  electricians, roofers 
and general contractors. This not to say that these  licensed professions are 
not qualified, but instead that solar is unique... a  separate license is 
for this trade should be instituted in every jurisdiction. 
 
Patrick A. Redgate
State license 483280 (C46)
Ameco Solar, Inc.
 
 
 
In a message dated 10/15/2010 6:22:07 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
peter.parrish at calsolareng.com writes:

Hello  Benn,

I have some pretty strong opinions about this subject but some of  them are
reflections on politics as opposed to sound engineering design and  best
installation practices.

See my comments interspersed  below:

Peter T. Parrish, Ph.D., President
California Solar  Engineering, Inc.
820 Cynthia Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90065
CA Lic.  854779, NABCEP Cert. 031806-26
peter.parrish at calsolareng.com  
Ph  323-258-8883, Mobile 323-839-6108, Fax  323-258-8885


________________________________________
From:  re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org]  On Behalf Of benn 
kilburn
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2010 1:12 PM
To:  Wrenches
Subject: [RE-wrenches] What is a solar  installer...?

Wrenches,
a colleague of mine is looking for feedback  to the following email he
received regarding PV installers and electrical  work.  I have responded to
him, however, I am quite interested to hear  this list's response....


LETTER--
'Colleague'  - next week  Alberta’s “major municipalities” electrical chief
inspectors  are getting together to talk about issues. One item I have  
asked
to put on the agenda is qualifications of solar installers. I  hope to see a
start on forming some type of agreement on is who  is qualified to do what
work on a solar installation and what is  considered electrical work that
only electricians can perform.  

>>> In California, we have two specialty contractor licenses  Solar (C-46)
and Electrical (C-10) and well as the General license (B) --  which are
qualified to install PV systems. I myself am a C-46 but I will  probably 
step
up to taking the C-10 for political reasons.

There  seems to be courses popping up all over to teach everyman to be  a
solar installer, but what work is clearly reserved  for electricians to do?
The Safety Codes Act speaks to Electrical  Systems, CE (Canadian Electrical)
Code defines electrical installation  and electrical equipment.

>>> Most (but not all) of the  authorities having jurisdiction over PV
installations (here in California  these are City or County Building and
Safety Departments) see PV as just an  electrical system and check plans and
do inspections accordingly. However,  the design and installation of the
racking system is an essential part of  the overall picture. PV systems need
to be attached to properly transfer  the dead and live loads from the PV
array to the major structural elements  of the roof (e.g. rafters) and done
in such a way to preserve  impermeability of water (and snow). In many parts
of CA we get 90 mph  winds, which can transfer substantial loads to the
racking system. Finally,  Fire Departments have begun to analyze PV array
layouts from the  perspective of access to, and movement on, a roof during a
fire. Most of  the racking systems are pre-engineered, and if you follow the
design  guidelines, you should be okay. What I am trying to say is that
proper  mechanical/structural design is important (maybe a 1/3 of the design
and  1/2 the installation) but the manufacturers to a good job of  providing
guidelines for the installers.

>>> Electrical  design is more involved and there are more opportunities to
commit design  errors: PV string sizing, voltage drop and ampacity
calculations, over  current protection, component selection, and grounding.
But here's the  catch: almost all of this material is PV-specific, and very
few  electricians have been educated or trained in this area. They pick it 
up
as  they go along (poor choice) or take a course specifically in the area of
PV  design and installation (better choice).

>>>Let me make a WAG.  If one were to randomly pick a C-10 electrician out 
of
the statewide pool  and do the same for a C-46; the C-46 would be better
prepared to design and  install a PV system than the C-10. The overwhelming
majority of residential  installs in CA are done by solar contractors, I am
less sure about small  commercial (say up to 15 kW to 50 kW).

What I hope we  accomplish is a stance we can take to the EIAA (Electrical
Inspectors  Association of Alberta) conference then to Apprenticeship and
Industry  Training who ultimately enforces who does work in the  trade.

