Sean White‘s Solar and Energy Storage Podcast
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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
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
4 days ago
Hydrogen RC race cars at RE+ with Max Accordino
If you were walking around RE+ in Vegas, you may have noticed a track and all of these remote control race cars and wondered what that was about. That was the Horizon Hydrogen Grand Prix Pro (H2GP Pro)!
Here is what we talked about:
Horizon Hydrogen Grand Prix Pro = H2GP Pro
STEM kits
STEAM Science Technology Engineering Art Math
RE+ Las Vegas Remote Control Race Cars
Hydrogen Element
Hydrogen Fires
Lead Acid Batteries making Hydrogen
Fuel Cells vs. Internal Combustion Engines with Hydrogen
Toyota Hydrogen Combustion Engine
JTB Hydrogen Engine
Fuel Cells Need Clean Air
Combustion of Hydrogen Makes Water
Stoichiometry 2 H2 + O2 = H2O
Toyota Murai
Electrolysis is same Stoichiometry
CPAP Machine is Electrolyzer making Oxygen and Getting Rid of Hydrogen
Hydrogen Colors
Green Hydrogen = Electrolysis (electricity and water)
Brown Hydrogen
Grey Hydrogen = Natural Gas Derived = 95% of H2 in the World
Steam Reformation = Preexisting Hydrocarbons to make Hydrogen, Such as Municipal Waste
Big Bang and Hydrogen Atoms
Landfill Gas to Make Hydrogen
Carbon Capture
Turquoise Hydrogen = Pyrolyses
Blue Hydrogen = SMR Steam Methane Reformation and Carbon Capture
World Economy Forum
Round Trip Efficiency of Hydrogen with Green Hydrogen 35%
Hydrogen is Lighter than Lithium-Ion
Hydrogen Electric Airplane
Rocket Equation
World’s Record for Lithium-Ion Battery
Electric Trucking
Autonomous Driving
Cheating with race cars design
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain
Bulgaria Team Underdog
Los Angeles Team Wins
Telemetry Systems
Hacking other Team’s Telemetry Systems
Anti Hacking Software
Danika Patrick and NASCAR
Formula E with Lithium-Ion vs. Fuel Cells
Symbio from France Fuel Cells
Hydrogen is the Future of Racing
Sustainable Diesel = Diesel Made From Corn
F1 to Hydrogen
Explosions with Storing any Energy
Recycling
Critical Mass Bike Riders Car Explosion
One Less Car
Horizon Educational Global Headquarters in Czech Republic
H2GP Foundation
501c3
Grants
Sponsorship
STEM Kits with Electrolyzer and Fuel Cell
Remote Control
Wind Solar Ethanol
Solar Hydrogen Science Kits
Pinewood Derby
Rubber Band Energy Storage
Free Hydrogen Curriculum
Wind, Solar, Ethanol Science Kits
Flinstone power
You can find them at:
www.horizoneducational.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/horizoneducational/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HorizonEducational/
LinkedIn: cz.linkedin.com/in/max-accordino
Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCYHcXEZdZp8Zw2kmr3_I2Fw
To find out more and educate yourself, go to www.solarSEAN.com or www.HeatSpring.com/sean
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20 Nov 2023
Vehicle to Grid (V2G & V2X) David Slutzky Fermata Energy Founder and Chairman of the Board
Learn about bidirectional EV charging/discharging with former White House and EPA policy advisor Clinton Administration, former County Supervisor in Virginia, Faculty at University of Virginia 23 years, Commerce, Architecture, Engineering who has a Philosophy degree and is an entrepreneur who started multiple companies. David Slutzky started Fermata Energy in 2010.
