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Combination Meter / Panel for Solar

oaknut

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Joined
May 20, 2023
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17
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Pennsylvania
If I have a 200 amp combination meter panel, can I just put two solar breakers in it and then feed my interior 200 amp panel with it? The solar breakers can not be placed in the interior panel because of the 120% rule. My concern is overloading the busbar. The Combination meter busbar is rated at 225A and if I draw more than 200A from it, the interior panel (which was the main 200A Panel before the combination meter) should trip, correct? Does this sound correct or am I overlooking something. No one wants to burn their house down or be denied from an inspector or power authority. I was going to do a line side tap but I would be tampering with the meter which would cause me to fail my inspection. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
225A x 120% = 270A
270A - 200A = 70A. You can install PV breakers totaling up to 70A at far end of busbar.

Do you have a 200A main panel presently, and are considering feeding it from a new combination panel?
Or do you already have the combination panel?
 
225A x 120% = 270A
270A - 200A = 70A. You can install PV breakers totaling up to 70A at far end of busbar.

Do you have a 200A main panel presently, and are considering feeding it from a new combination panel?
Or do you already have the combination panel?
Correct, I currently have a 200A panel that is rather full with meter only. Electrician said I can feed the 200A panel presently in place from a new combination unit but I am not sure on his plan on how to do this and want to avoid any issues (electricians in my area are unfamiliar with solar). I am installing a rather large system need to put in a 60 and 80 A breakers. (actual total is 104.1A so at 1.25 its 130.125A). The solar breakers would go in the new combination panel which would then feed the existing 200A panel.
 
Is that 60A and 80A PV breakers? With 200A main breaker and 225A busbar, you could have 70A total backfed PV breakers.
If you made main breaker 175A or 150A, you could have more PV.

How about a 200A main breaker only panel, no branch breakers?
Inside it, use Polaris coupler to feed existing 200A panel, and a new 200A PV aggregator panel. I think 120% rule is not applied if panel has only PV, no load breakers.

Will you add battery backup later?
 
Yes it will be a sixty and eighty amp breaker for pv. They would be in the 200A combination meter/ panel (225a busbar) With a feed through lug powering a two hundred Amp panel inside the home which used to be the main panel. With that set up the combination Meter breaker box would be considered the main. Both panels would have a two hundred a main breaker
 
My thought is that the main combo meter could not have more than 200 amps going through the bus bar Because the inside 200 amp sub panel Would trip. The main panel would either be drawing from the grid or solar production would be back feed to the grid.
 
Can you replace the new meter combo setup with a 400/320 amp meter box going to 2 separate 200 amp breaker boxes ? 1 for solar and 1 to the house ? thats what I just put in.
 
Yes it will be a sixty and eighty amp breaker for pv. They would be in the 200A combination meter/ panel (225a busbar) With a feed through lug powering a two hundred Amp panel inside the home which used to be the main panel. With that set up the combination Meter breaker box would be considered the main. Both panels would have a two hundred a main breaker

A 225A busbar fed from 200A main breaker and 60 + 80 = 140A PV breakers has 340A of sources, 170% of busbar rating.
I understand that is OK for a PV aggregator panel, only PV breakers no loads.

Texican's 400A panel suggestion is good ($$$)

My thought is that the main combo meter could not have more than 200 amps going through the bus bar Because the inside 200 amp sub panel Would trip. The main panel would either be drawing from the grid or solar production would be back feed to the grid.

You are correct that if there was exactly one load breaker (or tap), current through the busbar would be limited to OCP value of that tap, or OCP on PV, whichever is greater. But I don't think code allows single load breaker exception to 120% rule. Maybe it does.

If you're using lugs at end of bus, rather than middle of bus, bus could carry 200A + 140A to the end lugs, which is too much (for bus as well as wires). Of course, current limited by OCP on sub panel, assuming the wires only go to one panel.

If you put a 150A main breaker in combination panel, you could put in two 60A PV breakers for a total of 270A, fitting 120% rule.

My present setup has a service entrance box with meter and 200A main breaker. It has several 4 or 5 hole Polaris connectors to branch out to 200A sub panel with main breaker and 100A fused disconnect for my battery inverters (which are AC coupled to PV inverters), and has several holes left for further expansion.

