7/30/01
summer 2001
57
Actual Guerillas!
nWhy guerrilla? Technically we live in a net metering state. But local RE system
owners who have attempted to get utility approval to intertie their systems have been
held up by red tape for years. This, by the way, didn't stop any
of them from pressing the sell button on their inverters. Technically we
also live in a democracy. The last
reason we went guerrilla has to do with our site. The best solar location is on the roof of
an outbuilding several hundred feet from the utility meter. To
intertie our MicroSine system, all we had to do is plug the inverter into
an AC receptacle inside the building. To meet the standards the utility dreamed
up,
a separate, lockable disconnect would need to be installed between our MicroSine inverter and the meter. To do
this, we'd have to purchase the disconnect and 300 feet of wire
and conduit, and dig a 300 foot trench. By the time it was done, this
would add at least 50 percent to the cost of the system. All this for
a 100 watt inverter that's UL listed to be safe, just like
the toaster in our kitchen? Gimme a break
n
nPermits? We don't need no stinking permits! Why not go legitimate?
Well, every contact that I have ever had with our city's building
department has been demoralizing, disheartening, and unproductive, regardless of the subject.
