Not at all, what you've laid out is actually news to me. For some reason i thought grounding rods/systems for houses were all independent for each house. Didn't realize utility companies merged these things. Sorry if i'm coming off as being care free about it. I'm genuinely curious and don't know one way or the other.
Break'n the Law! Codes?
- Thread starter James12345
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Grounding bonds are important, and keeping all ground potentials equal is the best way to keep equipment and people safe.
D
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There's no need for the snarkiness. You're a moderator??
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Snarkiness not intended. Sorry to offend.
I worry about electrical problems and shock hazards for people.
I worry about electrical problems and shock hazards for people.
offgriddle
"FOREVER BEGINNING"
Firstly, "To Ground is Divine"! Secondly, we are all here to learn from one another and simply by the fact of asking questions and tackling technical projects means your no dunce, au contraire, you are one very cool hominid who is curious, energetic, stoked to learn and engaged in the present moment. ~ Mmkay, my panels are about 75' away from my house's power closet and they are mounted on a temporary mount and I haven't driven a ground out there yet to ground them but I'm going to. My MPPT charge controller, invertor and lipo batteries are bonded together and attached to a copper ground rod driven into the oith via a 6 gauge bare copper wire which attaches to the rod via a direct burial clamp, in as moist soil as possible. Essentially, the negative wire coming from my to be grounded solar panels acts as a bond to the components in my equipment closet, but if one wishes to split hairs, a miniscule time domain difference occurs in 75' of cable when electricity travels through it, which in my humble opinion doesn't represent an issue. Peace.
Lernin is good! I am always ready to be corrected, and am always learning. PLEASE don’t take something I say as an insult or gospel truth. I will happily accept corrections on anything I have stated.
I believe the PV system needs to be earth grounded, not needed to be bonded to the home, and from the CC and inverter, it should be grounded to earth, and the grounding conductor be connected to all grounds in the ac power system.
If there is no connectivity to the house, bonding to the house grounding system isn’t required. It won’t hurt, but it won’t be a problem.
If the inverter feeds the house, the grounding conductor needs to have an uninterrupted conductor the the house grounding system.
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b.james
New Member
Yeh Nanny state Yayyyhh ...cant buy this ,can't buy that . You ain't seen nothing till you come to OZ . Cant even buy Alum any more for tanning . Have to import it from the states. Creosote is a no no . Lots of other bans. That's not even looking at guns.
offgriddle
"FOREVER BEGINNING"
Yep, I think it's good to bond the aluminum frames of the solar panels together and attach to a ground source not only for lighting supression but also because the panels produce voltage so an extra measure of safety when touching the panels is good. This seems to be super thorough and good article: http://www.solarabcs.org/about/publ...rounding/pdfs/SystemGrounding_studyreport.pdf
b.james
New Member
On my house system I have two strings of 6 panels . Each string then puts out 180 Volts . The panels are rated to 1000 Volts so I could run a string of 33 panels if I could feed the inverter that much .Not any that I have seen go over 500V . At these voltages even though they are on glass and double insulated I think grounding is just sensible.
However on my 2.5Kw 200Ah @24 volts I charge with 2 off 250 watt panels just slung up on the roof . They put out about 60 Volts in series and 8 amps . I don't bother grounding them.
MPPT converts that to about double the amps at 16 Amps going into the battery
However on my 2.5Kw 200Ah @24 volts I charge with 2 off 250 watt panels just slung up on the roof . They put out about 60 Volts in series and 8 amps . I don't bother grounding them.
MPPT converts that to about double the amps at 16 Amps going into the battery
Don’t think of the voltages, think of what could buildup on exposed metal. Static charges, lightning, etc. It isn’t always about what could hurt you working on or around the panels, but what large metal objects can induce to a structure or area... house fires, are just as important to prevent as electrical shocks.
Keep in mind, you are connecting wires with 500 watts of instant electricity. At 24v, that equates to 20AMPS a weak electrical connection or worn wire can cause a LOT of heat at 20 amps... most soldering irons are less than 80watts...
stay safe. A little ground wire isn’t going to cost much money or time, but it could help blow a fuse if something failed.
woodshed1
New Member
Here is a video I made about a year ago (no talking) showing how I Grounded my panels on a stand-alone off-grid install...
offgriddle
"FOREVER BEGINNING"
Holy Toledo Woodshed! I like the fact that you bothered to ground your panel frames, good show. Looks like solid copper wire, nothing wrong with that. As a EEEElecKtrician type, I might have pounded the ground rod in below grade and extended the pvc conduit into the ground to guard against possible damage from lawn mowing, weed whacking, big boots or what have you, no matter, excellent job! Thank you for sharing.
woodshed1
New Member
Thanks. I think that solid Copper is 6-ga. The second one you can see in the vid goes into the Shed to Ground all the electrics there as well. I can remember breaking a sweat pounding that 8 or 10-ft rod into the ground. I spent a couple weeks doing research beforehand.
Where I am I inquired about a small off grid system. If you mount a panel on the roof only an electrical permit is needed. For this permit you would have to show that the roof structure could handle the weight of the panel and the components are UL listed, proper wire sizing, etc. If you ground mount the permitting is the same as if you're putting a pool in which is pretty extensive and much more expensive. The building official told me I was the only one ever to ask about a battery only system.
I think a portable system may eliminate the permitting process but I don't know for sure. I am currently making a portable system. Something else to consider is wether your homeowners insurance would cover should something happen.
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