Here are some of the topics we covered:
V2G Vehicle to Grid
V1G smart charging
V2X Vehicle to Everything
V2B Vehicle to Building
V2L Vehicle to Load
Behind the meter
Load management
Power quality
VARs
CAISO
Independent System Operator
Grid vs. Utility is different
ISO is grid made up of different utilities
VPP
Duke and Ford F-150 Lightning
TEPCO
Fukushima brought on V2X
CHAdeMO protocol
Nissan Leaf bidirectional in 2013
Offboard DC charger
Software platform
Vehicle battery comes free with leather seats and air conditioning
EV battery warranty with V2X
AI software
Data science
Grid facing market opportunities
Vehicle to grid services provider
Defining 100% state of charge (SOC)
2000 Ford Ranger EV
Setting parameters of SOC to protect battery
LFP NCA NMC
4.2 volts per cell (VPC) at full charge
Child labor in the Congo and cobalt
Climate
Early adopters
Storage in EVs dwarfs stationary grid storage
Beacon power flywheels
University of Virginia vs. Virginia Tech
UL testing of bidirectional EV chargers
UL 1741 SB
UL 1741 SA
UL 1741
Siemens
CCS
North American Charging Standard = Tesla
<5A continuous = 10,000kWh/yr at 240V
Curtailing over $1B/yr of solar and wind in California
Discharge behind the meter to reduce demand charges
$200-$300 per month with 15kW EV to grid with Leaf
Utility demand response programs
National Grid summer demand response program
Bidirectional Nissan Leaf makes in 57 hours in a summer for $4500 in the evenings (after work)
Onboard and offboard inverter/chargers
EV1
Rav 4 EV
Chevy S-10 EV
Avcon
GBT charging standard in China
Chao G charging is CHAdeMO in China
VW Dieselgate
Self certify
Electrify America
Chademo 3.0
Father of EVs in Japan
99.3% uptime of EV chargers in Japan
Much worse uptime in US
SGIP (Self Generation Incentive Program) subsidies in California should apply to EV to grid
Over 90% of EV charging happens at home
Interconnection agreement of inverter is probably going to be a stationary inverter and not a roaming onboard inverter
Weight of onboard inverter
Using big inverter that spins wheels to feed the grid
Raising capital and talking to oil companies
Panasonic
Chevron
Oil companies future is renewables and are important sources of capital
Yogaville
Buckingham County
Dominion Pipeline
David Slutzky
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-slutzky-2a77875
Fermata Energy
https://fermataenergy.com/
To learn more, go to www.solarSEAN.com or www.HeatSpring.com/sean
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8 Nov 2023
Terence Parker gets surprised by Johnny Weiss, Solar PV History!
This podcast is full of solar history, so we give a shout out to the solar historians 100 and 1000 years from now!! Hey people who have not been born yet! Check us out!!
Terence and Johnny have been doing solar PV since the 1980s and have known each other since the early days.
Terence tells the story how he was on a small airplane in the South Pacific in the 80s wearing a solar shirt and Ward Bower, the inventor of the grid-tied inverter, tapped him on the shoulder, which started his solar career full steam. Before that he was a marine biologist trying to figure out how to get electricity on a 12 acre island, so he could study oysters. The moral of this story is to always wear a solar T-shirt.
Johnny Weiss is famous for starting Solar Energy International (SEI) in 1991 and has been working with PV modules since the mid 1980s.
The story of how we decided to do this podcast goes... Johnny invited me to see the SEI campus a few weeks ago and I asked him to be on the podcast. I told him how Terence Parker was going to be on it, and he had great things to say about Terence, so we decided to make Johnny the surprise guest. Johnny was very helpful at helping me interview Terence, so he is probably going to help me interview more historical figures.
Here are some of the names we dropped and things we talked about:
Arco Solar
MREA
SEI
Bob Ramlow
Solis
Solar Bridge
Ken Olsen
Home Power
Richard Perez
Borneo
Sri Lanka
Brazil
World Bank
Sandia
Unisolar
Out of the jungle
Ward Bower
Walked the PCH
Diving for oysters
Remote work
Set Long Beach Convention Center on fire (need a follow up podcast on this one)
Vestas
Offshore wind
Small wind
Mick Sagrillo
Bob-O Schultze
LinkedIn pages
Terence Parker (not to be confused with Trey Parker of South Park)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/terence-parker-2844a15/
Johnny Weiss (same last name as mine, but in a different language):
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnny-weiss-b025106/
To find out more, go to www.SolarSEAN.com and get NABCEP certified!
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25 Oct 2023
Lithium-Ion Battery Silicon Anodes with Matt Kappers CEO The Coretec Group
Matthew Kappers is the CEO of The Coretec Group. The Coretec Group is known for their expertise in silicon nanoparticles to push the boundaries of silicon engineering and battery development. They are using their main expertise to develop an anode with a high concentration of silicon that will significantly boost the performance of lithium-ion batteries.
