I think Rapid Shutdown should be scrapped professionally and personally.
It was ill conceived and ill written. Anyone willing to join me in a
petition to CMP 44 and the like, contact me off list.
To your question directly, you have a ground mounted system and you are
not subject to 690.12 unless your conductors are "in or on building"
which i cannot seem to find what that actually means. Exempted are
buildings that are isolated only for the PV system This is a big win for
installers as almost everyone installs systems like this....... Right.
They used to have a dimension to this, but I guess that gave
installers too much information. This is a stupid Code addition for roof
mounted pv systems, disguised as protecting Firefighters, but not doing
so in reality. The NEC looks politically compromised by consultants and
manufacturers who too advantage of this fear mongering. No other country
with a pv industry has historically done this. Why are installers not up
in arms about this?
This is the NEC reference.
690.12 Rapid Shutdown of PV Systems on Buildings. PV system circuits
installed on or in buildings shall include a rapid shutdown function to
reduce shock hazard for emergency responders in accordance with
690.12(A) through (D).
If your system is ground mounted, you are outside the "altruistic"
intent of 690.12 of protecting Firefighters. Put a initiation device
disconnect switch at the array. Any supporters of RS should chime in
with the support of 690.12 and add clarity and guidance to those of us
who actually install systems and have to deal with this baloney. 690.12
has caused more problems for multimode systems than any tariffs, which
are bad enough. I don' think the industry needs any more "safe design
and installation" assistance from the CMPs involved with this issue.
Chris Warfel
On 2018-08-23 00:31, Ray wrote:
> Greetings fellow wrenches;
>
> I know we have beat this many times but I once again have not been able to
> resolve the contradictory information in 690 in regards to implementing
> 690.12. As Rebekah Hren pointed out before, the diagrams shown in Figure
> 690.1(b) show that the _PV System DC Circuit_ stops at the _PV Disconnect_.
> Note 2 says specifically the '_PV Disconnect separates the PV system from all
> other systems_'. But then in the definitions in 690.2 on the next page, the
> new definition of a _P__V System DC Circuit_ says that it includes DC to DC
> converter output circuits. (which are Solar Edge module level controls, but
> could be interpreted as a MPPT battery charge Controller?)
>
> Then 690.12 which only applies to '_PV System circuits in or on buildings_',
> says we have to control conductors more than 3 ft after penetrating the
> building.
>
> So in my case, I'm looking at a ground mount, and installing an external
> lockable disconnect on the wall before it goes into the building. This will
> officially be the PV Disconnect. In my interpretation, I should not need to
> do any Rapid Shutdown, because I've essentially prevented the _PV system_
> from ever entering the building at all ( based on the 5th diagram and Note 2)
> However, I could see an AHJ claiming I had to do RS all the way to the
> output side of the charge controller.
>
> If this were true, could I simply apply RS equipment from the PV disconnect
> to the output of the charge controller, or am I back to module level shutdown
> for my ground mounted array, or could I build a tiny building that just
> housed the PV Disconnect and take the exemption for '_buildings with the sole
> purpose of housing PV system equipment_'?
>
> Essentially the definitions in 690.2 are too broad, and are at odds with the
> Figure and Notes of 690.1. They really didn't fix this in the 2017 code for
> us lowly off gridders. Charge controllers are covered by article 706.23
> _Charge Control_, and NOT by 690.12 at all. IMHO, the charge controller needs
> to be clearly defined and differentiated from DC to DC converters like Solar
> Edge's module level DC equipment.
>
> I just want to go back to doing solar designs and installations, and quit
> acting like an attorney parsing every word of this confusing code language.
>
> --
> Ray Walters
> Remote Solar
> 303 505-8760
>
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