Earth Spike

RonSwanson said:
There's an easy way to check your municipal earth <--> neutral bond: test your earth leakage. If it works, then it is good to go. No sense in creating multiple earths for no good reason, in fact this can actually cause issues.

If you install a hybrid or grid-tied inverter, then the inverter may disconnect from the grid and operate in islanding mode. Because you get your earth<-->neutral bond from the municipality, you may be left without one, rendering your RCD / earth leakage unit inoperable. Previously it did not matter, because you did not have any electricity to shock yourself to death with in the event of a fault, but now you have an inverter making AC current from batteries, wind and/ or solar power. So you may need a earth neutral bridge relay, which senses the grid is down ( and thus the earth neutral bond) and it temporarily activates a bond from the neutral to a secondary earth (which is typically 3x 1.2m earth rods driven into the ground about 1m apart), so that your RCD / earth leakage can work during the grid outage. When the grid comes back, the relay clicks out and the original municipal earth neutral bond returns. Note that at no time is there two simultaneous earth neutral bonds, always one only.

When you install solar panels, you will need to ground them for transient currents / induced voltages, and then you can use the 3x 1.2m earth rods for that, as long as it is as close as possible to the panels. It also mitigates overcurrent situations in the event of a fault on the DC wiring.
Click to expand...
some of the best advice ive seen on mbb for ages .
 
Pineapple Smurf said:
We paid a Zimbabwean 50 bux to do it, much easier
Click to expand...
did you get the hammer back .when my workshop was in a shopping centre and we had a guy that used to wash our cars every friday .one day we bought him a new bucket ,clothes,sponges and chamois , he was so impressed with the gift we never saw him again.
 
soulie said:
you should be able to use aluminium earth cable for the run down to the spike ,it sometimes is easier to get the potential down and is cheaper than 10mm copper .
Click to expand...
We used to use that in the old days when installing SABC analogue antennas.
 
RonSwanson said:
You don't count at all because you're a pro, I am a layperson. :laugh:
Click to expand...
did you read the article from sapac. note the flapping mouth part. .https://sapac.co.za/blogs/flapping-mouth/important-considerations-for-a-safe-and-secure-solar-panel-installation-in-south-africa
 
Cheers @RonSwanson for the advise.

One last question then is it OK if I have 2 strings one of which is on a different roof on the far side of the house to then have separate rods for them and bond them there or should I run it back to the one set of 3 rods?
 
warrenpfo said:
Cheers @RonSwanson for the advise.

One last question then is it OK if I have 2 strings one of which is on a different roof on the far side of the house to then have separate rods for them and bond them there or should I run it back to the one set of 3 rods?
Click to expand...
The rule for an earth / ground (for transient / induced charge) is at the nearest possible convenience. So if there are two sets of panels in different locations, better to earth them separately. If you bond the one set's earth to the other there is a good chance that the charge will nuke something along the way, or jump to earth itself, or via something else. We're talking huge voltages here, don't wanna play with it, if it wants to get to ground, help it get there quickly.
 
soulie said:
did you read the article from sapac. note the flapping mouth part. .https://sapac.co.za/blogs/flapping-mouth/important-considerations-for-a-safe-and-secure-solar-panel-installation-in-south-africa
Click to expand...
I wasn't aware of this site, thank you.
 
RonSwanson said:
I wasn't aware of this site, thank you.
Click to expand...
most people arent aware of the facts ,but will fight them under a bush in denial .but so be it , no more solar for me concentrating on the pneumatics side now ,electrical side is wound down except for basics , wait till the drones in gauteng start videoing all the illegal installs that the mybb people have posted pics of all over , proud of the fake COC .it will become to expensive for the average guy in the near future .the law is allready in place that you may not uncouple from the supplier while power is supplied ,but its not enforced yet . the levy wil get high and it may become uneconomical R20k for a meter to begin with ,its all coming .
 
soulie said:
most people arent aware of the facts ,but will fight them under a bush in denial .but so be it , no more solar for me concentrating on the pneumatics side now ,electrical side is wound down except for basics , wait till the drones in gauteng start videoing all the illegal installs that the mybb people have posted pics of all over , proud of the fake COC .it will become to expensive for the average guy in the near future .the law is allready in place that you may not uncouple from the supplier while power is supplied ,but its not enforced yet . the levy wil get high and it may become uneconomical R20k for a meter to begin with ,its all coming .
Click to expand...
I am not sure what you mean.
 
Its best not to get this advice off the internet especially when the advice is using earthing and grounding interchangeably. Best to get someone who knows the regulations and what's safe.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X