In this podcast we are going to talk about anodes and how these anodes could potentially be used with other types of batteries and other types of electrolytes. Let us hear from Matthew Kappers on how he and his team work with anodes, which is what makes their company so special!
Besides being an informative discussion, it was also a good conversation, which you can now join!
Here is a list of the topics we cover:
* Coretec Group's Endurion battery technology
* Silicon nanoparticles
* Anodes
* Solid Electrolyte Interface (SEI) layer
* Increasing lithium ion battery capacity by 100% with 20% silicon
* Most EV batteries have no silicon
* 100% silicon anode would increase capacity 10x
* Drop in solution
* Partner with battery manufacturer
* Patents
* Silicon vs. silicone
* Specific energy is per weight
* Energy density is energy per volume
* Most people say energy density when they mean specific energy
* Lithium anode battery (not rechargeable)
* Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) cobalt mining
* Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) cathodes
* Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC) cathodes
* Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide (NCA) cathodes
* CRTG stock ticker
* Slurry technology
* Driving an EV across the country with one charge
* Rocket equation for Cannonball Run
* Earth by weight there is more iron than anything else
* Battery recycling
* 2nd life batteries
* Vehicle to grid (V2G)
* EV less expensive per kWh than home battery
* Lead toxicity
* Lithium nontoxic
Visit The Coretec Group here:
Website: www.thecoretecgroup.com
Youtube: www.youtube.com/@thecoretecgroup7034
Twitter: www.twitter.com/CoretecGroupInc
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/the-coretec-group-inc
Find out more, educate yourself, go to www.solarSEAN.com
Take Sean's Energy Storage Boot Camp and be in the know!
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11 Oct 2023
Martin Pochtaruk CEO of Heliene Solar Manufacturer in US and Canada
Learn how solar is manufactured right here in the USA with a long time CEO of a US (Minnesota) and Canada (Ontario) solar manufacturer. Heliene Solar started up in 2010 and is still growing, especially with the Inflation Reduction Act climate. In this podcast Martin Pochtaruk takes us down an assembly line so you can learn from start to finish how a modern solar module is made.
Here are some of the terms we cover:
Encapsulant
An encapsulated mosquito in a solar cell (a Jurassic Park event)
Electroluminescent
Microcracks
Busbars
Lamination
Half-cells
Junction boxes
Potting
Multi-arm robot
Silicon cement
High voltage testing (1500V)
Flash testing
Current voltage curve
1.5AM
STC
Factory temperature
PID (Potential Induced Degradation)
PERC (Passive Emitter Rear Contact)
TOPCon = 3 processes on top of a PERC cell
N-type
P-type
Heterojunction
Polysilicon
Ingot
Wafer
Cell
China
Ontario Canada Feed-in-tariff (FIT)
Sarnia Ontario
Sault Ste Marie
Solar modules are like windows
Check out: www.heliene.com
To learn more about how solar is manufactured, and everything else about solar and storage, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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27 Sept 2023
Energy Storage Systems (ESS) and the NEC with Bill Brooks and Sean White Part 2
In this podcast we have Bill Brooks talking energy storage system (ESS) Codes, with emphasis on the National Electrical Code (NEC).
Be sure to get Sean and Bill’s latest book, which is the 3rd edition of PV and the NEC, based on the 2023 NEC.
To find where to get different versions of the NEC including the 2023 NEC for free check out the NEC tab at solarSEAN.com.
Disclaimer: This podcast was recorded in 2021.
Keywords
NEC Article 706 for Energy Storage Systems, UL 9540, Article 480, nominal voltage, cycling batteries, UL 1973, residential code, UL 1989, AHJ, inspector advice, communications between battery and inverter, flywheels, flow batteries, UPS, Australia and Hawaii, NexTracker, inverter output circuit, nameplate on ESS, apparent power, fault currents limited, maximum output current definition, LG chem battery, power converter, OSHA NRTL, ETL, Intertech, UL, SMA, UL standards writing entity vs. UL testing entity, 2021 International Residential Code, Tesla Powerwall, storage inverter, Ginlong, 9540A, liquid cooled vs. air cooled, Enphase Barbecue, Enphase in boiled water, ESS disconnecting means, readily accessible, unbalanced interconnections, single-phase inverters on 3-phase services, voltage rise, 705.12 Load-Side Connections, 710 Stand Alone Systems, plaque or directory, wire sizing, ampacity, overcurrent protection device, rounding up wire size to common overcurrent protection device size, energy storage is a source and a load, using continuous current instead of surge current, inverter input circuit current, diversion loads, C40 charge controllers without maximum power point tracking and diversion loads, energy storage as a diversion load, hot water loads, pulse with modulation (PWM), 150% correction factors for diversion loads, dc-to-dc converters, required ampacity for continuous current vs. continuous current, commercial and industrial (C&I).
