[RE-wrenches] EnPhase male whips

Fri Jan 21 20:53:40 PST 2011

Hi Kent:
    My Enphase tech support guy didn't mention that restriction when we 
discussed it.  Of course, the fact that the male could never be hot while 
unplugged ensures that the application is safe.  I do understand why they don't 
provide the male; so that it is never used as the homerun cable back to the 
utility power.  Mahalo

 Nick Soleil
Project Manager
Advanced Alternative Energy Solutions, LLC
PO Box 657
Petaluma, CA 94953
Cell:   707-321-2937
Office: 707-789-9537
Fax:    707-769-9037

________________________________
From: Kent Osterberg <kent at coveoregon.com>
To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Fri, January 21, 2011 1:36:57 PM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] EnPhase male whips

Thanks, Nick.  So you are continuing a daisy chain of inverters across a 
required clear space or obstruction that necessitates a change of wiring 
method.  As you said, you end up needing both the male and female whips.  So 
cutting an extension yields both pieces that are needed.  And there are other 
options too.

It does still make sense that Enphase doesn't endorse cutting the extension for 
that purpose.  

Kent Osterberg
Blue Mountain Solar, Inc.

Nick Soleil wrote: 
Sorry Kent:
>    I am just not that motivated by this conversation to create drawings.  I 
>will try to explain one of the times when I choose to use the male cable.  The 
>site had 28 modules on one roof, but due to fire access walkways, and limited 
>space, we had to place on module on a different roof.  The main array was on a 
>roof with skylights that broke up the rows of modules, so our Enphase strings 
>travelled along the peak of the roof, then down to a lower row, then back up to 
>the row by the peak (with a gap in the top row.)  The end of that 8 module 
>sub-circuit was located across the hip, and 15' from a single module that did 
>not fit on the main roof.   So at the end of the 8 modules we wanted a male 
>cable, so that we could tie the end of the string into a j-box, transition to 
>3/4" conduit and then run to the other roof, where we could use a female whip to 
>pick up the single module.  We did not want to have to run 40' of conduit and 
>wire for the one module, which would have had to jog down to the middle row and 
>back up to stay under the modules, and would have had to cross rails.  The other 
>option would have been to use an extension cable (assuming that the 15' cable 
>was long enough), but that would have required a 1-1/4" emt chase between the 
>roofs to fit the extension cable end.  With bends in the conduit, we question if 
>we would even need a 1-1/2" chase.  We decided to cut the extension ends, and 
>transition to conduit in between.
>    Essentially, this was just an extension cable, with 3/4" conduit and 2 
>j-boxes in the middle of it.  I guess you could argue that we never need just a 
>male cable, because we will always need a female on the other end.  That is why 
>I am not really complaining about the lack of male cable options, because the 
>Enphase extension cable is a good solution.   
>
>
> 
Nick Soleil
>Project Manager
>Advanced Alternative Energy Solutions, LLC
>PO Box 657
>Petaluma, CA 94953
>Cell: 707-321-2937
>Office: 707-789-9537
>Fax: 707-769-9037 
>
>
>
>
>
________________________________
From: Kent Osterberg <kent at coveoregon.com>
>To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
>Sent: Fri, January 21, 2011 11:20:18 AM
>Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] EnPhase male whips
>
>Nick,
>
>Could you post a diagram showing when a male whip is useful?  I'm having a 
>really hard time envisioning a need for one.
>
>Kent Osterberg
>Blue Mountain Solar, Inc.
>
>
>Nick Soleil wrote: 
>William:
>>    Your diagram is one way to do it, in fact, I always divide my circuits into 
>>2 sub-circuits, to minimize voltage drop on the Enphase wiring, and then 
>>parallel the sub-circuits at the j-box.  However, there is a value to having a 
>>male cable.   They can simplify some installations, such as the situation that 
>>Eric described.  As mentioned before, the extension cable can be cut, and the 
>>other end is used as a standard whip.
>>Nick Soleil
>>Project Manager
>>Advanced Alternative Energy Solutions, LLC
>>PO Box 657
>>Petaluma, CA 94953
>>Cell: 707-321-2937
>>Office: 707-789-9537
>>Fax: 707-769-9037 
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
________________________________
From: William Miller <william at millersolar.com>
>>To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
>>Sent: Thu, January 20, 2011 6:22:33 PM
>>Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] EnPhase male whips
>>
>>Eric:
>>
>>You connect the factory provided termination kit to the Enphase array on each 
>>roof.  All of the Enphase inverters on one array do not need to be in a daisy 
>>configuration.
>>
>>I have attached a drawing hat should illustrate
>>
>>
>>William Miller
>>805-440-5161 Cell
>>
>>
>>
>>At 11:06 AM 1/20/2011, you wrote:
>>
>> 
>>I know its a funny title but....why doesn't EnPhase make whips with male 
>>connectors? We are having trouble laying out a system with multiple sub arrays. 
>>We need to cable to sub arrays that are on different roof planes in order to 
>>make up our circuits. From 5 micros on roof one, into attic, out of SolaDeck on 
>>roof two, grab 3 more micros, back into SolaDeck, into attic for home run. The 
>>whip from the SolDeck to the last 3 micros needs to be male... any suggestions? 
>>EnPhase does not want us to cut an extension that has connectors on both ends...
>>>
>>>Thanks, 
>>>Eric Thomas 
>>>Solar Epiphany
>>>Seattle
>>>
>>>
>Please note new e-mail address and domain:
>
>William Miller 
>Miller Solar
>Voice :805-438-5600
>email: william at millersolar.com
>http://millersolar.com
>License No. C-10-773985
> 

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