[RE-wrenches] Xantrex/Schneider GT inverters

Anyone else having a hard time getting a hold of warranty replacements from Schneider for the Xantrex GT series inverters? What are they doing as far as warranty replacements? Waiting for bad ones to come in so that they can fix them and send them out again? I've got a customer who has bee

Re: [RE-wrenches] Tranformless inverter

double-insulated tools in the U.S. that do not require a ground wire. Bill. From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Marco Mangelsdorf Sent: Friday, October 01, 2010 11:09 AM To: 'RE-wrenches' Subject: [R

[RE-wrenches] Tranformless inverter

Bill B. wrote the following: Ungrounding the array requires additional fusing and disconnects, but the most significant difference is that the module wiring and all external cable must be PV Wire/Cable. Therefore only modules with PV Wire/Cable can be used in these systems. You must confirm

[RE-wrenches] Pulse charge controller

I'm looking for an old (as in late 1990s vintage) PM-60 48V charge controller, the kind that Pulse/Connect Energy used in their PC 250 load center. Please to contact me off-list if you might have one in good working order lying around somewhere. Thanks, marco _

[RE-wrenches] deadly fall off of roof

A 30-year-old PV installer fell to his death back in April at job site in CA. He backed off of a roof accidentally and was not wearing any fall protection. I have the official report of the accident, but the "multi-state full-service solar provider" that has "approximately 650 employees" was n

[RE-wrenches] fewer wires, mo bettah?

Check this out. Four series strings of mods on a same plane roof feeding a larger Sunny Boy or Fronius inverter. Four #10 conductors for the ungrounded, fused (at the inverter) conductors. And for the grounded conductor, a single, common, larger conductor from those four strings. So ins

[RE-wrenches] The Demise of Reason, SunPower and WEEBs

One point of clarification regarding SunPower Corp. and WEEBs having just had communication with them today on this subject. SunPower has yet to officially approve/sign off on the use of WEEBs with their metal-framed modules. They have been exploring the issue but have yet to give their seal of a

[RE-wrenches] modules and inverter poll

What is your no. 1 preferred PV module manufacturer and why? I'm not looking for a dissertation, but a sentence or two. And while I'm at it, how about inverter manufacturer as well? I'll tabulate all the answers for those interested. Thanks, marco __

[RE-wrenches] minimum service

I believe that there's a section the code that states that a residence shall have a minimum 100A service. Can anyone tell me where that is? Thanks, marco ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.o

[RE-wrenches] phase rotation wiring

There are two situations one can find when working on three-phase AC systems: a clockwise or counterclock phase rotation. Is it correct to assume that a CW rotation would be color-coded (for 120/208V) from left to right black-red-blue while CCW rotation would be, say, red-black-blue? Or whe

[RE-wrenches] Aluminum conduit LBs

By golly you're right, Dick. Thanks. What's weird is that this particular 2 1/2" LB could not handle more than 4/0 conductors. I guess that it wasn't made by T&B. marco Marco, --- You wrote: I looked at the Thomas and Betts spec sheet kindly supplied by Ratico on their LB offerings and there

[RE-wrenches] Aluminum conduit LBs

uns intact. I'm looking at an upcoming installation where I would like to use 1-1/4" EMT, but will need 1-1/2" conduit bodies to be ok with wire fill. -Hans _ From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Ma

[RE-wrenches] Aluminum conduit LBs

Anyone know where I could go to find out the max conductor sizes that threaded Al. LBs can handle? I learned the hard way that a conduit of X inches that can handle conductors of a certain size does not necessarily mean that a LB of the same diameter can handle the same size conductors. Tha

[RE-wrenches] 3-phase kWh meters

Anyone know where to go for reconditioned 3-phase kWh meters (other than Austin International)? Thanks, marco ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches

[RE-wrenches] #10 THWN-2

I've been looking hard to see what manufacturers produce this kinda elusive #10 THHN/THWN-2 wire. United Copper Industries (Texas) does. I have a handy spec sheet from them that I can email anyone who's interested. marco ___ List sponsored by Home Po

