[RE-wrenches] Rapid shutdown for pole mounts

Brian Mehalic brian at solarenergy.org
Sat Apr 19 10:40:06 PDT 2014


The definition for "PV system" moved to Article 100 in 2014. I think it's pretty clear that the PV system includes the inverter, if present, and the inverter output circuits. 

Brian

> On Apr 19, 2014, at 1:22 PM, Dan Fink <danbob88 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Aaron, boB, Wrenches;
> 
> I think Aaron brings up a good point, and it's certainly confusing to me.
> 
> The boldface type heading of 690.12 is "Rapid Shutdown of PV Systems on Buildings"
> 
> The body of the 690.12 text begins with "PV system *circuits* installed on or in buildings shall....."
> 
> 690.2 defines "Photovoltaic source circuit" as "Circuits between modules and from modules to the common connection point(s) of the DC system" 
> 
> and "Photovoltaic output circuit" as "Circuit conductors between the PV source circuit(s) and the inverter or DC utilization equipment."
> 
> "PV system" from the heading of 690.12 is not defined in 690.2, other than that the definition of "Photovoltaic system voltage"  specifically includes both PV output and source circuits.
> 
> To me the confusing part of 690.12 is "PV Systems on Buildings" is that "system" is not defined, and tends to imply rooftop arrays. But "PV system circuits installed on or in buildings shall....." is pretty clear. I interpret it to mean anything DC and PV stuck to the side of building like conduit, etc, or running inside....which means it applies to ground-mount arrays too if they terminate outside or inside the building.
> 
> What I'm seeing as the easy work-around for us off-grid folk is the old "power shed" idea containing battery bank, balance of system, inverter etc....just build it within 10 feet of the PV array and you're fine.
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> 
> Dan Fink,
> Executive Director;
> Otherpower
> Buckville Energy Consulting
> Buckville Publications LLC
> NABCEP / IREC accredited Continuing Education Providers
> 970.672.4342
> 
>  
> 
> 
>> On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 3:30 PM, boB at midnitesolar.com <boB at midnitesolar.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Bill Brooks should probably respond to this also, but reading the NEC, it looks like if the wires
>> do not go inside the building to run more than 5 feet (as the crow flies), the the rapid disconnect
>> does not apply.    OR, less than 10 feet from the array IF the PV is mounted on that building.
>> 
>> boB
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On 4/18/2014 1:34 PM, Aaron Mandelkorn wrote:
>>> The rapid shutdown language is so confusing. When looking at the rapid shutdown language, does PV systems "on" a building refer to only situations where the array is on a building; or does it include DC conductors as well. For example, if the DC conductors from a pole mounted array run up the side of a building before punching in to the inverter, does this require rapid shutdown?  Is this PV system considered "on" a building?
>>> 
>>> Aaron
>>> 
>>> Aaron Mandelkorn
>>> Owner/Solar Specialist
>>> Renewable Energy Outfitters
>>> 719-221-5249
>>> 970-596-3744
>>> www.reosolar.com
>>> reosolar at gmail.com
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> List sponsored by Home Power magazine
>> 
>> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>> 
>> Change email address & settings:
>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>> 
>> List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>> 
>> List rules & etiquette:
>> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>> 
>> Check out participant bios:
>> www.members.re-wrenches.org
> 
> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Home Power magazine
> 
> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
> 
> Change email address & settings:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
> 
> List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
> 
> List rules & etiquette:
> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
> 
> Check out participant bios:
> www.members.re-wrenches.org
> 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20140419/4908af79/attachment-0003.html>


More information about the RE-wrenches mailing list