WB4APR's talk followup (solar)

[Robert Bruninga]

Yes, I don�t know about Virginina Electric Code.   But Maryland will only
issue an electrical permit to a licensed master electrician.  Hence I HAD
to hire one.  I hired "james" who sticks up hand written signs on the exit
lanes at the local home depot.  His standard rate to draw a permit was
about $450.

I did 100% of the work plus the schemataics and drawings for the permit,
and all he did was submit them.  Done.  The county inspector turned out to
be easy going and un-critical.  But I had SHOWN him the project weeks
before when he was out for my Heatpump installation inspection (contractor
done).  SO he was just going through the motions the second time.

But the ONE rule that is not standard code is that the HV DC wiring from
the arrays MUST be in metal conduit inside the house because any loose
connection in DC becomes a continuous unquenchable arc until everything
around it is burned up.

One other worry.  I had heard that Maryalnd now REQUIRES any solar
electrician to be CERTIFIED for solar.  This is a $3000
course/certification and "james" did not have it.  But it did not come up.

But I still think the easiest approach is to just by the cheapest GRID
Solar System from Home Depot and have an electrician hook it up with
permits and get it all approved that way.  Then add on DIY later.

Here is a link to one of the Home Depot Grid-Tie-Kits:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Grape-Solar-1-060-Watt-Expandable-Mono-Crystall
ine-PV-Grid-Tied-Solar-Power-Kit-GS-1060-KIT/205495634

Add $1000 for an electrician to install it and do all the paperwork and
inspections and utility certification  and you are close to the $3.50/watt
going rate.

But then add all the system you want later at under $1/watt...

How do I get back on tacos at amrad.org?  I cant find a link on the web
page...

Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: Rob Seastrom [mailto:rs at seastrom.com]
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2015 3:39 PM
To: Robert Bruninga
Cc: tacos at amrad.org
Subject: Re: WB4APR's talk followup


Robert Bruninga <bruninga at usna.edu> writes:

> That is, that AMRAD is a group of DIY guys and on the one hand, DIY
> solar is nearly impossible to make cost effective because you must be
> grid-tied to get the economic benefit, and you must have licensed
> contractors to do the work to get the NET meter from the utility.

Hi Bob,

Do you have any specific information that your "licensed contractor"
assertion is true in Virginia?  I'm a Dominion Power customer and could
find nothing in their Blue Book [1] to this effect, nor in their tariff
addendum for net metering [2].

On the contrary, on their net metering interconnection notificaiton form
[3] section 5 is captioned "Electrician Certification (If not
electrician-installed, attach final electrical inspection.)" which would
tend to suggest that homeowner installation with an appropriate electrical
permit is A-OK.

> [...]
> Same goes for DIY Electric Cars.  There are EV kits available for
> every make and model old gas car there is.  Imagine an EV Convertible
> MGB for example. Just remove everything gasoline from the old car
> except the transmission.  The KIT then adapts a new electric motor at
> the transmission, and now you have an EV.

Time is money and I only have so much time... Even by AMRAD standards, an
electric vehicle conversion is a big project, but installing the EVSE
myself, well, there was no way I was *not* going to do that!.  So I was
pretty dismayed when the guy at the Nissan dealership told me that I'm the
only customer they've had so far who installed his own EVSE.  I mean, come
on, it's as simple a project as swapping a hot water heater, but without
the physical exertion of moving a big heavy tank around.

-r


[1] https://www.dom.com/library/domcom/pdfs/business/blue-book.pdf

[2]
https://www.dom.com/library/domcom/pdfs/virginia-power/rates/terms-and-con
ditions/vatc25ra.pdf

[3]
https://www.dom.com/library/domcom/pdfs/electric-generation/net-metering-a
pplication-form.pdf