Re: [RE-wrenches] "Keep that there PV off my grid!"

2011-02-15 Thread Jeff Clearwater
Hi Karl, Whether it's worth pursuing or not, I believe their stance is in violation of PURPA. I'm not an expert but I know others have won court cases over it. It is left up to the State to administer however I do believe. DSire.org shows no net metering support in Alabama. I imagine som

Re: [RE-wrenches] "Keep that there PV off my grid!"

2011-02-15 Thread Bill Brooks
Karl, What you are referring to is a "reverse power relay." These are common devices used for customer-generators. Basler is one company that makes them. Just google the topic and you will find several companies. The utility may have a preferred product so go with them if they have one. Th

Re: [RE-wrenches] "Keep that there PV off my grid!"

2011-02-15 Thread Karl Jaeger
Dana, This is an instant excess situation, not one electron. I am not sure if this violates federal regulations, but you make a valid point. I will have to look into it. Honestly, there is a very small probability that any PV will ever make it to the grid. The service is 1000 Amps and the buil

Re: [RE-wrenches] "Keep that there PV off my grid!"

2011-02-15 Thread Dana
Karl - Is this instant excess or excess during a specific billing period? Does this violate Federal regulations? Could you divert or bank the excess in process heat, water pumping, or some other function? Dana Orzel Great Solar Works, Inc E - d...@solarwork.com V - 970.626.5253 F - 9

[RE-wrenches] "Keep that there PV off my grid!"

2011-02-15 Thread Karl Jaeger
Greetings Esteemed Wrenches, My company was recently tasked to engineer a PV project in Alabama. We sat down for a meeting with all of the local big-shots. They proceeded to let us know that we are not allowed to feed any excess PV power onto their grid, production cannot exceed demand. I am ho

Re: [RE-wrenches] NEC Plus

2011-02-15 Thread August Goers
We subscribed to NECplus about a month ago. At the time they were giving a free hard copy of the code book along with the subscription which is a great deal. I would definitely recommend signing up if they are still offering that deal. It's always nice being able to flip through a real book but the

Re: [RE-wrenches] Can I handle the voltage drop?

2011-02-15 Thread Gary Handelin
Mark, Enphase actually has a pretty good explanation of voltage drop calculations in their downloads- it's under application notes and details the drop through their cable so you can determine what voltage each of the micro-inverters will see. From that you can calculate additional losses and see

Re: [RE-wrenches] NEC Plus

2011-02-15 Thread Rebekah Hren
I don't know about the NEC plus, but the PDF version of the '11 NEC ain't so great. It will only open when my computer is connected to the internet, plus I have to be on an unlocked/non-firewalled connection, and even then sometimes it won't open as it says I've already used that copy and I've h

[RE-wrenches] NEC Plus

2011-02-15 Thread Drake
Has anyone subscribed to the NEC Plus on line service? The NFPA won't be selling the NEC on the CD ROM this cycle. They do have a pdf version, but that doesn't seem as useful. How does the NEC Plus work for a searchable and printable NEC Handbook? Drake Chamberlin Athens Electric OH License

Re: [RE-wrenches] Can I handle the voltage drop?

2011-02-15 Thread Nick Soleil
Hi Mark: I wouldn't feel comfortable with that scenario, either. Many inverters do shut off at 254V-255V, but most of them can be adjusted if you have the software and laptop for the job. Enphase generally shuts off when the AC voltage reaches 258V-259V. Keep in mind that just the Enpha

Re: [RE-wrenches] Off-grid system monitoring

2011-02-15 Thread jay peltz
HI William, I second the 2025. It has much better history than the 2020 but much more usable than the Pentametric. jay peltz power On Feb 15, 2011, at 8:35 AM, Maverick Brown [Maverick Solar] wrote: > A good replacement is the Bogart TM-2025-A. It is a refreshed version of the > TM-2020. I

Re: [RE-wrenches] Off-grid system monitoring

2011-02-15 Thread Maverick Brown [Maverick Solar]
A good replacement is the Bogart TM-2025-A. It is a refreshed version of the TM-2020. It can handle 12-48V and can display Watts. You can also use the Bogart PentaMetric. It will cost more, since you will need a "sending" unit, a display and it can even add a serial interface to talk to a PC. Spe

Re: [RE-wrenches] Off-grid system monitoring

2011-02-15 Thread Dan Fink
William; Bogart engineering, hands down. Trimetric for most customers, and Pentametric for high-information customers, if you need to measure multiple shunts, or if you want to log and monitor on a computer or via internet. Great customer service, owner and engineer Ralph will get you going i

Re: [RE-wrenches] Off-grid system monitoring

2011-02-15 Thread Warren Lauzon
Bogart Engineering, the TriMetric 2020 From: William Miller Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011 6:22 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: [RE-wrenches] Off-grid system monitoring Wrenches: An off grid client has a system monitor that has not been very a satisfactory. I belive it is a Trace Meter 500. I

Re: [RE-wrenches] Can I handle the voltage drop?

2011-02-15 Thread dave
Mark, As you know it depends on two things. What the grid voltage is and at what voltage the Enphase inverters stop pushing current (check with enphase, it could actually shut down at lower than 264vac). The grid voltage is the unknown here. If it is 245vac adding a 4% line loss results in 254.8