Florida Power and Light: Regulations for home solar installations

Re:Florida Power and Light: Regulations for home solar insta... by ams6110 on Tuesday September 19, 2017 @08:31AM (#15284031)

It sounds reasonable but the way to do this is with a device called a transfer switch. It's used on any proper installation of local power such as a home generator. When the utility power is out, the transfer switch cuts over to local power. There is no feedback to the outside power lines; the transfer switch disconnects them. Are home generators illegal also?

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Re:Florida Power and Light: Regulations for home solar insta... by kbutler on Tuesday September 19, 2017 @09:35AM (#15284428)

The last item in the link I provided requires:

"All renewable energy systems that do not utilize a U.L. 1741 listed inverter to feed power to FPL require a manual, visual load break disconnect switch"

The UL 1741 specification describes inverters that do precisely that switching function (https://www.homepower.com/articles/solar-electricity/equipme...)

So basically, "You have to install a safe system that won't fry our workers when they're trying to restore power."

I support that.

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Re:Florida Power and Light: Regulations for home solar insta... by ortusdux on Tuesday September 19, 2017 @10:31AM (#15284916)

My generator backup system has this. The generator is fed into the box and routed through a breaker. This breaker will only switch on if the mains is off. In addition to safety, it just make sense to not dump your generator's energy into the grid.

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Re:Florida Power and Light: Regulations for home solar insta... by philplckthun on Tuesday September 19, 2017 @08:35AM (#15284057)

Seems like requiring such a switch would have been a more reasonable regulation in this case. Isn't this already legally required in other countries, when feeding power back into the grid?

> Are home generators illegal also?

If the quote is accurate then they are not: "Renewable generator systems". So why does it make a difference to law makers? This sounds utterly bonkers

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Re:Florida Power and Light: Regulations for home solar insta... by _dingus on Tuesday September 19, 2017 @08:59AM (#15284197)

That's literally exactly what the rule is asking for. See (4)(c) here https://www.flrules.org/gateway/RuleNo.asp?ID=25-6.065

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Re:Florida Power and Light: Regulations for home solar insta... by OwlsParliament on Tuesday September 19, 2017 @08:51AM (#15284156)

Presumably it matters to lawmakers because they've been paid to neuter solar panel systems.

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Re:Florida Power and Light: Regulations for home solar insta... by phasetransition on Tuesday September 19, 2017 @09:23AM (#15284337)

Note 7 on the same page linked above would seem to set up the guidelines for grid tie switches.

The language here appears similar to the way the NEC is written, which can seem confusing unless you use it all the time (as I do). If one had a transfer switch, the renewable generator would no longer be grid tied.

The NEC is full of statements of this style, and often without specific references to the underlying section that defines, e.g. the times where a transfer switch is legal. The code expects you to view it as a whole, and be familiar with the interlocking sections.

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Re:Florida Power and Light: Regulations for home solar insta... by post_break on Tuesday September 19, 2017 @09:58AM (#15284632)

My gf's parents have this. They can back feed into the house by disconnecting the power lines. From what I understand the utility companies still do not like working on lines when they hear generators because some people do not isolate and can back feed into the grid somehow. At least that's what I've been told.

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Re:Florida Power and Light: Regulations for home solar insta... by ams6110 on Tuesday September 19, 2017 @10:28AM (#15284890)

Some people do stupid things like plugging a generator into a wall socket to feed the house without a transfer switch. I would be wary too if I were a utility worker.

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Re:Florida Power and Light: Regulations for home solar insta... by CamperBob2 on Tuesday September 19, 2017 @10:38AM (#15285015)

As an aside, I find it hard to believe those people work on lines without shorting them out. That would be like cleaning a gun without unloading it first. I'd need to see some actual statistics on electrocution hazards due to backfeed before I sign on to this particular moral panic.

Frankly, I don't think the utilities consider backfeed to be as dangerous to their workers as it is to their business models. It's not in their financial interest to compete with their own customers.

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Re:Florida Power and Light: Regulations for home solar insta... by ensignavenger on Tuesday September 19, 2017 @10:42AM (#15285053)

Is that the actual law/regulation, or just the FPL guideline? Also, wouldn't a transfer switch make this irrelevant, as the system is no longer 'connected to the grid'?

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