solarken
NABCEP PVIP
- Location
- Hudson, OH, USA
- Occupation
- Solar Design and Installation Professional
I am installing a solar PV system at a new construction home and have been working with the homeowner through his home planning and building process. I was onsite recently to begin the install, and as I was working on the AC interconnection I saw some things that the electrician who wired the house did that I thought was pretty shabby, and would like other opinions.
This site has 320A service with a meter main with dual 200A breakers on the outside, feeding two MLO loadcenters as shown in the photo. The loadcenter on the right is where I will interconnect, and the loadcenter on the left will have a transfer switch installed between the feeder from the main to the lugs, so that a propane generator can backup the loads on that panel when the grid is down.
The electrician wired L1 on the left panel as black and L1 on the right as red. He also was not consistent with 240V loads as to the color of wire he used for L1 and L2, as far as matching the phase and color. And in the left panel you can see where there is a missing breaker, there is a red hot going to the terminals for the missing breaker, and no neutral for the missing breaker, like maybe it was to be a multiwire branch circuit but he did not have a 2-pole breaker, so one branch is dead.
He also installed the supplemental ground bar in the right panel with a single screw, on a diagonal, when these Leviton loadcenters come with 2 screws with intended locations for the ground bar either above the bus or below the bus using the 2 holes provided.
There are other issues, like several spliced wires in each loadcenter that extend to the other loadcenter, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt that maybe there were changes in which circuits were needed to be backed up as he was working.
What do you think? Should I say something to the homeowner? It looks to me like the electrician didn't know what he was doing or just doesn't care, and makes me question if there are other issues in the house.
I mean this is new construction, where it is easy to make things neat and orderly from the getgo. I would never do these things, and for me or the generator guy that will be coming soon, at the very least it is confusing. I need to match L1 and L2 in these panels because I am installing CTs for monitoring grid current in both loadcenters, so having to deal with confusing wiring is a bit frustrating.
This site has 320A service with a meter main with dual 200A breakers on the outside, feeding two MLO loadcenters as shown in the photo. The loadcenter on the right is where I will interconnect, and the loadcenter on the left will have a transfer switch installed between the feeder from the main to the lugs, so that a propane generator can backup the loads on that panel when the grid is down.
The electrician wired L1 on the left panel as black and L1 on the right as red. He also was not consistent with 240V loads as to the color of wire he used for L1 and L2, as far as matching the phase and color. And in the left panel you can see where there is a missing breaker, there is a red hot going to the terminals for the missing breaker, and no neutral for the missing breaker, like maybe it was to be a multiwire branch circuit but he did not have a 2-pole breaker, so one branch is dead.
He also installed the supplemental ground bar in the right panel with a single screw, on a diagonal, when these Leviton loadcenters come with 2 screws with intended locations for the ground bar either above the bus or below the bus using the 2 holes provided.
There are other issues, like several spliced wires in each loadcenter that extend to the other loadcenter, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt that maybe there were changes in which circuits were needed to be backed up as he was working.
What do you think? Should I say something to the homeowner? It looks to me like the electrician didn't know what he was doing or just doesn't care, and makes me question if there are other issues in the house.
I mean this is new construction, where it is easy to make things neat and orderly from the getgo. I would never do these things, and for me or the generator guy that will be coming soon, at the very least it is confusing. I need to match L1 and L2 in these panels because I am installing CTs for monitoring grid current in both loadcenters, so having to deal with confusing wiring is a bit frustrating.
