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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>I agree with Augusts’ point. We use Delta LA’s
because some manufacturers (OutBack and Trace) recommended using them years ago.
So, sort of the same reasoning Jay was saying about insurance. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Unscientific evidence from 22 years of experience with off grid
systems in a fairly high lightning prone area suggests the following. Systems installed
poorly (little care given to good grounding), by do-it-yourselfers mainly, have
had a much higher incidence (with or w/out Delta’s in the system) of inverter
and charge controller failure than systems where myself, and or my crew,
installed the system with good grounding techniques. We have had a very low
rate of lightning damage with our own installs over the years. Both with the
grid-tied, or off-grid, equipment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>What Ray Walters said was the truth. Resistance to ground should
be very low. How many dollars is that tester you use Ray? We don’t own
one. On the wish list. We get the ground Rods in wet earth, bond to our Sched
40/80 steel pipe masts that are encased in concrete when using TPM’s. Bond
to drilled well casings (in addition to typical grounding) when practical. When
in doubt, get more copper in the earth. I learned from a lightning pro who is
tasked with protecting police/firefighter/public safety communication towers
here in hilly Vermont. Towers up high, on sites with shallow soils. Challenging
situations for sure. They bring in graphite and pore that into deep holes they
drill into the bedrock and then fasten their ground rods in these holes. The
tower is surrounded with several of these ground points which are bonded together.
There are other devices that are used on the tower to get static charges to
ground that I won’t get into. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>This lightning protection guy was chuckling at my use of the
Delta cans and, with my permission, cut one open for inspection to educate me
on the lack of substance to the design. He did not think that they would be
very effective 99% of the time. But again we use them because there is not much
else out there that is much better, for less than big dollars. Robin Gudgel (MidNite)
has said that they will have a product, but I’m still waiting on my “Classic”
beta units also. Has anyone got an opinion on the OutBack surge suppressor?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Here is a company that says they have a product in UL now. Matt
has been in touch with me over the past couple of years with questions on our
PV systems. So, maybe this will be something.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><<
Hi Dave,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>I
just wanted to keep in touch and let you know that our</span><b><i> </i></b><b><i><span
style='font-family:"Arial Black","sans-serif";color:red'>SPD</span></i></b><b><i><span
style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial Black","sans-serif";color:red'>EE</span></i>
</b><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial Black","sans-serif";
color:red'>DC</span><i> </i></b><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Electrical Surge Protector</span></i></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> is
currently being evaluated at this time for</span><b><u> </u></b><b><u><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:blue'>UL 1741 Certification</span></u></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>The
approximate finish date currently is late November 2010.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>The
demand for a</span><b> </b><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:blue'>UL 1741</span></b><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> Electrical Surge Protector</span></i></b> <span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>from the</span><b>
</b><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:red'>Solar PV</span></b> <span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>Industry prompted our company to move forward with this process.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Matt
Smith</span></b> <br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>APT Industrial
& Specialty Sales</span> <br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>(800) 237-4567</span>
<br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>(727) 535-6339
x 232</span> <br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Fax (727)
539-8955</span> <br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a
href="mailto:smithm@apttvss.com">smithm@apttvss.com</a></span> >><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>David Palumbo <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Independent Power LLC<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Offices in Lamoille and the Champlain Valley, Vermont<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>802.888.7194 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>www.independentpowerllc.com <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
color:blue'>NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™</span><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Vermont RE Incentive Program Partner<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>
re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>August
Goers<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, September 14, 2010 9:01 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> RE-wrenches<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [RE-wrenches] Delta LAs<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>Jay - <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>I can see that point, but does that really effect insurance
payout? It seems like one could argue that a properly installed system with
proper grounding inspected by a building official has a lot more clout than and
little grey cylinder next to the inverter or disconnect.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>Please all wrenches, correct me if I'm wrong but I can't
remember a single time when there was a post about an actual lightning strike
and a lightning arrestor actually doing its job - meaning that an arrestor took
a hit and protected the array and or inverter. I've heard plenty of
stories about blown lightning arrestors and good equipment but no one seems to
know what caused the situation. It might be that lightning is hard to track and
I agree with that. And lightni<span style='color:#1F497D'>n</span>g might have
been the cause. It would be great to track lightning-fried installations
to see what happened and what could be fixed. If lightning arrestors are the
solution then by all means we should install them. Most of the time I think
that proper grounding is the solution although I wish that field experience
would prove the point. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>What do you think?<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>-A<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 5:28 PM, jay peltz <<a
href="mailto:jay@asis.com" target="_blank">jay@asis.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I also live in a area without much lightning, however I
install one in most systems for the simple reason of insurance.<br>
If there is lightning damage, the insurance company can't use that as a way to
not pay any claims.<br>
ie cheap insurance.<br>
<br>
jay<br>
<br>
peltz power<o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>On Sep 14, 2010, at 8:39 AM,
August Goers wrote:<br>
<br>
> All -<br>
><br>
> I guess my thought is a little off topic, but are lightning arrestors even
worth using at all? My logic has always been that if lightning does indeed
strike that it's likely going to blow the arrestor and and inverter. We don't
have much of a lightning issue issue in the Bay Area so I don't have any direct
experience.<br>
><br>
> Best,<br>
><br>
> August<br>
><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></p>
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