>>> IMHO, the first thing you should look at is a Solar  Contract license --
if you don’t already have one. The second thing is to  make available PV
classes for electrical (or other) contractors. There are  scores of
consultants/instructors in the US that are prepared to provide  this service
on an ad hoc basis. However, an on-going program at a local  college 
offering
courses on PV as well as other renewable energy  disciplines (e.g. wind)
would be the best long term  solution.

To me the PV module racking can be done by anyone,  but almost all of the
rest of the installation – from wire pulling  to interconnecting modules,
mounting of the inverters etc falls  clearly into the scope of practice for
electricians.

>>>  You are wrong about that. And the way I know you are wrong is this. We
get  about one call a month from a PV system owner who wants us to take a
look  at their system and fix it. About 1/2 of these calls involve bad
inverters  (a relatively straightforward test and swap out procedure) but
almost all  of the other half involves bad rooftop installations: poor DC
wiring  management, poor grounding of PV modules and racking, poor flashing,
poor  mechanical design and attachment. Leaky roofs represent maybe a 1/4 of
the  total service calls. We rarely find bad wiring down on the  ground.

>>> In my "Hall of Shame" there is a system that were  asked to look at by a
large PV integration company that had sub contracted  out work to a local
electrician. Here is what we found:

(1) The  attachment to the roof was done with L-brackets without flashing  
or
caulking (roof was perhaps 3:12).

(2) The racking system was  comprised entirely of strut and galvanized
fasteners.

(3) The module  "clamps" were comprised of galvanized machine bolts with
fender washers.  The bolts were torqued sufficiently to deform the fender
washers. I  wondered to the extent that the "point stresses" were 
transferred
to the PV  modules and how long the PV modules would last.

(4) The DC wiring lay  on the roof in many places. Modules were grounded but
the strut  wasn't.

(5) The conduit, wiring, component selection and grounding on  the ground
were fine.

So you can see that ALL of the problems with  this particular install had to
do with the PV-specific nature of the design  and installation, and none had
to do with general electrical  work.

One of the bigger players in the industry is saying “its now  getting to be
all plug and play” and anyone can be an  installer.

>>> Big players in what industry? There is a trend  to more integrated
design, but "plug-and-play"? Not yet.  

Hoping an agreement like this can make it a level  playing field and
consistent across the Province.

What  are your thoughts?

>>> you've got them.


BACK  TO ME
my thoughts are similar to the ones above, that the racking alone can  be
installed by any 'properly trained' person.  However pretty much  every 
other
aspect of a PV install directly falls under the scope of an  electrician and
needs to be preformed by a journeyman or apprentice under  the supervision 
of
a journeyman electrician.

>>> And how do  you propose to insure that Joe Blow is "properly trained"?

>>>  How do you insure an electrician has the PV-specific knowledge  and
training?


the following paragraph is from recent past EIAA  technical conference
minutes.
"Alberta Municipal Affairs (AMA) was  asked (earlier in 2009 by a
Municipality) for an opinion on the Permit  Regulation regarding Homeowner
Permits. The Permit Regulation states a  homeowner may be issued a permit
where the electrical system serves that  dwelling. A photovoltaic system 
that
is tied to the grid (utility  interactive) serves other than that dwelling.
The response back from AMA  confirmed utility interactive PV systems do 
serve
other than the dwelling  and as such permit issuers should not be issuing
homeowner permits for  utility interactive PV systems."

>>> I am not sure if the  question is about the requirement for a Contractor
vs Homeowner to pull the  permit., or not. I don’t think owner/builders
should be allowed to install  PV.

My thinking is that this would include the addition of 'plug and  play'
modules/inverters to an existing system as well  ...any comments  on this
one?

>>> I wouldn't get too involved with the  ramifications of "plug-and-play"
until it becomes a  reality.

cheers,
benn

DayStar Renewable Energy  Inc. 
benn at daystarsolar.ca
780-906-7807 
HAVE A SUNNY  DAY


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