Inverter Box

[andrew.tkelly]

Hi again,

I have a client who wants a lockable-box-type-thing to house their commercial inverter. Their inverter will be in a fairly public place, and they are a little concerned that people will mess with it. There will also be an AC disconnect right next to it.

What are my options here, besides physically constructing one from scratch? Has anyone ever had this issue before? If so, how did you solve it?

Thanks!

Andy

 

[ggunn]

Hi again,

I have a client who wants a lockable-box-type-thing to house their commercial inverter. Their inverter will be in a fairly public place, and they are a little concerned that people will mess with it. There will also be an AC disconnect right next to it.

What are my options here, besides physically constructing one from scratch? Has anyone ever had this issue before? If so, how did you solve it?

Thanks!

Andy

It might interfere with cooling, and I doubt that the POCO is going to want you to lock them away from the AC disco.

 

[andrew.tkelly]

Ah, the AC disco would not be in the box.

 

[jaggedben]

I would tell the customer either that I will give them specs for clearances and they can hire a contractor to build what they want, or offer to hire an outside contractor as a sub, whose quote I would then mark up for managing design and administration.

Then again, I'm not sure what the point of this is if the AC disco is going to be outside the box where someone could still mess with it. :slaphead: Will there also be rapid shutdown switch outside the box? If you are on the 2014 in California then technically that may not be required. But, point being, someone could still mess with stuff.

 

[310 BLAZE IT]

Hi again,

I have a client who wants a lockable-box-type-thing to house their commercial inverter. Their inverter will be in a fairly public place, and they are a little concerned that people will mess with it. There will also be an AC disconnect right next to it.

What are my options here, besides physically constructing one from scratch? Has anyone ever had this issue before? If so, how did you solve it?

Thanks!

Andy

Many manufacturers have a simple lockable anti tamper kit that goes over the disconnect. I'd investigate this thoroughly before going to the extreme of building a box around it. What inverter?

I've gas this issue before and it was pretty easy to talk them down.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[ggunn]

Many manufacturers have a simple lockable anti tamper kit that goes over the disconnect. I'd investigate this thoroughly before going to the extreme of building a box around it. What inverter?

I've gas this issue before and it was pretty easy to talk them down.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

The OP clarified that the box would go over the inverter, not the disco. If it were me, I would look into getting some kind of cage rather than a box. Air circulation around an inverter is its primary way of dissipating heat. Maybe a box with vents top and bottom?

 

[andrew.tkelly]

Yeah, I'm gonna see if I can talk them out of wanting the box. The building in question is a small commercial building with three suites. The system on the roof is mechanically "one" system, but is electrically separated into three systems, with each suite having a SolarEdge inverter and AC disco on the ground-level in the rear of the building. From there, the inverter output circuit penetrates the wall of each suite and goes into their MDP. Although the rear of the building is fenced-off, the owners said that a lot of homeless jump the fence and camp out back there. They were a little concerned someone may mess with the equipment. Personally, I highly doubt that would happen.

I have another more expensive option just in case. There's a spare spot for a breaker on the switchboard in the main electrical room. I could perhaps land in there, and get everyone on a Virtual Net Metering Agreement (VNEM). However, the electrical room is in an adjacent building on the campus, so it would involve trenching. Kinda want to stay away from that.

Andy

 

[ggunn]

Yeah, I'm gonna see if I can talk them out of wanting the box. The building in question is a small commercial building with three suites. The system on the roof is mechanically "one" system, but is electrically separated into three systems, with each suite having a SolarEdge inverter and AC disco on the ground-level in the rear of the building. From there, the inverter output circuit penetrates the wall of each suite and goes into their MDP. Although the rear of the building is fenced-off, the owners said that a lot of homeless jump the fence and camp out back there. They were a little concerned someone may mess with the equipment. Personally, I highly doubt that would happen.

I have another more expensive option just in case. There's a spare spot for a breaker on the switchboard in the main electrical room. I could perhaps land in there, and get everyone on a Virtual Net Metering Agreement (VNEM). However, the electrical room is in an adjacent building on the campus, so it would involve trenching. Kinda want to stay away from that.

Andy

Put a dummy surveillance camera at each inverter.