Re: [RE-wrenches] Snow loads

2013-02-21 Thread JRQ
Gary, The snow loads that structural engineers design to are a worst-case scenario. It is true that snow tends to slough off of PV arrays quicker than your normal roof. However, if there is a major snow event, especially if it starts at night (this recent blizzard on the East Coast would be a

Re: [RE-wrenches] GTWB outage monitor question

2012-08-12 Thread JRQ
Allen, If it's a backup system, the batteries aren't going to draw a significant amount of current until the grid goes down. If you can find a DC relay that triggers after, say, 2A or 3A, install it on the battery conductors. The relay should come on, then, when the grid goes down, but not

Re: [RE-wrenches] Enphase M210-84-208-S12 Inverters Available?

2012-08-12 Thread JRQ
Louis, Can Enphase inverters be positively grounded? I wasn't aware that they could. Otherwise you have an equipment mismatch problem that can't be overcome under the listing of the modules and the inverters. Jeffrey Quackenbush. From: Louis Woofenden

Re: [RE-wrenches] GTWB outage monitor question

2012-08-12 Thread JRQ
Sindelar al...@positiveenergysolar.com To: JRQ quackkc...@yahoo.com Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2012 4:00 PM Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] GTWB outage monitor question Jeff, Great in theory...but I'm missing a few details as to how to put it into practice. Can you tell me where I might find

Re: [RE-wrenches] Low power production at a winery: DC voltage drop upon SB6000 start-up

2012-07-22 Thread JRQ
Eric, This doesn't sound so bad. The Voc seems a little low (10 modules in series at 44.2 Voc would be 442 Voc), but you haven't provided irradiance or temperature information, so that's hard to assess. As far as the drop from Voc to Vmp, consider: 35.4 Vmp / 44.2 Voc = 80% 280 Vmp / 375 Voc

Re: [RE-wrenches] NABCEP

2012-06-02 Thread JRQ
I'm in the process of NABCEP re-certification and I have two complaints about their process: 1. In the last year, NABCEP added a requirement for 3 customer surveys as documentation of projects completed. This was released just after I had left a job doing installations to do consulting

Re: [RE-wrenches] Line side taps in Hawai'i

2012-05-19 Thread JRQ
I had a similar problem working in San Diego. SDGE insisted that no taps could be performed in an enclosure unless the contractor could supply documentation that the enclosure was specifically listed for a tap, or if an electrical engineer supplied stamped drawings of the tap. I never did a

Re: [RE-wrenches] SMK Connectors

2012-03-06 Thread JRQ
Now that Enphase has chosen to use Amphenol H4 connectors, does mean that none of the Enphase inverters are, technically, listed to be connected to modules with MC4 connectors (basically any module)? It seems like Multi-Contact is more interested in keeping their product proprietary, so they

Re: [RE-wrenches] Fwd: AC Coupled

2012-02-22 Thread JRQ
Larry, A Sunny Boy won't feed any power directly at a generator on the main panel: the AC on either side of the Sunny Island is separately derived, and it's my understanding that the SI can command the SBs through the CAT V link to throttle back if loads aren't sufficient. Wouldn't the Sunny

Re: [RE-wrenches] Landing into a sub-panel without a main service

2012-01-01 Thread JRQ
You can't go wrong with a new solar-ready service panel. You can tell the customer that, in addition to enabling a larger solar system, it is a safety upgrade. Otherwise you're going to have to backfeed one of these subpanels or the one of the 100A mains inside the house. Do the mains in #2

Re: [RE-wrenches] battery venting

2011-12-31 Thread JRQ
Wrenches, I'm looking at a potential battery backup system wtih a 200 AH @48V flooded battery bank in the basement electrical room of a 3 story building. There is a window in the electrical room. The batteries will be located about 10' from an outdoor wall. The building is all reinforced

[RE-wrenches] battery venting

2011-12-31 Thread JRQ
...@positiveenergysolar.com NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician Positive Energy, Inc. 3201 Calle Marie Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507 505 424-1112 www.positiveenergysolar.com On 12/31/2011 7:59 AM, JRQ wrote

[RE-wrenches] battery venting

2011-12-31 Thread JRQ
? It will fail. I've seen the bearings wear out on one and another that failed when insects got into the blades and gummed it up to the point that the motor stalled. Kent Osterberg Blue Mountain Solar, Inc. www.bluemountainsolar.com t: 541-568-4882 On 12/31/2011 6:59 AM, JRQ wrote

Re: [RE-wrenches] Fwd: Re: Landing into a sub-panel without a main service panel, just a main switch

2011-12-24 Thread JRQ
email. Maybe I didn't spell this out explicitly enough, but if there are parallel circuits coming off this conductor, say, for instance, a tap, this also would not apply. Jeffrey Quackenbush From: Ray Walters r...@solarray.com To: JRQ quackkc...@yahoo.com; RE

Re: [RE-wrenches] Landing into a sub-panel without a main service panel, just a main switch

2011-12-23 Thread JRQ
Yes, if there is a distribution block and several subpanels are fed from the same point downline from the main disconnect, then what I'm describing would not be applicable. The other subpanels function as loads with respect to the distribution block. The same if there are any taps on the load

Re: [RE-wrenches] Landing into a sub-panel without a main servicepanel, just a main switch

2011-12-23 Thread JRQ
[mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of JRQ Sent: Friday, December 23, 2011 3:51 AM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Landing into a sub-panel without a main servicepanel, just a main switch   Yes, if there is a distribution block and several subpanels are fed from

Re: [RE-wrenches] Fwd: Re: Landing into a sub-panel without a main service panel, just a main switch

2011-12-23 Thread JRQ
into a sub-panel without a main service panel, just a main switch Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:41:24 -0700 From: Ray Walters r...@solarray.com To: JRQ quackkc...@yahoo.com HI Jeffrey; Electricity certainly can flow in both directions on a conductor (unless they've installed huge diodes

Re: [RE-wrenches] Landing into a sub-panel without a main service panel, just a main switch

2011-12-22 Thread JRQ
But wait, there are no loads at the 200 A disconnect. The idea behind the limitation in the 20% rule is that if you have power coming from a main to a set of loads on a bus and also power from a backfed PV breaker to the same bus, that bus could theoretically draw the sum of the main and the PV

Re: [RE-wrenches] Landing into a sub-panel without a main service panel, just a main switch

2011-12-22 Thread JRQ
...@solarray.com To: JRQ quackkc...@yahoo.com; RE-wrenches re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Sent: Friday, December 23, 2011 4:45 AM Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Landing into a sub-panel without a main service panel, just a main switch I'm not a huge fan of this 120% rule myself, but if you're going

Re: [RE-wrenches] Enphase J-box brackets

2011-12-17 Thread JRQ
William, I actually prefer to use Unirac L-brackets for mounting J-boxes. Sometimes I'll use the Enphase one because it comes with the Enphase whip (and therefore I save paying $2.75 on an extra L-bracket). However, I find the L-brackets to be sturdier and less visible. Jeffrey Quackenbush

Re: [RE-wrenches] GEC and EGC Advice

2011-12-06 Thread JRQ
I'd avoid using the metal conduit as the only bond in your equipment grounding from the roof down to other equipment. If the GEC is bonded to the rest of the equipment grounding system at a point on the ground, then of course it can double as the EGC. Otherwise, if you don't want to use a