[RE-wrenches] Grid Tied AC Disconnect Question

[Nathan Jones]

Aaron,
In our state the investor owned utilities determine this based on the tarrif they have filed with the Public Service Commission. If they file the requirement with PSC and it thereby becomes law the code becomes moot. We were just ruled against yesterday in this exact situation. Centralized mechanical room in a multi story historical building being rehabbed into apartments. Historical requirements would not allow the inverter outside. We asked the utility to allow location of the disconnect in the mechanical room with a tag on their service disconnect noting this. We were turned down and now have a 25 KW wire run of 190 feet one way out to the disconnect. In our case the code was superceded by state law.
We have been granted variances before with other utilities so there seems to be no hard fast rule. 
If there is anything definitive that results from this thread I will use it in future requests/negotiations with utilities.
Good luck,
Nathan Jones
Power Source Solar
417-827-0738