<div dir="ltr">Just a note: AIC has nothing to do with breaker trip amperage ratings or nuisance tripping, it has to do with the ability of the switchgear to interrupt very large fault currents for very short periods such as you would find close to a utility transformer with very low impedance in the event of service failure. AIC ratings go from 10,000 amps to millions.<div><br></div><div>Buck/boost and Step up/step down are the same thing.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Aug 16, 2016 at 1:59 PM, William Miller <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:william@millersolar.com" target="_blank">william@millersolar.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Chris:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">If you do provide transformers I think they are called step-up/step down. Buck/boost transformers I believe are to make adjustments to voltages.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">I have learned that you need to account for the current flow and direction. For one-way flow, the upstream transformer has a slightly different turns ratio than the downstream transformer to account for voltage drop. With two-way current flow, you might want to consult an engineer (application or electrical) to determine the best, most efficient transformer pair. You can incur a lot of losses with transformers so design is critical.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">One other complication can occur: In-rush currents can cause nuisance beaker tripping. You may need to buy a breaker with higher AIC rating to compensate for this.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Also, I bought a transformer from a reputable manufacturer that had mis-labeled terminals. The smell was hard to forget. I suggest you ohm-out any transformer to identify terminals on the same and different windings.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">In general, this kind of project can have some unforeseen complications. I am not that experienced, but the experience I do have has come at some cost. I hope to help you and fellow wrenches avoid some of that pain.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Sincerely,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">William Miller</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><img width="64" height="28" style="width:.6666in;min-height:.2916in" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D1F7AD.43721D50" alt="Gradient Cap_mini"><br>Lic 773985<br><a href="http://www.millersolar.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">millersolar.com</span></a><br><a href="tel:805-438-5600" value="+18054385600" target="_blank">805-438-5600</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> RE-wrenches [mailto:<a href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org" target="_blank">re-wrenches-bounces@<wbr>lists.re-wrenches.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Chris Mason<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, August 16, 2016 10:39 AM<br><b>To:</b> RE-wrenches <<a href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org" target="_blank">re-wrenches@lists.re-<wbr>wrenches.org</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [RE-wrenches] Buck-Boost transformer to mitigate high voltage drop?</span></p><div><div class="h5"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><p class="MsoNormal">How much of the power produced will be self-consumed, how much will be exported?</p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><p class="MsoNormal">On Tue, Aug 16, 2016 at 12:16 PM, Howard Arey <<a href="mailto:scot.arey@solarcentex.com" target="_blank">scot.arey@solarcentex.com</a>> wrote:</p><blockquote style="border:none;border-left:solid #cccccc 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in"><div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Good day,</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">I have a potential client that has an existing 1,000 foot run from the meter and transformer at the street to the home. This is 4/0 Al and quick calcs show the voltage drop at over 12%. He acknowledges that the wire is undersized to keep voltage at/about 240 volts (I have not measured directly at the street / transformer yet).</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">I know the wire has the necessary ampacity to carry his current service needs and to carry amps from the to-be-suggested solar system.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">My concern is that the voltage drop will change the 240 volts at the street/transformer/meter to 211ish (or will I see a higher 268’sh voltage at the far house end?) at the house. The inverter will try to synch to this voltage but of course this is outside of typical inverter parameters.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">So, instead of re-running much large wire, does anybody have experience and comments about potentially using a buck-boots transformer at the home to get us back to 240 volts? This would need to be service entrance sized.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Howard “Scot” Arey</b></p><p class="MsoNormal">Owner, Solar CenTex</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="tel:254-300-1228" target="_blank">254-300-1228</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:scot.arey@solarcentex.com" target="_blank">scot.arey@solarcentex.com</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><br>______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>List sponsored by Redwood Alliance<br><br>List Address: <a href="mailto:RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org" target="_blank">RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.<wbr>org</a><br><br>Change listserver email address & settings:<br><a href="http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org" target="_blank">http://lists.re-wrenches.org/<wbr>options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-<wbr>wrenches.org</a><br><br>List-Archive: <a href="http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html" target="_blank">http://www.mail-archive.com/<wbr>re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.<wbr>org/maillist.html</a><br><br>List rules & etiquette:<br><a href="http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm" target="_blank">www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.<wbr>htm</a><br><br>Check out or update participant bios:<br><a href="http://www.members.re-wrenches.org" target="_blank">www.members.re-wrenches.org</a><br><br></p></blockquote></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br><br clear="all"></p><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><p class="MsoNormal">-- </p><div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Chris Mason</p><div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#888888">NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™</span><span style="color:#888888"></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#222222">Solar Design Engineer</span><span style="color:#888888"></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#888888">Generac Generators Industrial technician</span><span style="color:#888888"></span></p></div></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#888888"> </span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.cometenergysystems.com" target="_blank">www.cometsolar.com</a></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="tel:264.235.5670" value="+12642355670" target="_blank">264.235.5670</a></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="tel:869.662.5670" value="+18696625670" target="_blank">869.662.5670</a></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Skype: netconcepts</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr">Chris Mason<div><div style="color:rgb(136,136,136)"><span style="font-size:13px">NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™</span></div><div style="color:rgb(136,136,136)"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">Solar Design Engineer</span></div><div style="color:rgb(136,136,136)"><span style="font-size:13px">Generac Generators Industrial technician</span></div></div><div style="color:rgb(136,136,136)"><span style="font-size:13px"><br></span></div><div><a href="http://www.cometenergysystems.com" target="_blank">www.cometsolar.com</a></div><div>264.235.5670</div><div>869.662.5670</div><div>Skype: netconcepts</div></div></div>
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