[RE-wrenches] #10 THWN-2

Finding that wire in these here parts is pretty much impossible. Can any of my CA. brethren/sistren provide me any leads on wholesalers in either northern or southern CA. that carry #10 THWN-2 wire? Thanks, marco ___ List sponsored by Home Po

[RE-wrenches] calculating DC voltage drop

When calculating the voltage drop from a PV array to the inverter, what's the most common accepted practice? To use the Isc X 1.25 or 1.56 as the multiplier? Thanks, marco ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@list

[RE-wrenches] desperately seeking MC4 connectors

Anyone have any line on some MC4s or have some, even a paltry quantity, that they're willing to part with? Thanks, marco ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.

[RE-wrenches] GT 3.0 FAILURES

In my experience as well the Xantrex GT line of inverters has been fraught with failures with one site having three failed buggers until I had had enough and switched to a comparable SMA product. marco I am replacing some GT 3.0 multiple times. Though Xantrex pays the labor, this is still a

Re: [RE-wrenches] MC 4 connectors

, LLC PO Box 657 Petaluma, CA 94953 Cell: 707-321-2937 Office: 707-789-9537 Fax: 707-769-9037 _ From: Marco Mangelsdorf To: RE-wrenches Sent: Tue, May 18, 2010 11:13:02 AM Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] MC 4 connectors Have you ever tried to get a return phone call from Multi-Conta

Re: [RE-wrenches] MC 4 connectors

Have you ever tried to get a return phone call from Multi-Contact in Petaluma? Rots of ruck.. Is Wieland a manufacturer of knock-off MC connectors? marco Marco: Multicontact or Wieland. William Miller At 10:43 AM 5/18/2010, you wrote: Content-Type: multipart/alternative;

[RE-wrenches] MC 4 connectors

Anyone have a good line on MC 4 locking connectors? Thanks, marco ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org

[RE-wrenches] Solmetric Suneye 210

Has anyone had any experience with the fairly new Solmetric Suneye 210 shading analysis tool? Feedback and observations? Or how about with their earlier version the Suneye 110? Thanks, marco provision_highres_solar_logo2 with C-26351 Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad

Re: [RE-wrenches] current carrying conductor

How about some clear definitions-for-dummies of 1) linear loads and 2) non-linear loads? marco Marco: Will non-linear loads be expected? If so, the neutral is considered to be a current carrying conductor and needs to be counted. If no non-linear loads, then the neutral is not counted.

[RE-wrenches] current carrying conductor

Thanks for sending that link, William. OK.let's try it from a different perspective. When you're running, say, three three-phase hot conductors from point A to point B with a neutral conductor, should that neutral be considered "current carrying" from the perspective of more than three "cur

[RE-wrenches] current carrying conductor

I have a disbelieving business partner who believes that the neutral conductor in a standard 120/240VAC service is a current carrying conductor. Could someone please disabuse him of that notion? Thanks, marco ___ List sponsored by Home Power

[RE-wrenches] Enphase performance

.com 360.510.0433 On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 11:36 AM, Marco Mangelsdorf wrote: I just don't understand why going over 20 percent of module nameplate to nameplate inverter rating makes any sense. I regularly see 120-130 percent of nameplate amperage coming off of the array on our office du

[RE-wrenches] Enphase performance

I just don't understand why going over 20 percent of module nameplate to nameplate inverter rating makes any sense. I regularly see 120-130 percent of nameplate amperage coming off of the array on our office due to edge of cloud. So I have to disagree with Dana in this instance. I see this

[RE-wrenches] FW: Enphase performance

Marco, I have a revenue grade kWh meter on my 3 Enphase 175 system that is owned by the utility (production based incentive in WA state) and the Enphase monitoring reads about 6% over the revenue meter. This has been over a one year period. I've been very pleased with the performance using eit

[RE-wrenches] Enphase performance

My biz partner has an Enphase system with BP Solar mods. He believes that the web-based monitoring system may be reporting on the high side as far as kWH performance over time. That is, he suspects that what he's seeing may not be accurate. Anyone out there have a similar experience?

