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Sean White teaches solar classes and seminars around the world. He attempts to slightly humor you while learning and to not talk over your head. This podcast contains an assortment of topics, with an emphasis on technical solar knowledge.
Episodes
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
Wednesday Nov 23, 2022
Wednesday Nov 23, 2022
This podcast was recorded at the COP27 climate conference in Sharm El Sheikh Egypt on November 16 2022.
COP stands for something boring, Conference of the Parties, which means that countries and other organizations are the parties. Sometimes I look at what our countries are doing and it is like we are having a big fossil fuel party! It is literally powering parties like Burning Man with flames of fuel! Anyway, this is the 27th year of COP, so it is called COP 27 and the more famous one was in Paris, when they made the Paris Accord or Paris Agreement, back when we had a very famous and likable Kenyan President at COP 21. This is where the US, China and all of the other big CO2 emitters made an agreement to do things to limit temperature rises to 1.5C over preindustrial levels. Being an American, I do not like the 1.5C number, since we use F for Fahrenheit and a change of 1C is the same as a change of 1.8F, so 1.5C x 1.8 = 2.7F. Anyone that uses F for the temperature of their house or the beach should not use C only when they are talking about climate temperatures, unless they are trying to downplay the emergency. Not since the rock that took out the dinosaurs (except for the birds, which are dinosaurs) has the climate changed so fast. Humans are extremely smart and can tell the temperature of the earth throughout the ages and the CO2 in the atmosphere. There have always been slow gradual changes, but nothing like this without an asteroid. We humans are so smart, that we can also fix this emergency very fast.
The big topic in the news this year is about having the rich countries that have contributed the most to CO2 in the atmosphere to help pay for the other countries that are too poor to do much about it. They have high interest rates, to the point where it is like financing things on a high interest credit card, which is financially impossible to make and investment world form.
The problem I see is that in the biggest polluting country of them all, my country, the USA, we have something called politics and there are enough people against paying for our original sin (we are in a biblical place here), that it is not going to happen on a big scale, no matter how bad the US President wants it.
So what is going to make this happen?
Here is my solution…
I see that humans and other organisms can grow like a virus (go viral). You see doubling rates and as many of you may know, of you double a dollar for a month, you have over a billion dollars. In fact if the month has 31 days, you get 2x more than a 30 day month.
Now we can translate this to a disruptive technology, such as solar, wind and storage. We are getting doubling rates and the trick here is to speed up the doubling rate. Not to accept a 4 year doubling rate, to go for a 1 year doubling rate. Some pessimists will have plenty of reasons why this cannot happen, and the answer is that the reason that this cannot happen is if we listen to pessimists.
We have to scale like we are putting the effort of a world war into it and the big thing here is instead of having a war and having a lot of people die, we have seen that wars can be good for the economy, so we can have a huge economic boom, without the war deaths.
It is inevitable that we will scale up solar, wind and storage, the question is how slow (or fast) are we going to go? If we go fast, there are many benefits, plus we are going to do it anyway, so let’s get it done.
Solar and Wind are already the cheapest forms of energy in the world. Energy storage is getting less expensive and in a few years, it will economically stupid to buy a new car that is not an EV and these EVs can easily be plugged in and wired for grid support, which will happen. The question is, are we going to sit around and whine, or are we humans going go get it done!
We are humans. We are the smartest thing in the universe. We can easily figure this out. If we put in an effort, we can pick a temperature and dial it in. We can put CO2 from the atmosphere back underground where it came from and set a thermostat. We are humans. We can do anything we set our minds too. It will happen, the question is when. Waiting is stupid. Getting it done now is smart and makes big money.
If the poor countries want a strategy, they can align themselves with the counties that help them set up solar, wind and storage. If the US wants to set up a base on some island, then it needs to come with solar, wind and storage. Perhaps if the island nation has a low credit rating, the US (or other country) can bring their credit rating to the base.
There are other low CO2 solutions, but we see right now that solar and wind are the least expensive, so it is a scaling solution. We need factories, good labor, robots making robots that make PV, wind and solar.
If we distract ourselves with excuses, neat ideas that do not come to fruition and blame for what someone did 50 years ago, then we will keep walking in circles. The solution is here. The solution will bring us out of any recession. The solution will create jobs, the solution will help children breathe clean air. The solution is scaling up big time solar, wind and storage. No excuses. All positive. Let’s get going.
For classes and everything controlled by the Sun God Ra, go to www.solarSEAN.com
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
2021 IRC requirements for ESS units to be less than 20kWh, 3-foot separation between ESS units, exceptions due to large-scale fire testing (UL 9540A), distance of ESS from garage window vs. window of living space, SolSmart.org PV, Future SolSmart ESS material Bill is developing, 2024 IRC Proposals, lithium-ion not good on the outside of a house in cold places and NFPA 855 Standard for ESS.
