Plum Crazy Rob
Solar Enthusiast
I like this, but I think I need to get a letter from them stating we have examined the situation and it is resolved to our satisfaction- as I was just about to expand with 2 more 12K units.
Hooterville Co Op noticed my EG4 Solar A/C with 2700W ground mount panels - need advice on response?
- Thread starter Plum Crazy Rob
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DIYrich
Solar Wizard
It is a Coop. You are an owner. Do what they ask (state that it is not tied to anything other than what is designed to run, and provide a diagram), and you should be fine. Maybe let them know about the expanded system, and provide a diagram of that.
They might forward the information to the Building Inspector, but that's a different problem.
Plum Crazy Rob
Solar Enthusiast
Matt, I mostly agree that it was a polite question and deserves a polite response. I plan on this, these people are actually my "neighbors" and are good people, not some faceless folk from the millions of people.
However, additional background clarification. I live near a small town (2000 people.) Everyone who works for the Elec Co op lives in or near town. Co op has 6k members. Once I talked to them personally about Solar, that took me from 1 in 6000, to I would guess, 1 in 10 people they could probably remember personally - Solar is NOT BIG in rural KS.
The CONFUSION part stems from saying "I filled out a net metering application "
I DID NOT.
And that they had subsequently called and emailed. They probably did, but confused me with one of the other 10 guys asking about Solar.
And "we told the Solar Company we needed to approve the interconnect "
I never talked about ANY Solar Contractor. NOT ME. Again, one of the other guys
So I think they may have rampaged a bit "that MFer went around us and installed anyway" so maybe a bit angry at this point.
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
Pretty simple, it's a standalone PV powered mini split, give them the make and model number and supporting documentation on what it is.
Plum Crazy Rob
Solar Enthusiast
100% agree. This is why we don't choose the Nuclear options, lol.
Brett V
Mad Scientist
Reply to them it's a stand alone system. Period. Offer no other information, Don't mention 240 volts AC, that will sound suspicious.
Texas-Mark
Solar Addict
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The issue is the electric company has no idea what equipment he has or how he is using it. If a line was down right at the transformer going to his house, a non-grid-tie inverter could back-feed into that downed line if not disconnected.
Hedges
I See Electromagnetic Fields!
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It can and does happen.
Visiting Lineman on St. Croix Electrocuted When Uncaring Homeowner Leaves Generator On During Electrical Repairs To Neighborhood - Virgin Islands Free Press
[ad name=”HTML-68″] CHRISTIANSTED — A visiting lineman from the U.S. mainland was electrocuted when electricity from an active generator back-fed into the electrical grid, according to Gov. Kenneth Mapp. The lineman has been airlifted off-island for treatment. His condition is not known. In...
vifreepress.com
Another case I read about, linemen shorted the wires at one pole, but later discovered an open circuit coming from the other direction. They didn't also short that, and the lineman who grabbed the two wires to rejoin them (while in a plastic lift bucket) was electrocuted.
Utility crewman in hurricane recovery dies working on power line
WPMI-TV
A Georgia man died while working with a utility crew restoring electrical service to Flomaton following Hurricane Dennis.(FLOMATON, Ala.-AP) July 13 05
Police said 41-year-old Ronnie Allen Adams Junior, ofWinterville, Georgia, died yesterday afternoon.
Adams, who worked for Pike Electric, Incorporated, of MountAiry, North Carolina, was in a bucket truck working on power lines when he slumped over.
In a statement, Flomaton Police Chief Mike Lambert saysco-workers attempted to revive Adams with C-P-R. Adams wasairlifted to Jay Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5:44 p.m. Tuesday.
Cause of death was not immediately determined. An autopsy is planned by the Escambia County, Florida, Medical Examiners Office.
Flomaton police and officials from Alabama Power Company are investigating.
Dennis made landfall Sunday between Pensacola and Navarre Beach. Flomaton was one of the inland cities damaged by the storm.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I know i share the toughts and prayers for our fallen brother from Pike. Needles accident. How many times do we have to say it" Not grounded, not dead" I 've done pleanty of storm work all over the south and north. I am alway preaching to the boys about testing and grounding. DO NOT TAKE ANYONE'S WORD that is dead and grounded unless you see it for yourself. I wish there was a away these home owners could be held responsible for not having generators hooked up IAW the codes. I always pull the meters of homes with generators along with all the other safe things we do to protect ourselves.
No one is saying its going to power the whole neighborhood. But to there are scenarios where it could shock a lineman working on your drop when he thought it was powered off. You dont have to electocute someone with your 240 to kill them. You could give them a heart attack, they could fall off the ladder, the, could slip and contact a live higher power line. And even if you dont kill them, you could burn them, put them out of work for a month etc etc. If that lineman has to stand down from his job for 2 weeks are you going to cover his mortgage. I hate this me me me attitude. Hell, there wouldnt even be electricity in most small towns if "Big Brother" through the rural electification program hadn't made it happen. We are all on this bus together.
Worker Electrocuted In Flomaton By Live Power Line
FLOMATON, Ala. -- An electric lineman was killed just before 5 p.m. Tuesday when he came into contact with a live power line. It was energized by a generator that was hooked up improperly.
The man -- whose name has not been released -- was transported by LifeFlight to Jay hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The man worked for Pike Electric, Inc. in Mount Airy, North Carolina.