Links:
Bill Brooks, P.E.: www.brooksolar.com
www.solarSEAN.com
www.HeatSpring.com/SEAN
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13 Sept 2023
David Bliss, CEO of Faraday Microgrids
David Bliss is the CEO/Founder of Faraday Microgrids. Besides being a renewable energy CEO, David Bliss also has a medical degree and is a qualified General Surgeon and Licensed California Pediatric Surgeon. There are many people in the renewable industry with a wide variety of skills!
Faraday Microgrids is a licensed general contracting company. Some of their accomplishments pertain to pioneering systems for hospitals and healthcare institutions. Faraday Microgrids constructed the first renewable energy microgrid to interconnect to a vitally important power branch of a California hospital at the Kaiser Permanente site in Richmond. Faraday Microgrids is wide open to develop and design projects. They focus on essential sectors including healthcare, industrial, manufacturing, and community safety.
You may also contact David Bliss and his team by checking here!
Faraday Microgrids’ Website: www.faradaymicrogrids.com
Faraday Microgrids’ Office: 949-305-7820
To find out more and educate yourself, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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11 Sept 2023
Podcast Episode 100! What Brings Us Together
There are so many reasons to go solar and so many people with different opinions of why. Rather than arguing about why everyone needs to go solar, let's get together, as humans and install more solar and storage! Forgetting about our differences and working together on this project, is what will have the greatest effect. Instead of letting politics divide us, let's come together and
Here are some of the reasons that people go solar:
Saving money
Climate change
Green jobs
Oil wars
Giving our money to dictators
Energy independence
Neat technology
Backup power
Living off grid
Disconnecting from utilities
Prepping for the worst
Going green
Clean air
Good health
Personally, I like going solar for all of these reasons, but just because someone else is politically against some of these things, does not mean that we should alienate them from this great family of an industry!
This podcast is being released during my RE+ NEC workshop with Bill Brooks. I have taught this workshop at every RE+/SPI since 2012! Celebrate! Good times!
To learn more about solar and storage and to get NABCEP certified, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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30 Aug 2023
ASES Conference: Sean White on Clean Power Hour Podcast with Tim Montegue and John Weaver at the American Solar Energy Society Conference in Boulder Colorado
Sean White was the guest on the Clean Power Hour podcast at the American Solar Energy Society in Boulder Colorado on August 10, 2023. We are reposting this podcasst, which you can also listen to on Tim Montegue's awesome Clean Power Hour podcast, which you can find at www.cleanpowerhour.com
The main topic we discussed was, "Can renewables replace fossil fuels".
Tim Montegue's co-host is:
John Fitzgerald Weaver
Known online as “The Commercial Solar Guy,” Solar professional and project developer. John Fitzgerald Weaver works as the General Manager of CSG Developers LLC and a technical writer for pv magazine USA, where he covers solar industry data, equipment and manufacturers, trends, regulations and much more!
Reach John Fitzgerald Weaver here!
LinkedIn Account: www.linkedin.com/in/johnfitzgeraldweaver/
Company Website: www.commercialsolarguy.com/
RSS Feed: www.commercialsolarguy.com/news/
Clean Power Show Notes (directly pasted from the Clean Power Hour):
Special guest Sean White, master PV trainer and host of Sean White's Solar and Energy Storage Podcast is joining us LIVE from Boulder Colorado at the ASES Conference (American Solar Energy Society).
Please take our listener survey.
