Great Deals on Solar Power–It never rains in California

Seems it never rains in southern California
Seems I’ve often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California, but girl, don’t they warn ya?
It pours, man, it pours

I’m out of work, I’m out of my head
Out of self respect, I’m out of bread
I’m underloved, I’m underfed, I wanna go home
It never rains in California, but girl, don’t they warn ya?
It pours, man, it pours

Albert Hammond

Great lyrics. Right now many solar companies are struggling, out of money, and their survival instincts have kicked in. There are reports of small inexperienced solar companies selling at a loss in this uncertain market (March 2009)–a few big ones too. This could be a great deal for you or it could be a disaster. Looking back over the years, we have seen some truly abhorrent installations. Building Codes and the National Electrical Code are really designed to keep you safe and to make sure your roof doesn’t leak…to name just a few reasons. We have seen high voltage DC run in the walls using romex which is a clear violation and very dangerous. We have heard of L-feet glued down to S-tiles instead of being lag bolted into the rafters or joists. We have seen Fire Code violations where 2 hour fire walls were penetrated and covered by plywood. We have seen numerous electrical violations.

Solar is inherently safe because the National Electrical Code (NEC) is conservative.  It is quite common for Solar Installations to be passed by Inspectors who don’t really understand the code, don’t catch the violations, or don’t understand the ramifications of an oversight. Your best first line of defense is a contractor that understands the code, understands the ramifications, understands the safety considerations and will be there tomorrow.

Tonight on NPR, I heard a “solar trainee” in Los Angeles say that electrical is only a small part of the process.  I’m paraphrasing the quote but it goes something like this.  “You just hook two wires together and that is all the electrical work required for a solar installation”.

Wow…knowledge of Ground Fault protection, grounding, safety, wire sizing…not required.  Just hook two wires together…that’s pretty dangerous.

Oh, I forgot about the song.  In California, we find out whether any of our roofs have leaked in January.  As we have never had a leak, we are very fortunate.  However, imagine buying a system from someone who is no longer in business and having a roof leak….Oooops.

The first law of Thermodynamics, in laymen’s terms is: You always pay for what you get…there is no free lunch.

So, what is the second law of thermodynamics? Feel free to comment.

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