Hi Jeff
Can you comment on the fact that these Enphase converters need 240ac volts
(grid connection) to run? This means that if ever the power supplier
locally ever shuts down for more than a long period of time that these
Enphase units become useless. Around my neck of the woods we are getting
more and more power outages lasting longer and longer. These inverters
require being connected to the grid to function.
I understand the safety requirement and it needing to do this to be
certified but it really limits the home owner (or cottage owner in my case).
Have you ever worked on a system that was more practical? That qualified for
the grid program but was useful when detached from the grid? Seems to me if
ever the power company decides to cancel the program you may be stuck with
40 inverters that are useless and are 200 dollars each.
Any comments are thankful,
Regards
Tom
"Tom" wrote in message
...
Thank you sir for your expertise again.
Very much appreciated.
73s
"Jeff Liebermann" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 2 Aug 2015 07:15:26 -0400, "Tom" wrote:
That is it in a nutshell. I am waiting for approval for the program, If
approved then I can go forward to begin purchasing the system and start
building it.
One more potential problem. Enphase has an online monitoring system
at:
https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com
https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public_systems
I suggest that you eventually sign up as a system owner. You can
download the data and create your own graphs such as:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/solar/380732/total-energy-21040613-20150213.jpg
Incidentally, you can query the Envoy controller directly either via a
web interface or using a graphing program (MRTG):
http://blog.tinle.org/?p=111
http://pvoutput.org
http://pvoutput.org/outputs.jsp
None of the system owners I deal with want me to do this, so I haven't
bothered to try it.
Now that I'm thinking about it, you might run into another problem.
The People's Republic of Santa Cruz (county) uses the NFPA NEC code
which now demands 2ft of clearance between the roof peak and the solar
panels. This clear area is for ventilating the roof should the house
catch fire. I have some issues with this requirement because it
significantly reduces the available roof area for panels for no
benefit because the other side of a typical hip roof is usually clear
of solar panels. You might want to check whether this is a
requirement in your area. I have some docs on the topic if becomes a
problem.
Good luck.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558