Stay up to date with the latest solar, wind, and energy storage news and analysis. Join co-hosts Tim Montague, solar & storage expert, and John Weaver, PV Magazine journalist, as they reflect on the latest tools, technologies, and trends driving the energy transition forward. With a strong commitment to decarbonizing the economy and building a safer, healthier future for humanity, this show is a must-watch for any energy professional looking to stay ahead of the game. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, rate and review us on Apple or Spotify, and join us live every Thursday at 12 noon EST / 9 AM Pacific. Contact us at tim@cleanpowerhour.com or visit www.CleanPowerHour.com to learn more.
Support the show
Connect with Tim
Clean Power Hour
Clean Power Hour on YouTube
Tim on Twitter
Tim on LinkedIn
Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com
Review Clean Power Hour on Apple Podcasts
The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: CleanPowerHour@gmail.com
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/
The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com
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!
For more information on solar, storage and everything else, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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16 Aug 2023
Virtual Power Plants (VPP) and Energy Storage Systems (ESS) with Geoff Ferrell, Senior Vice President of Sonnen Inc
Geoff Ferrell is the Senior Vice President of VPP and C&I Projects Business at Sonnen Inc. He also worked as a Chief Technology Officer in Mandalay Homes at Arizona.
As the former Chief Technology Officer of Mandalay Homes, Geoff Ferrell was a leader in the development of technology in the construction industry and a specialist in building science.
In 2017, Sonnen started working with Soleil Lofts, a multi-family community in Herriman, Utah, south of Salt Lake City, that has 600 units and is totally powered by electricity. It is a part of a project of Rocky Mountain Power.
This podcast was recorded in Jamestown Colorado
You can also reach Geoff Ferrell on his social accounts!
Sonnen website: www.sonnenusa.com
Threads: www.threads.net/@geoffferrell
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-ferrell-733466a8/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ferrell_geoff?lang=en
Greg Smith on Sean's podcast in 2020 (when Greg was with Sonnen):
Part 1: podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/greg-smith-of-sonnen-battery-and-formerly-of-sma-part-1/id1441958371?i=1000474026142
Part 2: podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/greg-smith-of-sonnen-battery-part-2/id1441958371?i=1000474817340
Part 3: podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/greg-smith-of-sonnen-battery-part-3/id1441958371?i=1000477208295
Part 4: podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/greg-smith-of-sonnen-battery-part-4-of-4/id1441958371?i=1000486509610
To find out more and educate yourself, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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2 Aug 2023
Energy Storage Systems (ESS) and the NEC with Bill Brooks and Sean White Part 1
In this podcast we have Bill Brooks talking energy storage system (ESS) Codes, including the NEC, IFC, IBC, IRC, IEC, but mostly the NEC.
Be sure to get Sean and Bill’s latest book, which is the 3rd edition of PV and the NEC, based on the 2023 NEC.
To find where to get different versions of the NEC including the 2023 NEC for free check out the NEC tab at solarSEAN.com.
Disclaimer: This podcast was recorded in 2021.
Keywords/topics covered:
Self-consumption, EVs, frequency regulation, voltage regulation, energy storage systems, ac-coupled, dc-coupled, SolarEdge, Generac, Powerwall, Enphase, ac-modules, Outback Power, multimode inverter, Sunny Island, Sunny Boy, Article 702, 705, 710, isolation device vs. transfer switch, microgrid mode, interactive inverters, reverse dc-coupled, 400V bus voltage, dc converters, 690.71, Article 480, electric supply and distribution network, NEC Handbook Commentary, UL9540, UL 1973, LG Chem, nominal voltages, lead-acid 2V, alkali, lithium iron phosphate 3.2V, cobalt type of lithium-ion 3.6V, LiFePo4, nickel, charging ranges, batteries are not constant voltage, dc-converters required, storage battery, telecoms industry battery systems not regulated by NEC, NEC 90.2, equalization, sulfation, Trojan L16, lead-acid battery IRC UL 9540 requirements, no UL 9540 listed lead-acid batteries and IRC requires UL 9540 for residential (in dwellings), off-gassing, stratification, emergency disconnects, Hawaii systems, energy storage system labeling, rules for protection of battery terminals for wiring, Article 110, spaces between batteries on NABCEP PVIP exam, ground fault protection.
