Aspendell Fire Pits
New Member
First post -I have been reading for about two months & have learned a ton. Thanks to all the knowledgeable individuals on here!
Please excuse in advance any display of ignorance and/or mistakes in my diagram - Please point out & correct either!!
I have an EG4 6000 XP along with a 14.3 kWh EG4 battery both from Signature Solar. Also have panels but they are not part of the picture for this particular discussion.
Diagram below shows what I have/propose which is a main 200A grid service (with N-G bond) in main house that feeds a 100A subpanel (NO N-G bond) in a separate "poolhouse" where my inverter & battery are also located. The poolhouse is 100+ ft from main residence and has it's own separate ground electrode (which I believe is required). All of the pool stuff (sub-panel, Gnd electrode, equipment and bonding) were installed in 2004 and passed inspection at that time.
My goal in the short term is to run ONLY my pool pump/equipment via solar. What I want to do in the future is to expand my solar system and run critical loads in my house by backfeeding from my 100A sub-panel to a (future) critical loads panel in my main residence that is separate from the grid main service. I.e., the subpanel in the poolhouse will eventually transition to be my solar inverter AC output panel. I would keep the big stuff (range, oven, dryer, central air) on grid power & run as much of the remainder as I can on solar.
For now I would like to be able to "test out" my system by running the pool pump via my inverter. The inverter/battery will be supplied by grid power for now. I'd like to charge the battery with grid (e.g., at night) and then run the pump off of battery during the day just to get a sense of how much pump time I can get off the battery. I know this is pointless, but my goal is to take baby steps in figuring all of this out. Eventually I will add PV panels and likely just turn off the grid back-up to the inverter to see how well I can function on solar only for the pool pump.
My questions for now relate to configuring my system.
I will have a new 125A 8 slot "solar loads" subpanel to accept my inverter AC output (6AWG w/ 40A bus-mounted main). From there I will feed my pump controller/timer (20A 120V GFCI), pump (20A 240V GFCI) and an outlet (20A 120V GFCI) that serves the pool area.
Questions:
1) I Do NOT need or want an N-G bond in new Solar Loads panel, correct? Only N-G bond will be in the main residence service panel
2) Do I need or want to bond the new solar loads sub-panel to the grounding electrode at the poolhouse? I am assuming not as it will be connected via EGC back to 100A subpanel bus bar which is then connected to the GEC. Is there any benefit or harm in having a separate GEC from the solar loads panel to the Ground Rod? Does the fact that I am running a pool pump play any role in that answer?
3) Here is the question I am most confused about...I am pretty sure I understand why one does not want two N-G bonds (e.g., unwanted current on neutral in case of ground fault??), but it seems odd to me that I am using the N-G bond path in my main GRID FED panel as the N-G path for my inverter. In the case of a ground fault on my inverter fed solar loads side (e.g., the pool pump) is it not the case that current will have to travel on the EGC all the way back to the main panel N-G bond and then travel back on the neutral from the main panel to the poolhouse subpanel and then back the the "source" which is the inverter? If this is the case, do I not then have power (current) from two different sources (inverter and grid) that I would guess are not in phase on that one neutral?? Ideally this would only happen for a split second until the breaker trips, but Is this not a problem? Can someone please clarify this?
I hope this is all clear & thank you in advance for any help/advice you can offer!!
Please excuse in advance any display of ignorance and/or mistakes in my diagram - Please point out & correct either!!
I have an EG4 6000 XP along with a 14.3 kWh EG4 battery both from Signature Solar. Also have panels but they are not part of the picture for this particular discussion.
Diagram below shows what I have/propose which is a main 200A grid service (with N-G bond) in main house that feeds a 100A subpanel (NO N-G bond) in a separate "poolhouse" where my inverter & battery are also located. The poolhouse is 100+ ft from main residence and has it's own separate ground electrode (which I believe is required). All of the pool stuff (sub-panel, Gnd electrode, equipment and bonding) were installed in 2004 and passed inspection at that time.
My goal in the short term is to run ONLY my pool pump/equipment via solar. What I want to do in the future is to expand my solar system and run critical loads in my house by backfeeding from my 100A sub-panel to a (future) critical loads panel in my main residence that is separate from the grid main service. I.e., the subpanel in the poolhouse will eventually transition to be my solar inverter AC output panel. I would keep the big stuff (range, oven, dryer, central air) on grid power & run as much of the remainder as I can on solar.
For now I would like to be able to "test out" my system by running the pool pump via my inverter. The inverter/battery will be supplied by grid power for now. I'd like to charge the battery with grid (e.g., at night) and then run the pump off of battery during the day just to get a sense of how much pump time I can get off the battery. I know this is pointless, but my goal is to take baby steps in figuring all of this out. Eventually I will add PV panels and likely just turn off the grid back-up to the inverter to see how well I can function on solar only for the pool pump.
My questions for now relate to configuring my system.
I will have a new 125A 8 slot "solar loads" subpanel to accept my inverter AC output (6AWG w/ 40A bus-mounted main). From there I will feed my pump controller/timer (20A 120V GFCI), pump (20A 240V GFCI) and an outlet (20A 120V GFCI) that serves the pool area.
Questions:
1) I Do NOT need or want an N-G bond in new Solar Loads panel, correct? Only N-G bond will be in the main residence service panel
2) Do I need or want to bond the new solar loads sub-panel to the grounding electrode at the poolhouse? I am assuming not as it will be connected via EGC back to 100A subpanel bus bar which is then connected to the GEC. Is there any benefit or harm in having a separate GEC from the solar loads panel to the Ground Rod? Does the fact that I am running a pool pump play any role in that answer?
3) Here is the question I am most confused about...I am pretty sure I understand why one does not want two N-G bonds (e.g., unwanted current on neutral in case of ground fault??), but it seems odd to me that I am using the N-G bond path in my main GRID FED panel as the N-G path for my inverter. In the case of a ground fault on my inverter fed solar loads side (e.g., the pool pump) is it not the case that current will have to travel on the EGC all the way back to the main panel N-G bond and then travel back on the neutral from the main panel to the poolhouse subpanel and then back the the "source" which is the inverter? If this is the case, do I not then have power (current) from two different sources (inverter and grid) that I would guess are not in phase on that one neutral?? Ideally this would only happen for a split second until the breaker trips, but Is this not a problem? Can someone please clarify this?
I hope this is all clear & thank you in advance for any help/advice you can offer!!