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
This video is based on the 2018 IFC and there are many places that are using the 2018 IFC, in fact I just taught an ESS class to inspectors based on the 2015 IFC. You will have to check your own state to see which version is adopted. At the time I am writing this, the 2018 IFC is the most widely used version, although the 2021 IFC has already been released. Additionally, most of the language between different versions is the same, so understanding one version means you mostly understand the other. Don’t be one of those people that overly worries about studying a different version of a Code.
Topics we cover include: Large-scale fire testing (UL 9540A), FMEA, container batteries/ESS, Lead-acid, NiCad, Lithium-ion, maximum sizes, maximum allowable battery quantities, UL 9540, UL 1973, EMS energy management systems, BMS battery management systems
Wednesday Oct 05, 2022
Wednesday Oct 05, 2022
Wednesday Sep 21, 2022
Wednesday Sep 21, 2022
Rapid Shutdown has traditionally meant putting module level power electronics in the array for PV systems on buildings. There has always been this part of the NEC 690.12(B)(2)(1) that gave you an option to comply with rapid shutdown inside the array with a listed hazard control system. Surprisingly, we can now go back to having something to what rapid shutdown used to be in the 2014 NEC, which we called array level rapid shutdown. Let’s see if someone gets something like this listed for a residential roof.
Links:
To see a visual version, take these classes at www.HeatSpring.com/sean
40-Hour NABCEP Advanced PV Certification Training and CEUS
30-Hour NABCEP Advanced PV Certification Training and CEUS
2020 NEC PV, Energy Storage, Building and Fire Codes for PV System Inspectors
Thursday Sep 08, 2022
Thursday Sep 08, 2022
- We can now say string! Before it was a PV source circuit (and it still is).
- Floatovoltaics: Yes we have mention of special requirements for floating PV, which sort of reminds me of my and Bill's Sailboat. Now you can put boating on your PV resume.
- I describe some images so you can get the audio version of the visual, which is good brain exercise and prevents alzheimers
Wednesday Jul 20, 2022
Wednesday Jul 20, 2022
Show Notes From Clean Power Hour:
Get a 15% discount to attend Midwest Solar Expo with discount code: CPH15. www.MidwestSolarExpo.com/, the premier B2B solar and clean energy event in the region.
As innovation in solar chugs along and consumer perception climbs and falls, one thing is true. New terminology – with accompanying acronyms – appears almost daily right now in solar industry. From “solar economics” to “virtual power plants (VPP) ” to “frequency regulation” and “vehicle to grid (V2G),” these terms are the future of solar. And solar is climbing high.
Sean White is an award-winning solar photovoltaic (PV) professor, master trainer, solar contractor and author of several books, including Solar Photovoltaic Basics, Solar PV Engineering and Installation, PV Technical Sales, PV and the NEC and Energy Storage Basics.
On this episode of Clean Power Hour, Sean joins Tim to talk about important milestones in the history of solar technology from its inception in the 1950’s to its maturity today. They discuss solar energy storage, bidirectional car batteries, self-consumption systems, V2G, VPPs, getting to cash positive, plus details on important upcoming industry conferences.
Listen in to bring that expertise to the forefront to tackle any business challenge, hire new talent, acquire new business and so much more.
Key Takeaways
Milestones in PV cell development from its invention in 1954 to one gigawatt installed worldwide in 2000 to one terawatt installed worldwide in 2022
How the price adoption curve has played a major role in the solar industry
How battery size and availability introduce the new frontier of solar: “solar plus storage”
Why California has half of solar energy production and its likely status-change to a “self-consumption system” in the very near future
Sean’s predicted boom of self-consumption systems and how the “price is right” for bidirectional batteries in electric vehicles
The essential missing piece that is the main barrier to V2G technology
Which mainstream car company is actively working on a V2G-ready car
How solar energy will become economical in 5-10 years
Why energy storage can assist with “frequency regulation” (injecting extra power into the grid or holding back when necessary)
How the “solar coaster” came to be and why solar could be the next massive money-maker
How utilities pushing back sends consumers migrating off grid
Connect with Sean
Connect with Tim
Email tgmontague@gmail.com
Review Clean Power Hour on Apple Podcasts
Resources
RE+ Southeast Conference, May 11-12, 2022
Re+ Conference, September 19-22, 2022
InterSolar North America Conference, February 14-16, 2023
The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Please subscribe on your favorite audio platform and on Youtube: bit.ly/cph-sub | www.CleanPowerHour.com | contact us by email: CleanPowerHour@gmail.com | Speeding the energy transition!