Links:
Bill Brooks, P.E.: www.brooksolar.com
www.solarSEAN.com
www.HeatSpring.com/SEAN
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19 Jul 2023
NEC Article 690 Part IV Wiring Methods & Materials from PV and the NEC 3rd Edition book by Sean White and Bill Brooks
Buy this book here:
https://www.amazon.com/PV-NEC-Sean-White/dp/100318099X
This long podcast is a reading of chapter 5 of the book, which covers NEC Article 690 Part IV of the 2023 NEC.
Every 3 years when the NEC comes out, it is a tradition for me to read and post a poetry reading of Article 690 Photovoltaic Systems. I have already posted parts I through III on this podcast, which you can go back and listen to.
Sean White and Bill Brooks will be presenting this material at RE+ in Vegas in September and at Intersolar in San Diego in January, so be sure to check out their live workshops in person. The 2023 NEC material will be posted on HeatSpring soon, as it is in production now, so keep an eye out!
The NEC can be dry, and we do our best to make it exciting!!
Don't get shocked, unless you are shocked about how we present ourselves!!
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21 Jun 2023
Rod Matthews of Brevian Energy on Microgrids
Rod Matthews specializes in commercial and industrial (C&I) scale micro-grids and we get into the details of what a microgrid is and how they can benefit customers.
Some of the topics we cover include:
* Microgrid definitions (NREL and NEC, which are different).
* Minigrid definition (never connected to the grid)
* Time-of-Use (TOU) Rates up to $0.74/kWh (or 1 Euro per kWh in Germany)
* NABCEP PV Technical Sales (PVTS)
* Lithium Ferrous Phosphate, aka LFP, Lithium Iron Phosphate
* Dendrites with lithium-metal batteries
* Silicon anodes
* Virtual Power Plant (VPP) design
* Distributed Power Energy Resource Management System Service
* Artificial Intelligence and Microgrids
* Internet of Things (IOT) sensors
* Operation and Maintenance (O&M) contracts
* Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs)
* Capital Expenditures (CapEx)
* Grid controller systems
* Microgrid Equipment
* Demand Charges vs. Energy Charges
* Expensive electricity is good for the industry
*…
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7 Jun 2023
World’s Largest Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
There are many ways to define the largest BESS and since the industry is growing so excitingly fast, it is difficult to explain exactly which is the largest.
We are going to talk about 7 big ones here:
1. Vistra: Moss Landing California US 2021 400MW/1600MWh
2. Crimson Storage: Blythe California US 2022 350MW/1400MWh
3. Manatee: Florida US 2021 (largest with PV) 409MW/900MWh
4. Victorian Big Battery: NSW Australia 2021 300MW/450MWh
5. McCoy Solar / BESS: Blythe California US 2021 230MW/920MWh
6. Elkhorn Battery: Moss Landing California US 2022 182.5MW/730MWh
Number 7 on this list is not the 7th largest battery today, but gets mentioned because it was once the largest in the world, first to reach 100MW way back in 2017 and was made because of a crazy social media bet.
If you are listening to this podcast in 10 years, it will be funny to compare these largest systems to the new largest BESSs in the world. What will they be? 100GWhs? Crazy to imagine this kind of growth!…
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24 May 2023
Lithium-Ion Battery Chemistries
Sean is recording this podcast from Australia where he is about to teach a utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) course for CPD International. This is some of the material that will be included in the course.
In this podcast, we will go over different battery chemistries, focusing on the three main types of lithium-ion batteries used these days, which include:
1. Lithium Iron Phosphate (aka LFP or LiFePo or LiFePo4)
2. Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (aka NMC or NCM)
3. Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide (aka NCA)
We will talk about the availability of these elements on Earth, the toxicity of them, we will compare and contrast to lead-acid and nickel iron batteries and we will take a dive into the controversial Cobalt, which is said to have a supply chain where child labor is often used in the Congo. Australia does lithium and cobalt mining, which is part of the solution, however the use of cobalt free lithium-ion batteries, which means LFP seems to b…
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1 May 2023
Jeffrey Max, CEO of Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., Serial tech entrepreneur and investor
Jeffrey Max is the CEO of Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. otherwise known on the stock market ticker as ASTI. Jeff is a turnaround CEO and we're going to find out what that means, Serial tech entrepreneur and investor. In over 30 years he has founded, built and incubated different global companies with multiple exits in financial services, payments, mobile commerce, adtech and aerospace. Jeff is driving the company's global positioning as a leader in flexible thin-film solar technologies. In addition to several Board positions, Jeff advises and mentors a select group of portfolio companies and founding executives in aerospace, biomed and adtech. Jeff Max has been the Chief Executive Officer of Ascent Solar Technologies since October.
