Zeke, I agree - especially if we revisit the original intent behind RSD: keep firefighters safe from contacting live electric parts. Firefighters have no reason to directly touch a burning ground mounted solar array, nor even approach it. I think I have voiced already my contempt for RSD in general. I can hear the logic "For firefighter safety, we cannot have 600V+ on a rooftop." That is a fair position to take. Unfortunately reality reveals that the RSD units being manufactured are *not* built to safety standards that the world needs. RSD devices are dangerous now, they are buggy, have a high rate of failure, and they are causing far more problems than they solve. In my opinion the RSD requirement should be suspended until manufacturers are held to higher quality and reliability standards.
On Wed, Nov 19, 2025 at 4:10 PM Zeke Yewdall via RE-wrenches < [email protected]> wrote: > With regards to ground mount conductors entering a building to the > inverter and batteries inside. It doesn't make any sense to require RSD, > because RSD is about array safety and we've agreed that for a ground mount > the RSD requirement does not apply. A disconnect switch has always been an > acceptable means of shutting down conductors -- whether from a PV array, > the grid, a generator, or other power source. So why would a disconnect > not suffice in this case, rather than putting RSD on the array. Not > saying that's what the code says... but logically, the intent of RSD for > conductor safety could be met with a disconnect switch where they enter the > building, it seems. > > > > -- > Zeke Yewdall > PV Engineer > NABCEP #031508-89 > [email protected] > 303-523-3592 > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > List Address: [email protected] > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the > other: > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org > >
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