diy solar

diy solar

Grounding Check

When I say mother-Earth Ground I mean the grid system with copper rods driven into the earth to establish a common neutral side to the alternating current from a power company or shared generator. My term used to differentiate from the common negative that is found on vehicle direct current systems, or the case connection of vehicle mounted inverters. The vehicle systems have absolutely no reference to earth except --> -->Any shore connection must have a green wire from the vehicle back to the grid supply main panel before connecting mother-Earth Ground. That last sentence is Code.
If every one is on the same page, why all the confusion about "ground"?
 
Thanks for the link. Interesting inverter. I think I can live without a $1800 inverter in my camper as I rarely spend time with a grid tie. Then there is the expense of the enlarged battery bank to power that hog.
 
When I say mother-Earth Ground I mean the grid system with copper rods driven into the earth to establish a common neutral side to the alternating current from a power company or shared generator. My term used to differentiate from the common negative that is found on vehicle direct current systems, or the case connection of vehicle mounted inverters. The vehicle systems have absolutely no reference to earth except --> -->Any shore connection must have a green wire from the vehicle back to the grid supply main panel before connecting mother-Earth Ground. That last sentence is Code.
If every one is on the same page, why all the confusion about "ground"?
Confusion could be coming from your use of "Mother Earth Ground". It's not a standard term. Introducing a new term introduces confusion. Try using Grounding Electrode (GE). That is the proper term. You will not find "Mother Earth Ground" in any code, standard or spec.

Just wondering are you from Britain or Europe, or the USA. There are differences in electrical systems and grounding in different geographic/government areas.
 
I hope you are the only one confused. It isn't really that difficult. I'm a Piney from South Jersey, we do eventually get tired. Crawl back under your rock..
 
When I say mother-Earth Ground I mean the grid system with copper rods driven into the earth to establish a common neutral side to the alternating current from a power company or shared generator. My term used to differentiate from the common negative that is found on vehicle direct current systems, or the case connection of vehicle mounted inverters. The vehicle systems have absolutely no reference to earth except --> -->Any shore connection must have a green wire from the vehicle back to the grid supply main panel before connecting mother-Earth Ground. That last sentence is Code.
If every one is on the same page, why all the confusion about "ground"?
I have no confusion about the mobile electrical system term 'ground' at all.
 
if you go with a 24 volt battery array and tie the negative ground to the frame of the motorhome, what happens with the 12 volt ground that the engine runs from? is there a Mother Earth conflict there?
 
Don't mess with Mother Earth. ;)
Use the grounding terminology already established by codes and regulations.
 
and make sure that copper ground rod is 8 feet long and you did not cut it in half to try and save money! some people used a sledge hammer and a mall to drive them 8 feet. i used a bottle of water and a wiggle..........
 
and make sure that copper ground rod is 8 feet long and you did not cut it in half to try and save money! some people used a sledge hammer and a mall to drive them 8 feet. i used a bottle of water and a wiggle..........
And pull it out and take to next RV boondocking site for your use there...... :rolleyes:
 
.......................>Any shore connection must have a green wire from the vehicle back to the grid supply main panel before connecting mother-Earth Ground. That last sentence is Code ...........................
Can you post one NFPS NEC code line of text that uses the term "mother-Earth Ground" ? I think not but might be wrong !
 
Found this excellent resource posted to this forum by FilterGuy.
 
These two items seem to conflict.

● The charger must not be connected with grounded PV arrays. (one ground connection only)

· Ground the frame of the PV panels. We have 8 panels: 2 pairs are mounted together. This sounds like I need to ground the 4 separate panels and the 2 pairs, 6 grounding points all together. Ground them to the chassis.
Perhaps that is because the frame is not connected to either plus or minus in the PV panel? In that case grounding the frame is just to eliminate static charge, or ensure there is a fault clearing return path for the fuse/circuit breaker? I am speculating here.
 
Confusion could be coming from your use of "Mother Earth Ground". It's not a standard term. Introducing a new term introduces confusion. Try using Grounding Electrode (GE). That is the proper term. You will not find "Mother Earth Ground" in any code, standard or spec.

Just wondering are you from Britain or Europe, or the USA. There are differences in electrical systems and grounding in different geographic/government areas.
I got your Mother Earth Ground right here.

Saying that might get you in trouble under the right circumstances.
 
These two items seem to conflict.

● The charger must not be connected with grounded PV arrays. (one ground connection only)

· Ground the frame of the PV panels. We have 8 panels: 2 pairs are mounted together. This sounds like I need to ground the 4 separate panels and the 2 pairs, 6 grounding points all together. Ground them to the chassis.
Check this resource out:
 
The manual also says " ● The plus and minus of the PV array should not be grounded. Ground the frame of the PV panels to reduce the impact of lightning." As I understood the manuals description, they are referring to not grounding the positive wires coming from the PV array and not the frame of the panels.
That specification I believe is to prevent the few from connecting the negative panel lead to the panels chassis earth lead and only run the positive lead to the controller. Like don't drink the contents of the battery.....
 
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