Good evening Wrenchers, I too have observed this overlooked detail over the last couple decades and always tried to make sure this wasn’t overlooked in the initial design phase. Obviously we often aren’t given the ideal palette we want to build on especially with system upgrades or in newly allocated system placements. For some reason it seems to me it was a little less ideal in the past due to off gassing and frequently accessed lead acid battery boxes but still to this day I cringe a little (much like Jason maybe) every time I see a photo of a poorly planned equipment room but I try to remind myself there are always variables I may not be aware of.
Of course as Jerry and others have mentioned since it’s part of the same system it is likely interpreted to be an acceptable installation practice. Luckily in our jurisdiction some of these details are overlooked anyway and it’s the silly things like a missing sticker that they’ll dwell on but nevertheless I always do my best to adhere to articles 110 and 240 when designing equipment room layouts. One strategy that worked well for me on a recent installation with 32 KWH’s of Blue Ions and a couple of Radians was to build out a cove/soffit roughly 14” deep to hang the Radians and wireway. This allowed the Blue Ion 2 cabinets to slide under all of the power conversion equipment which then put nearly everything in a flush vertical plane so 110.26(A)3 was not violated. Also even with their older cabinet at 42.5” high I was still able to have the 10” wire way and GSLC meet 240.24(A) so that none of the overcurrent handles exceeded 79”. I was pushing near this limit by the time the nipples/stubs were mounted in between the wireway and GSLC but their newest cabinet is back to their original height of just 39” so there will be a little more leeway on future installs with this approach. Of course the newer cabinet is 31’5” deep now as well so the cove would need to be closer to 22” deep for everything to line up. If Fortress is your go to battery I believe the eVault is under 39” also so it would work with this layout as well. The framed out upper cove/soffit which to mount the equipment on was built in under a day even after I mudded and taped the drywall and then one more day was added for the client’s laborer to paint it to match the room but ultimately I was very satisfied with this approach and intend to do so on future installations when I have control over all the details early on. Materials cost less than $200 to build it out in this manner. This thread has been a blend of Jason’s original questions of the "Best Lipo battery for Sol-Ark” and “Working Spaces" so I guess I’ll jump on the bandwagon and break best practices for proper thread management as well (ha) and also second Jerry’s recommendation for Blue Planet. Out of all the distributors and manufacturers I’ve ever worked with I can truly say they are my favorite by a long shot. They are to the renewable energy industry what Ben & Jerry’s is to ice cream and Patagonia is to gear. I try to avoid saying anything is the best because what is best for one application may not be for another but I can say my 45th cabinet felt just as rewarding to install as my 1st. I wish I had had the same passion to support all the other providers as much as I do Blue Planet but then nobody delivers like Blue Planet. Also, full disclosure, I’ve yet to install it with a Sol-Ark but I just learned yesterday that the Sol-Ark will communicate with the BMS and restart the battery cabinet up from a cold start on either the DC coupled side or AC side, that is cool, hats off to both company’s for tackling that. Nick Lucchese Aloha All, I just had a plan reviewer kick out our plans for this very reason! Sol-Ark 12kw mounted above a Blue Ion 2.0 cabinet. Lucky on this job I have the space to offset the 2 pieces of equipment so I didn't push back at all. But it will definitely be a problem in a lot of future installs. Not to mention aesthetically it doesn't look very neat and tidy. I am think that the wording of 110.26(E) (1) (a) and 110.26(E) (2) (c) may be my ticket: "No piping, ducts, leak protection apparatus, or other equipment foreign to the electrical installation shall be located in this zone" I have to think that the battery is not foreign to the electrical installation. Any thoughts? Aloha, Lou Russo (808) 345 6762 >> Jason Szumlanski <mailto:[email protected]> January 31, 2021 >> at 11:27 AM >> I'm seeing a lot of pictures of LiPO battery systems and people are mounting >> equipment above them like load centers, inverters with disconnects, and >> other serviceable enclosures. Some of these battery systems are 24 inches >> deep or more. This seems to violate NEC 110.26 requirements for the other >> serviceable equipment, but the pictures are proudly displayed as models of >> success. Even slender Tesla Powerwalls stick out significantly when stacked >> 2 or 3 deep and would be more than 6 inches deeper than a standard load >> center. Sure, the battery cabinets make great places to rest tools while >> working, but does anyone else see this as problematic? >> >> Jason Szumlanski >> Florida Solar Design Group >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> >> List Address: [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]> >> >> Change listserver email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org> >> >> There are two list archives for searching. 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