A recent comment from Will Prowse about PV disconnect switches really turned a light on for me (pun intended). Especially since it contradicted some bad advice I’ve been giving people. He was saying, for lower current installations that a properly rated little polarized DC breaker makes a serviceable disconnect switch, as long as it’s ganged
Into the guts of disconnect switches Read More »
I didn’t really want to write this, but there is so much confusion about lightning protection I think I need to. Yay, an explainer video! I stole the cloud pictures (and corrected my faulty understanding of charge generation from Encylopedia Britannica. Wikipedia and web resources are cool, but Britannica is Britannica. Lightning starts off as
What is Lightning anyway, and why is it trying to destroy your solar power system Read More »
My recent video, “Solar Grounding and Bonding Demystified”, caused quite a stir. Will Prowse called it an awesome video, but lots of other folks commented that I didn’t know what I was talking about. It’s a controversial issue, and some folks think that if experts don’t agree on the solutions that they don’t need to
Preventing lightning damage to your solar Installation Read More »
If you already know all about legacy AC-coupled, grid-connected Solar power installations you might want to skip down to the paragraph titled “Planning for Upgrades” and avoid all the background stuff. A somewhat sardonic capsule history: Roof-mounted AC-coupled grid-connected PV systems are now considered legacy systems. Installed by companies at great expense for people who
Upgrading a Legacy Grid-tied, AC-coupled PV system Read More »
My experimental solar container is doing exactly what I intended it to do: Teach me how modern solar power systems work. I’m definitely drinking from a firehose, but there are some things that make me stop dead in my tracks that just don’t seem to make sense. RSD (Rapid Shutown Devices) and the requirements of
What’s with RSD? How can it even work? Read More »
“Nearly anything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough.”—Richard Feynman Historically residential solar installations were frequently sold as AC-coupled systems (microinverters or string inverters), using the grid like a storage device to yield a return on investment by reducing the amount of electricity you buy from the grid. While that is a
Deep Dive Into the EG4 18K PV Read More »
Introduction to the Solar Container Videos This is the first video in the solar container series Which I shot at the early stages of planning. As the project progressed my plans changed substantially. The overall goal is to build a high-capacity three phase system to power my shop completely. I intend to remain grid-connected but
Solar Container Project: First Video Read More »
The neverending Solar Glossary I’m starting a glossary of solar electrical terms that I will continuously add to as long as new terms that seem worth defining pop up. It may seem that the terms used are just to confuse you, but really, any technical endeavor acquires jargon so that professionals can understand exactly what
Solar Electric Glossary Read More »
Something for Everybody We are doing a solar project that will scale in stages to show how to do modern solar power projects from a simple cabin or small house off-grid, to a light industrial or commercial 3 phase system with all the stages in between. The intention is to demonstrate how versatile hybrid inverter
A Scaled Solar Project Read More »
Transcript (sort of) I saw a video recently of a BDR trip where a guy rode 60 miles round trip to the nearest town with a wheel strapped to his back to get his buddy’s tire fixed because they couldn’t repair it themselves. I know that seems crazy, but it could happen to you if
NEVER Get Stranded By A Flat Read More »