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Some of the areas of the NEC that we cover in this podcast are:
NEC Article 702 Optional Standby Systems, Load Control, Disconnecting Means, UL 1741 for Power Control Systems, 706.15 Location Control for 1 and 2-family Dwellings
Quotes: Bill Brooks (soon to be famous quotes).
“Tesla, Enphase, SolarEdge, are all getting listed as energy management systems.”
“You will damage most generators if you run out of fuel under load.”
“Hey Siri, turn off my ESS.”
“Here’s what happened in the 2023 Code.”
“706.15 Location Control for 1- and 2-Family Dwellings, an ESS shall include an emergency shutdown function to cease the export of power from the ESS to the premises wiring of other systems.”
“You could have a device that could have rapid shutdown and ESS emergency shutdown” “you could use the same switch”
This is a recording of part of an NEC workshop at the Intersolar 2022 conference at the Long Beach California Convention Center in January 2022.
The workshop was titled:
Energy Storage, PV and the NEC.
Bill Brooks is instrumental in the process of coming up with material for the NEC for renewable energy systems, especially for solar, energy storage and interconnections. Although the 2023 NEC has not been finalized or published, this is as good of a preview as you can get for knowing what the future will bring. Many manufacturers, engineers, CEOs and other decisionmakers can make better informed decisions about the future, knowing what will be in the National Electrical Code.
Bill Brooks is on NEC Code Making Panel 4 (the alternative energy panel) and has been perhaps the most active member of the PV Industry Forum, which is where new material for the NEC for Solar PV, Energy Storage and Interconnections are made. Bill has been working on Codes and Standards for 34 years. Bill Brooks and Sean White also published the book PV and the NEC.
Note: This podcast was recorded on an iPhone 13 and to my surprise the recording quality was way better than expected, so we decided to podcast it!
WARNING: Bill Brooks and Sean White sometimes think they are funny. If you disagree with this and do not like dad jokes, do not listen to this podcast.
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
Some of the areas of the NEC that we cover in this podcast are:
Ground Fault Protection, Ground Fault Detection and interruption (GFDI) term clarified (not to be confused with GFCI), 690.45 Equipment Grounding Conductors (EGC) includes DC and AC not having to increase size of EGC when upsizing current carrying conductor for voltage drop (now also applies to AC PV and modifies NEC 250.122), 250.122 EGC sized based on OCPD, Microgrid Interconnect Device (MID), Interactive Mode vs. Voltage Mode, putting multiple inverters prior to the first OCPD, 705.13 Power Control Systems (PCS) was changed to Energy Management Systems (EMS), EMS was previously just for loads, Tesla Powerwall, PCS is not the part of the EMS that is controlling sources, Batteries as Source and Load, EVs Article 625, and more!
Quotes: Bill Brooks (soon to be famous quotes).
“Changes in size for voltage drop do not have to increase the size of the equipment grounding conductor”
“It’s penalizing you for doing the right thing” Bill on 250.122 upsizing the EGC for voltage drop."
“All we’ve done is we’ve taken the microgrid interconnect device and stuck it inside the inverter” Bill on multimode inverter with 2 AC outputs."
“We could have a system that was 50kW going into a 100A service.”
“We have large systems right now, that have a 5MW interconnection that have a 30 PV array on them.”
“You can run a 400A feed to a large EV charging area, you can put 20 cars on it.” “The controller would never allow you to draw more than 400A.”
“You have a controller that prevents the conductors from receiving too much current.”
“At the end of the day, the NEC is all about safety. It’s all about, we do not burn buildings down with correctly installed electrical equipment.”
This is a recording of part of an NEC workshop at the Intersolar 2022 conference at the Long Beach California Convention Center in January 2022.
The workshop was titled:
Energy Storage, PV and the NEC.
Bill Brooks is instrumental in the process of coming up with material for the NEC for renewable energy systems, especially for solar, energy storage and interconnections. Although the 2023 NEC has not been finalized or published, this is as good of a preview as you can get for knowing what the future will bring. Many manufacturers, engineers, CEOs and other decisionmakers can make better informed decisions about the future, knowing what will be in the National Electrical Code.
Bill Brooks is on NEC Code Making Panel 4 (the alternative energy panel) and has been perhaps the most active member of the PV Industry Forum, which is where new material for the NEC for Solar PV, Energy Storage and Interconnections are made. Bill has been working on Codes and Standards for 34 years. Bill Brooks and Sean White also published the book PV and the NEC.
Note: This podcast was recorded on an iPhone 13 and to my surprise the recording quality was way better than expected, so we decided to podcast it!
WARNING: Bill Brooks and Sean White sometimes think they are funny. If you disagree with this and do not like dad jokes, do not listen to this podcast.