Yokemate of Keyboards
Posts: 4977 from 2009/1/28
From: Delaware, USA
Quote:ASiegel wrote:
Quote:
amigadave wrote:
I'm also sure that solar requirements are different in the EU, than they are in the USA.
Absolutely. You can read about some differences between Germany and the US
here.
That said, I was broadly referring to the situation in the US.
Quote:
A permit is required here from the Building & Saftey Department that has jurisdiction, which in my case would be Siskiyou County, as I do not live within any city limits, and am not subject to any city building department requirements, only the county requirements (which are mostly uniform, throughout the whole country, where electric is concerned). Cities and Counties are allowed to have variances to the International Building Code, but only for local weather and geologic conditions. Many/most cities and counties in the USA have adopted the National Electric Code, and not any International Electrical Code, unless things have changed a lot in the last few years. As a retired Chief Building Official, I know a bit about these things.
Given your experience in this area, I am sure you know the difference between a free-standing solar array and a roof-mounted one. As I wrote, it depends on the use case - as well as your local laws. (As you will also know, there are places in the US without any building code restrictions.)
Not every solar set up is the same and not everybody puts panels on their home's roof.
In the US, free standing panels are no longer common, and except for a few agricultural applications and some small temporary structures like sheds, virtually all construction requires building permits.
But who you have to get them from (city, county or state) varies.
However, panel stands and pole mounts are still available and could alleviate any concerns over roof mounted panels.
Currently, panels commonly used in residential applications top out at about 300 watts output, but there are panels that put out as much as 500 watts.
So even a small array can be capable of significant output depending on the choice of panels used.
Line/grid tie systems now predominate in all applications except those in extremely remote locations, to provide electricity when the sun does not shine, and to allow the excess to be feed back into the electrical grid to lower your overall consumption.
Some of the panels now come with standardized connectors eliminating the need (at least at the panels) for hand wiring.
These components steadily improve, so any text/book references you might find can become rapidly out dated.
But there are plenty of resources on the internet to educate yourself on this subject.
"Never attribute to malice what can more readily explained by incompetence"