[RE-wrenches] Solmetric Suneye 210

Anyone have a line on a well-priced Solmetric Suneye 210? The cheapest I've found so far comes to a bit under $1,900. Thanks. marco provision_highres_solar_logo2 with C-26351 Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808) 969-3281, 934-7462

[RE-wrenches] suggested scary language

For a high voltage DC junction box? As in "touch these wires and die" or something similar? Thanks, marco provision_highres_solar_logo2 with C-26351 Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808) 969-3281, 934-7462 f

[RE-wrenches] looking for Enphase

As in Enphase 190s, S11 version, with the MC3 connectors. As in about 100 of 'em. Anyone have any suggested sources? Thanks, marco ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & setti

[RE-wrenches] Volcanos, reduced solar production and kWh performance warranties

anty deferred to the tire maker's warranty (for tires), etc. Any similarity? - Original Message - From: Marco Mangelsdorf <mailto:ma...@pvthawaii.com> To: 'RE-wrenches' <mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2010 10:02 PM Subj

[RE-wrenches] Volcanos, reduced solar production and kWh performance warranties

This thread brings up a very timely issue that I’m dealing with right now with PV Power Purchase Providers. As an integrator providing turnkey PV systems of X kW, I’m being asked to contractually agree to a minimum performance warranty for said PV systems. I am EXTREMELY uncomfortable to any s

[RE-wrenches] Volcanos and reduced solar production

Pat, Kicked your butts as far as lower output? If so, by how much on a percentage basis? On the Big Island of Hawaii, we've had a very active volcano doing its thing since 1983. With the normal trade winds, the vog (volcanic smoke + fog) gets blown south past the volcano, around the south

[RE-wrenches] Hans Petersen

Very sad news about Hans. Can anyone tell me who he was working for there in S.F. and whether he was wearing any kind of safety gear? Thanks, marco ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Op

[RE-wrenches] prof liabilty insurance

difference between a kW and kWh. Thanks, marco provision_highres_solar_logo2 with C-26351 Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808) 969-3281, 934-7462 facsimile <http://www.provisiontechnologies.com> ww

Re: [RE-wrenches] DC lightning arrestors

high voltage unit is the 602, there are units available from other manufacturers but they are a boat load of money and still require prayer. Bob On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 6:31 PM, Marco Mangelsdorf wrote: Is the best one can do as far as high DC array voltage the Delta LA602? Didn't they

[RE-wrenches] DC lightning arrestors

Is the best one can do as far as high DC array voltage the Delta LA602? Didn't they used to have a high voltage version of the LA302DC? Thanks, marco provision_highres_solar_logo2 with C-26351 Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808

Re: [RE-wrenches] low cost DAS systems

Chris, I've had one of my guys research this same question a while ago and the conclusion was the as far as low-cost DAS systems, Fat Spaniel was the big winner, as in under $1,000 which includes a year's worth of monitoring. Cheers, marco Good Day Wrenches, I'm looking fo

[RE-wrenches] combiner boxes

Anyone know who makes a 30-circuit combiner in a NEMA4 non-metallic or stainless enclosure with a string-level monitoring capability? Thanks, marco provision_highres_solar_logo2 with C-26351 Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808) 969-3281, 934

[RE-wrenches] calculating DC voltage line loss

Can anyone pass on a good website address that provides the means to calculate DC line loss over distance? The ones that I've come across don't allow for entering in whatever you want as far as specified DC voltage. Thanks, marco provision_highres_solar_logo2 with C-26

[RE-wrenches] Rennsteig Crimper

them. On another subject, have any of you used the Schletter-brand mounting hardware? Any comments? Thanks, marco provision_highres_solar_logo2 with C-26351 Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808) 969-3281, 934-7462 facsim

[RE-wrenches] Walt Ratterman

I heard that fellow Wrench Walt Ratterman is MIA in Haiti. Anyone have any news? marco ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-

