Sol-Ark/portable generator bonded neutral

[cm119]

Hello, I am researching for our install, and having trouble with a question on portable generators with the Sol-Ark.

My install should follow their standard wiring diagram (below, with added markups). The plan would be to wire a L14-30 generator inlet directly to the Gen input of the Sol-Ark for use in emergencies (out of battery/no solar). The issue I'm running into is that most portable generators like this, including mine, have an internal neutral bond to the frame. Per NEC the generator must also be grounded via ground rod (will connect to existing home/main panel ground) when connected to an electrical panel. This would then create a secondary neutral-ground bond, which is not allowed.

Is there any solution/workaround for this? Or in this case is the only alternative to find a portable generator with a removable bonded neutral (and does one exist)? Since this is not a 'permanent' install, I'd rather not have to purchase a dedicated floating-neutral generator, which I then couldn't use as a standard portable generator.

The Sol-Ark manual doesn't mention this, other than in their error codes list, but offers no suggestions. Their support didn't offer any additional suggestions either.

F16
GFCI_Failure
Check that the neutral line and Ground are not double-bonded (common with portable generators).

Thanks,

Craig

 

[JCSchwarb]

Hello, I am researching for our install, and having trouble with a question on portable generators with the Sol-Ark.

My install should follow their standard wiring diagram (below, with added markups). The plan would be to wire a L14-30 generator inlet directly to the Gen input of the Sol-Ark for use in emergencies (out of battery/no solar). The issue I'm running into is that most portable generators like this, including mine, have an internal neutral bond to the frame. Per NEC the generator must also be grounded via ground rod (will connect to existing home/main panel ground) when connected to an electrical panel. This would then create a secondary neutral-ground bond, which is not allowed.

Is there any solution/workaround for this? Or in this case is the only alternative to find a portable generator with a removable bonded neutral (and does one exist)? Since this is not a 'permanent' install, I'd rather not have to purchase a dedicated floating-neutral generator, which I then couldn't use as a standard portable generator.

The Sol-Ark manual doesn't mention this, other than in their error codes list, but offers no suggestions. Their support didn't offer any additional suggestions either.

F16
GFCI_Failure
Check that the neutral line and Ground are not double-bonded (common with portable generators).

Thanks,

Craig

View attachment 130128

Craig,

You didn’t mention your panel setup or whether you would be using AC grid input. This diagram shows a grid connection with NG bond in the main panel. If this is your configuration, the the downstream generator would need to be unbounded. The generator should have a removable bond screw or internal means to unbond. There is a way to insert a plug into the gen that shorts the ground to neutral if/when you require to use as stand alone power.

-Jay

 

[cm119]

Thanks. Yes I would be grid tied with the main panel neutral bond, exactly like that diagram. I did just check my generator, and while it's not as simple as a screw or plug, there is a jumper wire doing the bonding under the cover that it appears could be removed, un-bonding the neutral. Also while searching around I found that a quick solution to re-bond it is a 'ground neutral bonding plug', which is just a 5-15 plug with the ground and neutral bonded together, and once you stick it in one of the receptacles on the generator it creates that bond again (used by RVers for this same reason). That would make it easy to switch back and forth. I guess that will be the solution for now, I'll run it by our installer to be sure.

 

[JCSchwarb]

Thanks. Yes I would be grid tied with the main panel neutral bond, exactly like that diagram. I did just check my generator, and while it's not as simple as a screw or plug, there is a jumper wire doing the bonding under the cover that it appears could be removed, un-bonding the neutral. Also while searching around I found that a quick solution to re-bond it is a 'ground neutral bonding plug', which is just a 5-15 plug with the ground and neutral bonded together, and once you stick it in one of the receptacles on the generator it creates that bond again (used by RVers for this same reason). That would make it easy to switch back and forth. I guess that will be the solution for now, I'll run it by our installer to be sure.

Excellent news! Good luck!!