[RE-wrenches] UL and Grid-tied Battery Back Up Systems

[R Ray Walters]

I take the generator concern one step further:
We had a "solar dealer" selling Y2K generator specials that included a Male to Male extension cord!
Just plug that bad boy into any outlet and fire the whole place (and the utility line) up.
I confiscated one of these cables, and show it to new inspectors and utility engineers.
You should see the pale, sick look on their faces when they realize the full danger of the things.
Then I tell them that most of us solar guys are the good guys, taking out dangerous crap like that, and that our solar equipment would never endanger their line men.
Personally, I couldn't sleep at night if there was even a decent chance that one of my systems might hurt someone.

R. Walters
ray at solarray.com
Solar Engineer




On Oct 6, 2010, at 8:56 AM, Dan Fink wrote:

> Nice rant, Matt!
> 
> When I'm training fire departments in PV safety, I always use a comment I stole from Michael Coddington of NREL And Michael Sheehan of IREC from the Solar ABCs / NREL web lecture on utility external disconnect switches -- Rather than PV or battery backup systems, what firefighters and utility workers should *really* be concerned about is the homeowner who went to Home Depot or Lowes on Dec 31, 1999, purchased a generator and automatic transfer switch, and wired it all up wrong. It's estimated that up to 100,000 of these were installed.
> 
> DAN FINK
> Buckville Energy Consulting
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