[RE-wrenches] No Mistake Conspiricy?

Thu Mar 27 17:05:10 PDT 2025

Wally, Todd:

I have been pondering this discussion since it first appeared.  My
conclusion is that you both have valid points to make:

·        There are forces at work to make it harder for people to generate
their own power and take revenue away from established corporations.  Large
utilities did not initiate net metering, they were forced to do so by
legislation and I am sure they would like to go back to being the only
energy producers in their service area.

·        Not every new hurdle we face is a product of these forces.  Some
are driven by legitimate safety concerns.

If we lump these two points together and don’t offer reasoned,
evidence-supported claims to our arguments, we can look like conspiracy
theorists.

The solution, in my humble opinion, is to look carefully and
dispassionately at the problems we face, back our conclusions with facts,
and communicate our concerns clearly and effectively to the public, to our
customers and to legislators and decision makers.

If there is a legitimate safety concern, we need to ask ourselves: Are the
proposed solutions realistic?  If the solutions are draconian, unreasonably
difficult or ineffective, then we are not resolving the safety issue.  This
does not always mean dark forces are conspiring against us.  It may be that
we need to rethink a given solution.

The original discussion was about RSS.  My view has been changed by the
discussion.  I have limited experience with RSS systems that are not part
of an optimizer or micro-inverter system.  I have been fortunate that none
of my RSDs have burst into flames, but there is credible evidence this has
happened.  We have seen first-hand testimony that fire responders have not
been adequately trained to activate RSS, making it useless.

I disagree with the need to put RSS on ground mounted arrays.  They are
required if the feeder enters a building that has any use other than to
house solar power equipment.  If you provide an external disconnect,
requiring RSS seems totally unnecessary.

Furthermore, UL3741 has me really scratching my head.  The original RSS
requirements specified any voltage above 30 as being hazardous.  Then it
became 80 volts.  Now with UL3741, up to 160 volts is safe?  I am reading
an article <https://www.mayfield.energy/technical-articles/ul3741/> that
says 1,000 VDC may be allowed.

It seems we have a huge credibility problem here.  There is no consensus on
what voltages are unsafe and we have safety equipment not up to the task.
This credibility problem looks like a conspiracy but it be more accurate to
call it a competency issue.  The regulators have been quick to mandate
without a clear understanding of the safety thresholds and manufacturers
have been quick to fill a market gap with inadequate products.

It is a shame Ms. Hren did not respond to my questions about how this all
came about.  I don’t mean to put her on the spot but she offered her
credentials as a member of the code making panel.

Getting back to my main point, it is frustrating navigating the complicated
regulatory and technical landscape that PV contracting has become.  If we
want to advocate for ourselves, we need to communicate clearly and calmly
supported by facts.  Labeling the problems as a conspiracy won’t win any
arguments.

Sincerely,

William Miller

Miller Solar

17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422

805-438-5600

www.millersolar.com

CA Lic. 773985

*From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] *On
Behalf Of *Wallace Stahle via RE-wrenches
*Sent:* Wednesday, February 19, 2025 10:12 AM
*To:* RE-wrenches
*Cc:* Wallace Stahle
*Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] No Mistake Conspiricy?

So Todd,

What part of the idea or premise that an industry which produces,
distributes and sells electric energy to end users at great profit, in
PG&E's case at least, desires to exclude self generators from their grid
and plans, lobbies and in fact conspires with other industry stakeholders
to tilt the ground rules in their favor by way of the CA PUC is ”IDIOTIC”?

To think an investor owned utility selling energy to end users is not
working to limit those same end users from benefiting from self generation
is naive at least. Or even idiotic maybe.

Can you further define what part of this idea is idiotic vs rational on the
utilities part to limit self generation?

I understand this topic is not specific to wrenching and may not belong on
this list but given that getting interconnection agreements seems to be
critical to the list it may be a topic worth considering.

Respectfully

Wallace Stahle

Future Electric Energy Co

PO Box 236

Willits, CA 95490

707-459-0474

Lic.#C10-762093

future at pacific.net

On Feb 18, 2025, at 9:38 AM, Todd Cory via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

*Can we please keep these idiotic conspiracy theories off this list.*

*Thank you...*

On Tuesday, February 18, 2025 7:13am, "Drake Chamberlin via RE-wrenches" <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> said:

Hi David,

RSS is no mistake. The War on Solar is real. Due to a recent computer
crash, I am having problems finding my links documenting the intentional
attack on PV from the Koch Brothers and the utility industry in general. I
will check on another computer that may still have the information. It is
at a different location.

I went on the Wrench list with my concerns when this was first proposed,
until I was told to stop. Individual homeowner solar is viewed as a big
problem for utility profits. There are other ways to safeguard
firefighters.

-- 

Cheers,

Drake

*Drake Chamberlin*

*Athens Electric LLC*

*Ohio Electrical Contractor’s License 44810*

*NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional*

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