Something is not right...

[asmith66]

I have 6 455 watt panels on eg4 ground mounts. I grounded the panels and mount to a grounding rod. This runs in to an eg4 6500 with one eg4 lifepower 48 volt battery. It's off grid and currently I just have a power strip hooked to the ac output.

When I touch the battery box or handles I can feel that it's electrified. Not great! When I disconnect the panels, it no longer feels electrified. I didn't mess with the grounding screw inside the 6500. It's is in whatever state it was when the unit arrived.

Any advice on what I did wrong or failed to do would be life saving... maybe literally!

 

[pvgirl]

Are the inverter and battery connected to the ground rod as well? All parts of the system need to be bonded to a ground system. If this is in the structure with an existing electrical system this new system will also need to be bonded to that system.

 

[Checkthisout]

I have 6 455 watt panels on eg4 ground mounts. I grounded the panels and mount to a grounding rod. This runs in to an eg4 6500 with one eg4 lifepower 48 volt battery. It's off grid and currently I just have a power strip hooked to the ac output.

When I touch the battery box or handles I can feel that it's electrified. Not great! When I disconnect the panels, it no longer feels electrified. I didn't mess with the grounding screw inside the 6500. It's is in whatever state it was when the unit arrived.

Any advice on what I did wrong or failed to do would be life saving... maybe literally!

You don't need to ground the array to a rod. The array should have a grounding conductor that connects to the frame of all panels and runs back to the inverter and connects to where the neutral/ground bond connects.

 

[Supervstech]

I have 6 455 watt panels on eg4 ground mounts. I grounded the panels and mount to a grounding rod. This runs in to an eg4 6500 with one eg4 lifepower 48 volt battery. It's off grid and currently I just have a power strip hooked to the ac output.

When I touch the battery box or handles I can feel that it's electrified. Not great! When I disconnect the panels, it no longer feels electrified. I didn't mess with the grounding screw inside the 6500. It's is in whatever state it was when the unit arrived.

Any advice on what I did wrong or failed to do would be life saving... maybe literally!

You are feeling the imbalance between two earthing systems… likely around 30V
Everything metal needs to be connected to the same ground system. It’s fine to have the grounded rod, but EVERYTHING needs to be connected to it.

 

[asmith66]

Thanks for the reply.

So next week I have some more pieces coming and will connect the ac output to a load center. At that point, if I understand correctly, I should run the earth ground through the panels and back to the bus bar in the load center, where I have both ground and neutral from the inverter connected.

Is this correct?

In the mean time, with my ac output connected to a power strip, should I just disconnect the earth ground for now, or should I run the earth ground as well as the power strip ground wire both to the inverter output ground?

I appreciate everyone's patience with me on this. Sometimes in life we find ourselves in places we didn't expect to be, doing things we have to to do in order to get by. So again, all your teachings and patience is greatly appreciated.

 

[Supervstech]

If you can't connect the panel ground to the inverter now, you should take care not to touch the live parts.
Any cord would suffice... how far apart are they?

 

[asmith66]

One more issue I need clarification on in my scenarios... The ground screw in both the inverter and in the load center.

In watching Will's video, since I only have one inverter and I'm off grid, the inverter screw stays in and also, on the load center, the ground screw needs to be inserted.

Is this correct?

 

[asmith66]

If you can't connect the panel ground to the inverter now, you should take care not to touch the live parts.
Any cord would suffice... how far apart

 

[asmith66]

If you can't connect the panel ground to the inverter now, you should take care not to touch the live parts.
Any cord would suffice... how far apart are they?

I'm in town this morning and running to Lowes so I can make connections. I'm just unclear on what I'm connecting.

So many sources of information and differing methods and opinions. Signature Solar are the ones that told me to ground the panels to a grounding rod.

For the next three days, I'm using the power strip. How should things be grounded?

Mid next week I'll have a load center. How should things be grounded.

Also what to do with the ground neutral screws in both the inverter and in the load center.

 

[pvgirl]

Once you have the load center I would remove the neutral ground screw in the inverter, and use the neutral ground bond in the load center. Bring all your grounds to the load centers ground bus bar. You will want a dedicated run to the ground rod.

You can find a lot of good info on grounding in our resources section: grounding-made-simpler-part-1-ac-houshold-grounding.157

 

[asmith66]

Once you have the load center I would remove the neutral ground screw in the inverter, and use the neutral ground bond in the load center. Bring all your grounds to the load centers ground bus bar. You will want a dedicated run to the ground rod.

You can find a lot of good info on grounding in our resources section: grounding-made-simpler-part-1-ac-houshold-grounding.157

Thank you. That makes sense to me.

Until then, using a power strip on the inverter ac output, can I just connect the pv panels to the inverter without the grounding rod and connect the power strips ground wire to the inverters ac output ground?

 

[pvgirl]

You will want to get as much of metal parts bonded together with ground wires that you can, especially the inverter and battery. You should leave the power ground connected.

 

[asmith66]

You will want to get as much of metal parts bonded together with ground wires that you can, especially the inverter and battery. You should leave the power ground connected.

Not sure where the answer is in your reply, but I am so very thankful for all the replies. I just didn't think grounding would be so ridiculously unclear.

 

[Supervstech]

Not sure where the answer is in your reply, but I am so very thankful for all the replies. I just didn't think grounding would be so ridiculously unclear.

Easy.
If it is metal, or has a ground connection, it needs to be connected to the same place.
The ground rod isn’t providing ground for your panels, it is the panels providing grounding to the earth.
So, EVERYTHING with exposed metal needs to be connected to it.
And THAT grounding system needs to be connected to the inverter.