Export Power via Solar Inverter DIY

[21st Century Pony]

Because it’s not idiot-proof. A transfer switch or breaker interlock makes it physically impossible to backfeed the grid no matter who does (or forgets to do) anything.

It's code to have a lockout on my solar feed line in my Virginia location.

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[Hammered]

I've helped various friends and family with a dozen or so backfeed situations and always write out the procedure on the panel itself with numbers at the location the step is to be performed, especially in a load-shed scenario.

Interlocks are preferred but not always practical. Are there any power companies these days not following the earth the primary procedure? All lines should be treated as if they're energized. Fortunately proper training and procedures have made such things almost non-existent, but every now and then a trainee gets hit.

Generators however are still quite deadly, but not due to electrocution. Carbon monoxide kills about 100 people a year.

 

[mkhuffman]

Because it’s not idiot-proof. A transfer switch or breaker interlock makes it physically impossible to backfeed the grid no matter who does (or forgets to do) anything.

Opening the main breaker is good enough. There is no backfeed if the breaker is open. Certainly it isn't idiot proof, but driving a car isn't idiot proof either.

 

[Maquis]

Opening the main breaker is good enough. There is no backfeed if the breaker is open. Certainly it isn't idiot proof, but driving a car isn't idiot proof either.

The NEC doesn’t cover driving a car. It does cover connection of backup power. You can do whatever you like. Have a nice evening.

 

[mkhuffman]

The NEC doesn’t cover driving a car. It does cover connection of backup power. You can do whatever you like. Have a nice evening.

I will! Hope you have a nice evening as well!

 

[i8iridium]

I've helped various friends and family with a dozen or so backfeed situations and always write out the procedure on the panel itself with numbers at the location the step is to be performed, especially in a load-shed scenario.

Interlocks are preferred but not always practical. Are there any power companies these days not following the earth the primary procedure? All lines should be treated as if they're energized. Fortunately proper training and procedures have made such things almost non-existent, but every now and then a trainee gets hit.

Generators however are still quite deadly, but not due to electrocution. Carbon monoxide kills about 100 people a year.

Killing a lineman is always the go to when someone talks about back feeding. I’m not a proponent of a back feed without an interlock, but I do agree that it has its place in certain situations. Anyway, yes there’s always procedures to earth the primary lines before they start work. Secondly, your little 5k generator is gonna trip out almost immediately trying to energize the energize the neighborhood lol

 

[Maquis]

Killing a lineman is always the go to when someone talks about back feeding. I’m not a proponent of a back feed without an interlock, but I do agree that it has its place in certain situations. Anyway, yes there’s always procedures to earth the primary lines before they start work. Secondly, your little 5k generator is gonna trip out almost immediately trying to energize the energize the neighborhood lol

The problem arises when the downed wires are the ones between the pole and the mast on your house. Your backup power isn’t energizing anything beyond the downed wires. What happens when the lineman checks the wires, they’re dead, so he grabs them, goes up in the bucket and is splicing them when you decide to backfeed your house?

It’s just too easy to do it right.

 

[mkhuffman]

The problem arises when the downed wires are the ones between the pole and the mast on your house. Your backup power isn’t energizing anything beyond the downed wires. What happens when the lineman checks the wires, they’re dead, so he grabs them, goes up in the bucket and is splicing them when you decide to backfeed your house?

It’s just too easy to do it right.

I don't have overhead lines coming into my house. It is all buried. When the power goes out it is always outside of my neighborhood. My generator can't power my neighborhood for sure. So the probability of me hurting anyone with a backfeed is practically zero. Especially because I disconnect my main breaker.

 

[Maquis]

I don't have overhead lines coming into my house. It is all buried. When the power goes out it is always outside of my neighborhood. My generator can't power my neighborhood for sure. So the probability of me hurting anyone with a backfeed is practically zero. Especially because I disconnect my main breaker.

Like I said yesterday, do it the way you want.

 

[21st Century Pony]

I don't have overhead lines coming into my house. It is all buried. When the power goes out it is always outside of my neighborhood. My generator can't power my neighborhood for sure. So the probability of me hurting anyone with a backfeed is practically zero. Especially because I disconnect my main breaker.

...even when there is no one at the house during a power outage and the linemen are out repairing the grid?

I understand that is the reason my Virginia jurisdiction enforces a disconnect box available on an outside wall... for the lineman to reach without guessing about the presence or absence of inhabitants across multiple houses.

 

[Maquis]

...even when there is no one at the house during a power outage and the linemen are out repairing the grid?

I understand that is the reason my Virginia jurisdiction enforces a disconnect box available on an outside wall... for the lineman to reach without guessing about the presence or absence of inhabitants across multiple houses.

The 2023 NEC now requires external disconnects on all new services. The primary justification for the requirement was for firemen to deenergize a burning house, not for utility workers.

 

[21st Century Pony]

The 2023 NEC now requires external disconnects on all new services. The primary justification for the requirement was for firemen to deenergize a burning house, not for utility workers.

I appreciate the 2023 national code justification. I see its importance.

Back in 2007 when I had my PV system installed, the local PV installer and the county inspector both assured me (together - I was present) that my local densely populated county had a then-above NEC outside cutoff switch requirement precisely to ease the workload, the potential danger, and the overall event response time for the linemen responding to a power outage / downed power line in a dense built-up environment.

 

[mkhuffman]

...even when there is no one at the house during a power outage and the linemen are out repairing the grid?

I understand that is the reason my Virginia jurisdiction enforces a disconnect box available on an outside wall... for the lineman to reach without guessing about the presence or absence of inhabitants across multiple houses.

They just pop off the meter. That's what they do when they are working on a line at a house.

 

[21st Century Pony]

They just pop off the meter. That's what they do when they are working on a line at a house.

...or they switch the cutoff to OFF. That's what they do when the area mandates outside cutoff boxes. Besides, this also preserves the utility's meter box no-tamper seal.

I frankly like our local method as simpler.

 

[mkhuffman]

...or they switch the cutoff to OFF. That's what they do when the area mandates outside cutoff boxes. Besides, this also preserves the utility's meter box no-tamper seal.

I frankly like our local method as simpler.

So does that mean any Joe can just walk by your house and turn your power off?

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