[RE-wrenches] kW/MW v. kWh/MWh

I'm reading a piece on energy storage in the latest issue of Distributed Energy mag. The writer, Lyn Corum, repeatedly refers to the capacity of storage mediums (thermal, compressed air, flywheel, battery) in kW and MW terms. Heck, even my friends at Beacon Power refer to their flywheel sys

[RE-wrenches] Enphase 210s

Are the Enphase 210s only compatible with the Sanyo mods? Thanks, marco ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrench

[RE-wrenches] Power Factor and Grid Tied PV

According to an article, written by a utility engineer on O'ahu, PF can be worsened at the site where a substantial PV system is located. If there is a poor or wavering PF due to an abundance of inductive loads at a particular site, having a large inverter, in relation to the overall power consump

[RE-wrenches] Andalay and Lowes

Mr. Cinnamon's company, Akeena Solar, has accumulated over $48 million in losses from 2006 through Q3 2009, according to public documents since they're a publicly-traded company (http://ir.akeena.com/annuals.cfm). He now apparently believes that he can turn a profit by commodifying PV through h

[RE-wrenches] Fronius IG Plus line

r two poles like the SMA Sunny Boys. I'd appreciate any education on this. Thanks, marco provision_highres_solar_logo2 with C-26351 Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808) 969-3281, 934-7462 facsimile <http://www.provisi

[RE-wrenches] SB 7000U failure

Our friends at SMA are taking today off. Does anyone know what a "Disturbance-Shut Down" error message actually means? According to the manual, it means "internal overcurrent continuous." But that really doesn't tell me much. Thanks, Marco ProVision _

Re: [RE-wrenches] performance matters

Hence the need to be able to present objective, 3rd party-collected performance data demonstrably showing the superior performance of one brand over another. marco Marco: Good point, but how does a consumer quantify the expected long term harvest and reliability of a solar electric system?

[RE-wrenches] peformance matters

The common metric for many consumers when considering a PV system purchase is the $/watt cost of the installed system. This misleading metric allows low-priced bottom feeders (those licensed and unlicensed contractors working out of their garage or storage spaces) to clobber those of us who pay al

[RE-wrenches] Enphase track record

Can anyone think of a more brutal environment for a piece of electronic equipment than under a solar module which day in and day out experiences the elements and temperatures of 130+ plus F? Despite any so-called accelerated life-cycle testing and estimated mean time to failure probabilities, n

Re: [RE-wrenches] REC modules

And REC Solar had HUGE recall earlier this year to the tune of tens of millions of . marco No, IMHO. A polycrystalline module is never going to be "top shelf". First Quality would be Sunpower, Solarworld, Sanyo, Check the new CEC module ratings. Apparently most modules were fur

[RE-wrenches] Canadian Solar modules

"Canadian" Solar modules are most definitely made in China. I guess they couldn't get away with branding "American Solar" and probably didn't want "Mexican Solar." Heck, everyone likes Canadians. The "Strong frame" is not very rigid and flexes too much like most Chinese modules. - Original

[RE-wrenches] Pulse combiner box

I'm looking for some of those old-style fuseholders for the Pulse brand combiner box. I could use a half dozen of them. Anyone have any out there that they would be willing to sell? Thanks, marco provision_highres_solar_logo2_final Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad A

[RE-wrenches] Siemens SR-100 low power warranty claim--who do I call?

Mick, I'll be very interested in what kind of response you get from Solarworld since they're now twice removed from Siemens (Arco Solar to Siemens to Shell to Solarworld). I would have a hard time believing that any PV manufacturer is going to want to take on the liabilities from two comp

[RE-wrenches] module pricing

_highres_solar_logo2 with C-26351 Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808) 969-3281, 934-7462 facsimile <http://www.provisiontechnologies.com> www.provision-solar.com <>___ List sponsored

[RE-wrenches] fed grant

In order to get the 30 percent federal grant rather than the 30 percent ITC, is there any requirement that the equipment used be American made? Thanks, marco provision_highres_solar_logo2 with C-26351 Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808) 969

[RE-wrenches] Enphase comparison

To those of you who have installed PV systems in, say, the 2-4 kW range using Enphase inverters, how would you compare the labor time and installation materials (wire, conduit, hardware, etc.) to a standard system design using a single inverter? Longer? Shorter? More or less materials? If e

