Signature Solar's EG4 8k Will it pass inspection in California and Hawaii?

[dcg9381]

Are you in AZ and do you have a battery? Which inverter?

Texas. And before the 10-year warranty rule. My grid tie inverters are Frontius. No batteries in my residence/shop.

 

[tacomaguy20]

Texas. And before the 10-year warranty rule. My grid tie inverters are Frontius. No batteries in my residence/shop.

Gotcha, it seems to me that now is kind of an in-between time where the solar companies are trying to catch up to the new rules (but they aren't rules everywhere yet). So I suppose they are ahead of the curve in one sense but also behind in places like CA & AZ). That makes it harder for me and people who live in these states... as well as very expensive. For instance, there seems to be a lot of hybrid systems coming out but very few inverter + battery combos approved for California (and similar states) and even fewer that have been tested for compatibility that meets UL9540 standards. Pretty much Sol-ark is the only option. But within the next six months or so, it looks like that could change. Luxpower, EG4, etc. are all supposedly trying to get approval. I was shopping for solar but unless I want to go inverter only (and upgrade later) I think it benefits me to wait.

 

[dcg9381]

Gotcha, it seems to me that now is kind of an in-between time where the solar companies are trying to catch up to the new rules (but they aren't rules everywhere yet). So I suppose they are ahead of the curve in one sense but also behind in places like CA & AZ). That makes it harder for me and people who live in these states... as well as very expensive. For instance, there seems to be a lot of hybrid systems coming out but very few inverter + battery combos approved for California (and similar states) and even fewer that have been tested for compatibility that meets UL9540 standards. Pretty much Sol-ark is the only option. But within the next six months or so, it looks like that could change. Luxpower, EG4, etc. are all supposedly trying to get approval. I was shopping for solar but unless I want to go inverter only (and upgrade later) I think it benefits me to wait.

Adding to that there is tremendous variation in how much permitting / oversight is required at different locations. I think it's always best to have a conversation with the person doing the inspecting, if possible.

 

[tacomaguy20]

So I just found out from one of the engineers that my power company (SRP) uses in Arizona that Panels, Inverters, and Batteries need to be on the CEC approval list. However, what I was told is that UL9540 is not required (inverter + batteries certified together) so long as batteries and inverter are on the list. So that's a little easier to configure a system.

 

[Hedges]

In California it's 10 years when tied through PGE for Net Metering

Equipment has to have 10 year warranty to be used in California's NEM

How does this math out? Is it because of minimum monthly charge combined with lower feed-in compensation? Or extra soft costs (I think the only difference in soft costs would be interconnect application fee, since you have the same AHJ fees either way).

I think "net" metering customers are required to select a time of use rate. And regular customers are not.

 

[bfaubion]

Not sure if anyone can answer this, thought I’d ask. I’m with SDGE and they have a list of approved UL equipment, but I don’t see EG4. If you are using a zero-export “backup” off-grid hybrid inverter like the 6000xp that has a critical loads panel, so still connected to grid as a power source coming in to the inverter (along with batteries and solar panels), does that mean that you can only install that inverter if it’s on their list? Or will they even bother to look at it since it doesn’t need an agreement or permit to export? It is UL 1741.

 

[zanydroid]

If zero export implies the output of the inverter is put in parallel then that required an interconnection agreement and it is likely that most POCO will step up detection of the export signature of unapproved equipment. It is much easier for them to detect than it is for you to hide parallel equipment.