Alabama Power spokesman Bernie Fogarty says the company is "Deeply saddened and distressed by this tragic event."
Alabama authorities say they're looking for the person responsible for hooking up the generator.
a couple of OSHA documented deaths....
90-05 Lineman electrocuted while attaching a 2400V powerline to a pole-mounted insulator. Victimassured by supervisor that line was deenergized, but it was in fact energized by portablegenerator.
90-02 Leader of tree-trimming crew electrocuted during hurricane cleanup when he contacted adowned powerline he believed to be deenergized. Electric current from portable generatoroperating at gas station nearby reenergized powerline.
Tell them to please disconnect you from their inferior service so that you can go completely off-grid. Thank them and tell them their services are no longer needed.
I would just tell them that it is NOT connected to the house power or their connection and is independent for the AC like everyone else said. Do a drawing WITH CRAYON, maybe have your 4 year old do it. Keep it simple.
Chances are likely they are going to contact your local building code officer...FYI
I would just tell them that it is NOT connected to the house power or their connection and is independent for the AC like everyone else said. Do a drawing WITH CRAYON, maybe have your 4 year old do it. Keep it simple.
Chances are likely they are going to contact your local building code officer...FYI
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Q-Dog
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You don't have to try to power the entire neighborhood. There are 2 houses on the transformer in front of my house and I have seen that transformer replaced at least twice in the 20+ years I have lived here. After a recent storm the service feed to my neighbor was pulled off the house. PoCo pulled the fuse at the transformer to make the repair. If I am feeding into the grid the line at my neighbor's house could be live even though the fuse at the transformer is pulled.
hwy17
Anti-Solar Enthusiast
Lineman in my neighborhood handle the secondary live all the time, every day. And I doubt they take their gloves off even when they think it's off.
But I still have all due respect for their safety and not energizing it unexpectedly.
Linemen glove up to 34kv and they should always treat all conductors as live until grounds are placed. Everyone takes shortcuts (1000% more during storm restoration) and experience is the devil waiting to nip you in the butt.
Say your service if fed from a transformer and you’re the only one on that transformer, the damage to the system could be such that your improper connection is backfeeding primary lines down on the ground.
Mitigating risk is all about what could go wrong in the worse possible case.
As for the OP share with them your system diagram with cut sheet of the equipment, that should solve all issues they have.
Side note: seeing you mentioned solar is so minimal in the area, I am curious at the comment that the substation is over its allotted KW rating, that sounds kinda fishy.
Is there other distributed generation in the area? Wind farms? That might pose more of a challange.
Say your service if fed from a transformer and you’re the only one on that transformer, the damage to the system could be such that your improper connection is backfeeding primary lines down on the ground.
Mitigating risk is all about what could go wrong in the worse possible case.
As for the OP share with them your system diagram with cut sheet of the equipment, that should solve all issues they have.
Side note: seeing you mentioned solar is so minimal in the area, I am curious at the comment that the substation is over its allotted KW rating, that sounds kinda fishy.
Is there other distributed generation in the area? Wind farms? That might pose more of a challange.
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Dear Mr @Plum Crazy Rob,
We are sending you this letter regarding your solar installation.
After an inspection of our line, it was brought to out attention that there are solar panels on the north side of your property.
Seeing the panels in the yard we would like to know why you only have 4 panels? There is clearly space for at least another 50 panels without impinging on your personal enjoyment of the land. We have recently identified some issues with our
Please provide us with a diagram of your intended expansion of your solar installation, including battery storage, by September 1, 2023. Please feel free to contact any of the regular contributors on https://diysolarforum.com/ for assistance with building your enhanced system.
Plum Crazy Rob
Solar Enthusiast
This posts wins the Internet, Thank you for the laugh
Hedges
I See Electromagnetic Fields!
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There are gloves of various voltage ratings, the higher they are the stiffer the gloves.
At work (just electronic boxes on a bench) we've been given a (US) rule that if we probe exposed conductors > 150V, have to wear gloves. Which means stiff leather gloves over rubber gloves. Two, 120V phases counts as 208V or 240V. Probing through finger-safe holes apparently avoids that, although easy enough to touch the probes while hot.
Transformer is in vault on my property by the curb. I've seen PG&E working inside there half a dozen times. They use a stick with non-contact sensor to check before working on it. Primary something like 12kV.
I haven't seen them short out anything working on the transformer, and even if they did it has half a dozen parallel secondary taps, any of which they could later disconnect.
They pop off quick-connectors when doing some work (and de-energize at a fused disconnect on a pole down the block, where wires go underground.)
If my system was off when they tested for voltage but started backfeeding during their work, that could be a big surprise.
Easy enough for equipment to do, like if bezel with interlock removed from my breaker panel, both main and generator breakers could both get turned on. And that's properly installed to code, likely the exception rather than the rule for DIY and especially Bubba.
peakbagger
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
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Back when my grid tied first array went in 20 plus years ago, I had to install an outdoor accessible lockable disconnect on the solar feed to my main panel for the utility to use to lock out my solar feed if they had to work on the line. I was also required to install a UL1471 grid interactive inverter that would prevent backfeeding the grid but it was install the switch or not go grid tie. Many generations of spiders have probably bred in that switch as the utility has never used it.
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