Polaris has a current rating like 400A. The wires are good for 200A or 125A depending on where they go, are in conduit, and hit OCP within 5'. When there is 200A + 100A = 300A of OCP feeding Polaris, there may be a rule on how far and where undersize wires can be routed before OCP. After all, some houses have meter only at service entrance and unfused wires to panel with main breaker inside house.

My next property I'm planning, I've selected a meter box and separate 200A only box to do the same thing.

With a main breaker only box, all panels can be fed directly from grid. With interlocks, they can be switched to be fed by an inverter instead, with inverter fed by grid.
My inverter has only about 100A pass-through, so 100A or 125A branch circuit breaker interlocked as "generator" input is sufficient.

If someone uses SolArk or another with 200A pass-through, there aren't as many options for 200A "generator" and 200A straight from grid.
A 200A transfer switch is one way. I think there is a 200A (4 pole ganged) branch breaker for Homeline that looks like it would work with interlock (because it has 4 separate poles ganged externally). I'm using QO, which has up to 125A 2-pole that can interlock. The 200A (4-pole ganged) has single handle located where it doesn't work with standard interlock.
 
The :devilish: is in the details of what things are connected to that 225A bus.
Is that 225A bus inside the meter box? What is the separate AC disconnect?

You may want a visible blade disconnect for PV. My utility now says that is optional, but without it they might yank meter to prevent backfeed, leaving house without power (they've never turned off my switch.)

I think you should either have a 400A (or 320A) bus, or else have a 200A main breaker only with no bus and use Polaris.

Do you want a battery backup system, now or in the future? If so, select what equipment will be used and plan for the connection, and bypass switch.
 
In your net metering agreement with your power company, do they have standards for interconnection?

Depending on your power company, they might want the PV separately metered (or not). With the amount of generation you appear to have, you might still want to have a separate meter so you can claim and potentially sell renewable energy credits.
 
Yes the buses inside the meter. It
The :devilish: is in the details of what things are connected to that 225A bus.
Is that 225A bus inside the meter box? What is the separate AC disconnect?

You may want a visible blade disconnect for PV. My utility now says that is optional, but without it they might yank meter to prevent backfeed, leaving house without power (they've never turned off my switch.)

I think you should either have a 400A (or 320A) bus, or else have a 200A main breaker only with no bus and use Polaris.

Do you want a battery backup system, now or in the future? If so, select what equipment will be used and plan for the connection, and bypass switch.
The bus is inside of the meter. It is put together with bus bars, so there is no wire to tap into prior to the main disconnect. The disconnect is a Requirement for the photovoltaic system. The 2 inverters need current protection. That is why I have a 60 and 80A breaker.
 
In your net metering agreement with your power company, do they have standards for interconnection?

Depending on your power company, they might want the PV separately metered (or not). With the amount of generation you appear to have, you might still want to have a separate meter so you can claim and potentially sell renewable energy credits.
 
I'm no expert on Renewable Energy Credits, so someone else will have to chime in. But they might provide you with a source of revenue, so it might be worth it to investigate that.
 
Yes the buses inside the meter. It

The bus is inside of the meter. It is put together with bus bars, so there is no wire to tap into prior to the main disconnect. The disconnect is a Requirement for the photovoltaic system. The 2 inverters need current protection. That is why I have a 60 and 80A breaker.
Disconnect probably has 2 (maybe 3) poles, 200A rating.
If you have 60A and 80A 2-pole PV breakers in the breaker panel, how is switch wired? One pole for each PV inverter might work, but not truly isolate as desired.

I think you should have (fused?) 200A disconnect feed a "PV aggregator") panel which contains the 60A and 80A breakers. Could be 150A or larger, so long as no load breakers.

As I suggested, I would put in a 200A main breaker only panel (no busbars), have that feed existing 200A panel and this fused disconnect. Or you could put in a 400A panel with busbars.
 
If you haven't installed the combination meter/panel yet, I would consider staying with or installing plain meter socket, and doing a line side tap to 2 fused disconnects for your inverters.
 
There is a 200A panel with 60 and 80A breakers and then a switch blade ac disconnect before this combination unit. The wires coming in the right are from the disconnect for solar. The wires going out the bottom go so a 200A panel in the basement. It has not been inspected yet and solar has not been turned on. What do you all think?
20231204_115558(1).jpg
 
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