[RE-wrenches] 208V residential service

[August Goers]

Hi Dave -

Yes, we see 120/208 volt services from time to time for homes typically
near commercial or multifamily zones. They have caught us off guard more
times than I care to admit. It's really hard for ESS systems since there
are almost no products that run at 120/208v.  But, anyway, the dead
giveaway is that the utility meter type is different. We've been selecting
the newer Enphase IQ8HC micros that are compatible with 120/208v. We've
never had luck getting the utility to switch the client over to 240 v
although we have tried.

At least in our neck of the woods in CA, Form 2S CL200 meters are used for
120/240v services (Also, Form 2S meters are used for 120/240v 320 A
services)

[image: image.png]

And Form 12S CL200 is for 208/120v services:


[image: image.png]

Good luck with your fix.

Best, August


On Thu, Oct 17, 2024 at 5:58 AM Mac Lewis via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> Hi Dave,
>
> Yes, we have run into this. In our area, it tends to be on homes near
> commercial zones. Our utility will not change anything for us so we have
> learned to be on the lookout for this scenario.
>
> It's possible that the utility can tap to a higher voltage for you.  You
> may be able to use a transformer to get to 240 Vac but that will come with
> quite a bit of loss. I'd recommend swapping to a 208 compatible system if
> the utility can't help.
>
> Good luck !
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 17, 2024, 6:26 AM Dave Tedeyan via RE-wrenches <
> re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I was just out of town installing a system for a friend just North of
>> NYC. I was confused when checking phase for consumption CT's when I found
>> that there was 120V L-N, but 206V L-L. I went and found the transformer,
>> and there was in fact one transformer for all the houses that I could see.
>> It had 4 wires coming out of it, and each house was tapped onto 3 of them.
>> So they actually are just using two legs of a 3 phase 208/120V distribution
>> system.
>>
>> Has anyone seen this sort of thing before? I was amazed that a bunch of
>> houses there all have 208V L-L, and it seems to not be causing problems.
>> Granted my friend says his A/C is really weak and that they have had some
>> funky problems with their electric oven. But they also just moved in last
>> year, don't have many 240V (or 208V) appliances, and are not very
>> electrical savvy, so they were clueless about this.
>>
>> Unfortunately this means that all the Enphase IQ8A's I just put on their
>> roof are useless, unless I go back to put in a transformer or get the
>> utility to do something about it. I am going to call the utility (Con Ed),
>> but I was just curious if anyone has had a similar experience and whether
>> their utility was open to changing it to 240V.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Dave
>>
>> --
>>
>> [image: Logo] <https://www.sungineersolar.com/>
>> Dave Tedeyan, P.E.
>> Owner | Sungineer Solar
>> p: he | him | his
>> a: 1653 Slaterville Rd.
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/1653+Slaterville+Rd.+%C2%A0+%7C%C2%A0Ithaca,+NY+14850?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>
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>> NY 14850
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/1653+Slaterville+Rd.+%C2%A0+%7C%C2%A0Ithaca,+NY+14850?entry=gmail&source=g>
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>> c: (607) 270-0370
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