[RE-wrenches] Solar Installers Education

I second a lot of what Peter says. And believe that it ain't gonna get nuttin' but worse over time as grid-tie PV becomes more mainstream. I think it's pretty much inevitable that a serious fire or two or serious injury or death or two due to incompetence and a poorly installed system is gonna w

[RE-wrenches] Chinese solar cells and modules and pricing

I'm seeing ~ $2.60/watt from a major Chinese manufacturer for a modest volume purchase. What are you all seeing as far as $/watt? marco Joel, Since late last year we've been stocking the Yingli 175w single-crystal modules. They seem dependable, haven't heard of any problems with them. Earlier in

Re: [RE-wrenches] sales to-date

Travis, Given the high cost for electricity here in Hawaii and both the federal and state tax credits available here, we've had a pretty solid 2009 so far and been at about the same revenue level as last year. We're a very small market out here compared to other states. And we're starting to see

[RE-wrenches] sales to-date

Compared to the first five months of last year, how would any of you who care to respond compare your year-to-date sales in 2009? Thanks, marco Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808) 969-3281, 934-7462 facsimile www.provision-sola

[RE-wrenches] Fronius IG Plus

Any of you have experience with the new Fronius IG Plus inverters in the 8 kW to 12 kW range? Good, bad, beautiful, ugly? Thanks, marco Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808) 969-3281, 934-7462 facsimile www.provision-sola

[RE-wrenches] Beam me up, Sunny!

Does anyone have any used, working SMA Sunny Beams that they'd be willing to sell or know of any anywhere? Thanks, marco Marco Mangelsdorf, President 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808) 969-3281, 934-7462 facsimile <http://www.provisiontechnologies.com&g

[RE-wrenches] SunPower Corp

I'd appreciate getting in contact with all SunPower Corp. dealers on the List. Please email me off-list. Thanks, marco cid:image001.jpg@01C6D004.C865A8F0 Marco Mangelsdorf, Ph.D., President Electrical Contractor License C-26351 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720

[RE-wrenches] Mounting system for array on a metal roof

In Hawaii, we have a lot of steel-framed buildings with z-bar steel purlins supporting the metal roof. My attachment means of choice is using T-5 screws (#12 x 24 threads per inch). These buggers are self-drillers with a carbon steel shank and drill point and stainless steel hex head cap with rub

[RE-wrenches] fed tax credit

The renewed and expanded ITC..does that still maintain the 20-year max limit to be able to claim that tax credit? Thanks, marco cid:image001.jpg@01C6D004.C865A8F0 Marco Mangelsdorf, Ph.D., President Electrical Contractor License C-26351 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720

Re: [RE-wrenches] SS Tek Crews

Peter, Would a #12 2" self-driller with a carbon steel shank and stainless steel hex head with attached washer do? I use the T-5 Scots screws that I get from Dynamic Fasteners. I use them to attach ProSolar al. mounting rails directly through roof metal and into a 14g or 16g z-bar purlin. (I use

[RE-wrenches] 300A panel

I know that it's an oddball size, but I'm looking for a 300A indoor, surface-mounted 120/240V distribution panel. Anyone know of an available model and manufacturer out there? Thanks, marco Marco Mangelsdorf, Ph.D., President Electrical Contractor License C-26351 69 Railroad Avenue

[RE-wrenches] Fronius IG Plus

Does anyone know if Fronius is actually shipping their higher output IG Plus line? Do any distributors actually have some on their shelves? Thanks, marco Marco Mangelsdorf, Ph.D., President Electrical Contractor License C-26351 69 Railroad Avenue, A-7 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 (808) 969-3281

[RE-wrenches] crystalline VS uni-solar and beyond

Joel, I've been either a participant or observer of the PV field/industry as long as most greybeards in the field. And ever since my entry in the RE biz in the 1970s, the promise from the touters of thin films has been: 1) their product was going to revolutionize the industry, 2) their product

<    1   2   3   4