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Sean White teaches solar and storage classes and seminars around the world and inside your home (online). He is known for helping people get NABCEP certified. This podcast contains an assortment of topics, with an emphasis on solar and storage technical knowledge. Up your game! Catch a photon! Save the planet! Learn more and go to www.solarSEAN.com
Episodes
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.
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
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.
Some of the areas of the NEC that we cover in this podcast are:
NEC Article 100 Definitions. All definitions moving to article 100 (no more 690.2 definitions), Electronic Power Converter, Electronic Transformer, Inverter Definition, PV Hazard Control UL 3741, Rapid Shutdown, 690.4, 690.12, NEC 750 Energy Management Systems (EMS), NEC 705.13 Power Control Systems (PCS), Net-Metering 3.0 Protest, NEC 712 DC Microgrids removed from the NEC and you use 705, PV String Circuits (strings now in NEC for first time), PV Output Circuit removed, PV System Output Circuit, Recombiner (Bill is not fond of this term), Paralleling Circuits in Harnesses, First Solar Modules, 2023 NEC PV Source Circuits go into and out of DC Combiner, String Circuit is series only (not parallel), DC-to-DC Converter Circuit, Wild PV, PV System Disconnect, 690.15 reorganized, Locking Requirements, 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).
Quotes: Bill Brooks (soon to be famous quotes).
“When you see a change in the Code, it does not mean that the requirements change.”
“90% of changes in the Code are not changes in requirements”
“We will never make a Code that will be clear to everyone”
“Codes are using text to convey fairly complex concepts to the public”
“Energy Management Systems (EMS) was unified with other parts of the Code”
“NEC Code Making Panel 4 is referred to now as the alternative energy panel”
“They’re putting maintenance requirements into a construction code”
“We got PV string circuits into the NEC”
“SolarEdge can put 100 PV modules on a Circuit”
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.
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.
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
- Fail more quickly
- Stumble ahead
- Don’t be afraid
- Ask questions
- Learn from others and you’ll be glad you did!
Wednesday Jan 19, 2022
Wednesday Jan 19, 2022
Wednesday Dec 15, 2021
Wednesday Dec 15, 2021
Wednesday Dec 01, 2021
Wednesday Dec 01, 2021
Wednesday Nov 17, 2021
Wednesday Nov 17, 2021
In this podcast we answer 2 questions:
1) Grounding is important and can be confusing with many different theories of how and why it should be done. Here we are going to talk about the basics, including the neutral (grounded conductor), the equipment grounding conductor (EGC) and the grounding electrode conductor (GEC). We will even make a mention of SWER (single wire earth return), which means using 1 wire for transmission and using the Earth as a conductor! Here is a link about that last part, so you don’t think I am making it up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-wire_earth_return
2) Batteries were once always included with PV systems and not as the grid has more intermittent renewables, batteries are making a comeback. We will discuss energy storage, off grid PV systems in Haines Alaska’s Mud Bay and microhydro for generating electricity.
3) Monocrystalline PV has taken over the number 1 spot from polycrystalline silicon solar cells in the last few years. We will discuss the differences of how these solar cells are made and how they look.
To find out more about solar and storage, go to www.solarSEAN.com
Friday Nov 05, 2021
Friday Nov 05, 2021
This podcast answers 3 questions on solar and storage.
1) EV to home can mean EV to grid and EV to backup. Ford has announced that their F-150 Lightning Electric Pickup will be released next year and will have the ability to backup a house. What does that mean? Will it be able to work with a PV system and keep the battery charged or will it only work as long as the battery is charged? Will it be able to send electricity to the grid?
2) Now that there are a tremendous amount of lithium-ion batteries being manufactured, what will happen at the end of their lives? Fortunately, lithium-ion battery materials are not very toxic, unlike lead-acid batteries. Just like with solar modules, if we accidentally throw the materials in the trash, it will not be a toxicity issue, just a waste issue. Lithium-ion batteries will get recycled and the most important aspect of this is the need for cobalt, since much of the cobalt comes from the Congo, where child labor is often used.
3) The average efficiency of PV being installed these days hovers somewhere under 20% and the super high efficiency that people buy for some rich people's homes can be 22% efficient. It is interesting that for space applications, you can see up to 40% efficient PV, which has to be super-efficient! Even the richest guy in the world (Elon Musk) thinks gallium arsenide PV is expensive for space and has mentioned that he is using some crystalline silicon PV on some satellites.
To find out more about gallium arsenide space solar cells, go to https://www.spectrolab.com/photovoltaics.html and make sure you have a few million bitcoin on your credit card (joke).
To find out more about solar and storage, go to www.solarSEAN.com