diy solar

diy solar

Parallel Solark 15k, no interconnect agreement.

So I guess the inspector didn’t care?
No it’s DC not sure UL lists DC items. My wire and lugs are UL but it passed review and I got the “proceed with construction” letter last week. Are there UL buss bars I really don’t know? I chose Victron due to its quality and expandability. I have 8 230Ah 48v connected to two Power In’s.
 
No it’s DC not sure UL lists DC items. My wire and lugs are UL but it passed review and I got the “proceed with construction” letter last week. Are there UL buss bars I really don’t know? I chose Victron due to its quality and expandability. I have 8 230Ah 48v connected to two Power In’s.
Blue Sea busbars have a UL listing. Batteries now have to be listed (at least where I live).
 
I think busbars either have to have a certain cross section (for a given amperage) or else be listed.

ESS have to be listed (bundled batteries & inverter), but an exception for lead-acid. Does your location require some sort of listing even for lead-acid? I had heard years ago that AGM was acceptable but FLA was not.
 
Blue Sea busbars have a UL listing. Batteries now have to be listed (at least where I live).
I was a little concerned with the batteries not being UL listed but they approved the project. So that was a relief. UL batteries are crazy expensive and when I started this addition (September) there were only a couple of options.

I live in Illinois and they started a rebate program on ESS and Inverters on 1/1/23 and retro’ed it back a couple of years. I am operating on my original interconnection agreement from 9 yrs ago. They decided I needed to do an update agreement on the Storage. So I have been going through that process. Received my project approval last week even though it’s been operating. Ordered more storage which arrived today. They will be out soon for my final utility inspection at which point my rebate will be processed and paid. I passed on the inverter rebate as it would have triggered a complete new interconnect agreements and much less favorable terms.

My only concern with my final inspection is are they going to accept my ATS as my 200 amp disconnect. My electrician says it’s fine. We will see.
 
I think busbars either have to have a certain cross section (for a given amperage) or else be listed.

ESS have to be listed (bundled batteries & inverter), but an exception for lead-acid. Does your location require some sort of listing even for lead-acid? I had heard years ago that AGM was acceptable but FLA was not.
Here they were more concerned with the inverter portion than the ESS. As long as the inverter was on the list they seem to be OK with whatever is attached to the inverter.

As a matter of fact, my utility is bringing out a 15 person film crew on 4/11/23 to video everything and do an on-site interview. That didn’t hurt my application and approval chances either.
 
I think busbars either have to have a certain cross section (for a given amperage) or else be listed.

ESS have to be listed (bundled batteries & inverter), but an exception for lead-acid. Does your location require some sort of listing even for lead-acid? I had heard years ago that AGM was acceptable but FLA was not.
My AHJ is currently using NEC 2020, but will be using 2023 soon.
They want everything UL, CE not good enough.
Either way, lead acid does not need to be listed.
 
Inverters themselves were never the hazard (except to linemen, if they backfeed into grid when down.)

Lithium batteries, they become a fire hazard (or an immediate fire, depending on chemistry) when overcharged. So listed ESS means battery plus inverter were tested to handle faults.

I think some "high voltage" batteries like LG RESU-H which are low voltage batteries and a boost converter might get UL listing on their own, separate from DC/AC inverter
 
Well, it looks like it's going to be a sad end to this project. The builder keeps adding on charges to my house build (now up to an additional $230k and counting). Meanwhile, missIdiot has a job offer in WA state that pays over double her current salary, so it looks like we are moving to WA state. Going to sell the FL money-pit as soon as it's done, and rent a spot in WA for a while. No solar for me for quite a while :\
I am still going to update this journal though, because I got the arrival notice for the Qcells, and should have them in hand in a week and a half. If they show up in good shape (or at all) I will drop the supplier so all of you can save some money on fancy panels. I will also be selling mine on here assuming they show up.
 
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