Sean White‘s Solar and Energy Storage Podcast

2020 NEC Article 706 Energy Storage Systems

In this podcast we are going to go over NEC 706 with Bill Brooks, thy guy who wrote a lot of this material and was there every step of the way. Sometimes Bill does not agree with what ends up in the NEC and he will let you know it here first on this podcast.

 

To have fun and learn more about solar and storage, go to SolarSEAN.com

Calculating Short Circuit Current Rating of Equipment Podcast

We are going to cover short circuit current rating of equipment with Bill Brooks. Bill Brooks has been in the solar industry for many decades and knows everything about solar and energy storage. He writes the codes, he does consulting, he's a busy guy and here he is on this podcast. 

 

To have fun and learn more about solar and storage, go to SolarSEAN.com

Utility Scale Solar and Energy Storage System Grounding Electrode Conductor Configurations and More

In this episode, we are going to present a particular rumoured certification exam question and then get into the details of how you may install large central inverters with grounding electrode conductors. This is an advanced topic, but if you are a beginner, you can still be amazed at how these huge multi-million dollar PV systems are put together.

 

To have fun and to learn more about solar and storage, go to SolarSEAN.com

Solar Energy Fundamentals Part 4: Shading

Solar PV shading can be worse than you think, since solar cells are connected in series. We will cover the Solmetric Suneye shading device, (note that Vivant Solar was bought by Sunrun since the recording of this podcast), we will cover some software that can digest shading information, such as Aurora Solar, Helioscope, Energy Toolbase, PVsyst, Albedo, Sketchup, Skelion, PVCAD, AutoCAD, and more. Then we talk about single-axis trackers, concentrated PV, seasonal tilting, concentrating PV, seasonal tilt and many more angles. 

Solar Energy Fundamentals Part 3

In this episode, we are going to cover, air mass, global solar radiation, direct solar radiation, albedo solar radiation, diffuse solar radiation, bifacial solar, pyranometers, pyrheliometers and the solar constant.

 

To have fun and to learn more about solar and storage, go to SolarSEAN.com

Solar Energy Fundamentals Part 2

This podcast covers the effects of temperature and irradiance on PV voltage and current and all different kinds of azimuth, which is what a compass reads. Did you know that the magnetic North Pole is moving from Canada to Russia?

 

To have fun and to learn more about solar and storage, go to SolarSEAN.com

Solar Energy Fundamentals Part 1

When light comes from the closest star (the sun), it will give us solar power and solar energy. We are going to talk about the difference and how to quantify irradiance and irradiation. We also get into solar insolation, tilt angles, peak sun hours in different locations including Germany, the home of Hermann Scheer who kicked off the solar revolution!

 

To have fun and to learn more about solar and storage, go to SolarSEAN.com

Electricity Basics Part 2

Energy comes in many forms. From kWhs, to Joules, to cheeseburgers,  to a gallon of gas, see how you can convert these different energy containing forms. 

 

We also will get into the speed of electricity, Ohm’s law, Horsepower, the NABCEP PVA exam and PV module level rapid shutdown for PV systems on buildings.

 

To have fun and to learn more about solar and storage, go to SolarSEAN.com

Electricity Basics Part 1

Many people in the solar and storage industry do not know much about electricity and now is the time to have fun and learn. In this episode, we will introduce you to people with names like Volta, Ampere and Ohm, get ready to power your brain cells with all of that stored energy from last nights tacos.

 

This podcast includes both basic and advanced material and this episode is on the basic side. If you are advanced, you still can learn something, such as how to explain things to normal people.

 

To have fun and to learn more about solar and storage, go to SolarSEAN.com

Code Compliant Conductor Sizing: a 2021 take on a 2011 SolarPro Article

One of the most difficult things to do with the NEC, is to understand how to use it to properly size wires. You can get 10 of the top experts in the world in a room and if you talk about how to properly size a wire, you can be sure there will be exciting conversations (disagreements). The best article I ever read on the subject was in the now retired SolarPro Magazine, where you can still access old articles at www.solarprofessional.com. May SolarPro someday be resurrected!

 

Wire sizing is very uniform throughout the NEC, so if you truly understand this article, you will be able to wire size about anything, including an energy storage system or a circuit to an air conditioner on the roof.

 

As I read this article that is based on the 2011 NEC, I make comments and update how to comply with the 2020 NEC. A few differences are that we no longer have 1A fuse increments below 15A (we skip from 10A to 15A now) and we no longer derate for conduit in sunlight on a rooftop.

 

Warning: This information is difficult, so do not expect to understand it in a day. You are welcome to skip this podcast, or you can do what I did when I first read NEC Article 690. I did not understand it, but got familiar with it and the terminology and after reading it 1000 times or so, I wrote some books on it.

 

To find out more about solar and storage, checkout www.SolarSEAN.com !