[RE-wrenches] FSEC Approval Required for Permit?

David Brearley david.brearley at solarprofessional.com
Thu Jun 3 08:24:13 PDT 2010


Jason,

I'm only familiar with this because a distributor I worked for went through
the process of having their PV kits approved by FSEC. This was 6 years ago,
so the requirement has been around for a while. This prerequisite never
really made sense to me, for precisely the reason you point out.

Changes in both market conditions and product lines means that the designs
we use are constantly changing, plus roofs vary. I was never big on the kit
concept for this very reason. But I suppose kits make a lot of sense if some
central authority has to pre-approve an entire bill of materials.

Microinverters are great for kits. If you're going to send per microinverter
applications to FSEC, don't forget to send applications for every module you
work with. In fact, send applications for every Enphase-compatible module.
That'll keep them busy. Since the manufacturers revise their specs every
year, you can send the whole package back to FSEC in another 12 months.

(FSEC recently had a 2-year backlog to certify solar thermal collectors, so
it could be worse.)

The recommendation to engage SolarTech is a good one. Their goal is to
remove unnecessary market barriers. You might also want to join you're state
SEIA chapter and work to develop and implement more scalable quality control
measures for the PV industry, jurisdictions and inspectors in Florida. I
understand that there is a centralized body of knowledge at FSEC, but
arguably a decentralized review process will better serve everyone in the
long run.

Best, 

David Brearley, Senior Technical Editor
SolarPro magazine 
NABCEP Certified PV Installer 



On 6/3/10 8:57 AM, "Jason Szumlanski" <Jason at fafcosolar.com> wrote:

> Hi Wrenches,
> 
> Has anyone dealt with a jurisdiction that requires FSEC or similar
> system approval as a prerequisite for obtaining a PV permit? Although we
> have installed many systems in a particular jurisdiction in our area,
> they just rejected a permit application because we do not have an FSEC
> system certification on this system (24 Enphase microinverters). We are
> having a hard time getting them to explain from where the requirement
> came. It seems like a nonsense roadblock to me. I can't imagine what
> purpose an FSEC certification would serve in the case of microinverters.
> As long as you are using a module on Enphase's compatibility list and
> the module itself has FSEC certification, can you think of any logical
> reason to jump through this hoop?
> 
> On that note, I contacted FSEC to see what it would require to certify
> Enphase microinverter systems. They are telling me that we would have to
> apply for one system, and then apply for "similar" systems if the number
> of inverters changes. That doesn't make any sense to me. Are we supposed
> to submit applications for 1, 2, 3...50...150 module systems? I doubt
> they have time to deal with the paperwork for hundreds of similar system
> applications. Imagine dropping 200 similar system applications in their
> inbox to cover all quantities of microinverters.
> 
> Jason Szumlanski
> Fafco Solar
> Cape Coral, FL
> 
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