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19 Apr 2023
Microgrids
"Microgrid" is a term that is thrown around a lot and a lot of people using this term are not using it as it is defined in the NEC. The 2023 NEC has a few new microgrid terms. Additionally the 2023 NEC has renamed AC Coupling and DC Coupling to be AC Interconnected and DC Interconnected.
Have fun and listen and by the way, go to www.solarSEAN.com and become certifiably NABCEPed!
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5 Apr 2023
Herve Billiet, Co-founder and CEO, Ipsun Solar and Ipsun Sunvoy
Herve Billiet is an electro-mechanical engineer who co-designed the first Belgian solar car way back when he was 21 years old. Soon after, he was invited by MIT in Boston to advance its sustainable transportation initiatives.
He went on to design his first residential solar PV system in 2009 using the 2008 National Electrical Code. Herve is from Europe but he knows the National Electrical Code he's not an expert over there designing solar systems in Europe.
And another thing is he worked for a few consulting firms, Accenture among them, and the US Department of Energy as a Strategy Consultant working on some of the largest renewable energy projects in the world. I bet that's getting bigger every day.
He's a business partner with Joe Marhamati whom he met at the Department of Energy’s Headquarters to establish Ipsun Solar. Herve and Joe grew Ipsun Solar from a small local installer to a prominent installer in the Northern Virginia Washington DC area doing both residential and…
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22 Mar 2023
Climate Change Activism Coupling (CCA-coupling)
At the COP 27 conference there was a lot of talk about other issues besides climate change, which I thought was interesting. Here were my notes:
I find it interesting at COP27 that there are a lot of other issues that are not directly about solving the CO2 crisis. Human rights, sexual rights, indigenous rights and economic injustice are all very important and all can be indirectly linked to climate change problems, but we need to get the jerks that are against justice on the side of reducing CO2 growth fast in order to move forward fast.
There are many jerks, especially in Florida (that’s a joke), that see human rights as something called “woke” and then when you combine it with CO2 problems, they are automatically against both at once. We need to fix the emergency, make the race to lower the CO2 rate an economic issue that even greedy selfish people can stand behind. Greedy selfish people can stand behind energy security, energy independence, ramping up the cheapest form o…
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8 Mar 2023
Bill Brooks Talks PV IV Curves
In this podcast Bill gets down to the basics talking about PV IV curves, Short Circuit Current (Isc), Maximum Power Current (Imp), Open Circuit Voltage (Voc), Maximum Power Voltage (Vmp), Maximum Power Point (MPP), Light Emitting Diodes (LED) in reverse is a solar cell or aka photo diode and if you put power into a solar cell it makes invisible light (infrared).
To learn more go to www.solarSEAN.com and get NABCEP certified while you are at it!
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18 Jan 2023
2023 NEC Article 690 PV Systems Part 3 Disconnecting Means can be fun!
We take something that can be boring and run it through the Sean White "boring-to-exciting converter" and out comes something sounding fun!
In this podcast we go over different ways of disconnecting solar circuits.
To learn more, go to www.solarSEAN.com or www.HeatSpring.com/sean
Sean White teaches in-person and on-demand online solar and storage courses everywhere. He is currently writing a book on the 2023 NEC with Bill Brooks.
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23 Nov 2022
Egypt COP27
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…
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2 Nov 2022
2021 International Residential Code (IRC) and Energy Storage Systems (ESS) with Bill Brooks (BB)
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.
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19 Oct 2022
2018 International Fire Code (IFC) for Energy Storage Systems (ESS) with Bill Brooks and related topics
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
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5 Oct 2022
2023 NEC Poetry Reading Article 690 Part 2 Circuit Requirements
The 2023 NEC has been released and it is time to see how voltage, current and rapid shutdown look in the future!
2023 690 Part 2 includes:
690.7 Voltage
690.8 Current
690.9 OCPD
690.11 DC Arc Fault Protection
690.12 Rapid Shutdown
Reading the NEC can be heavy stuff, so if you do not get it the first time around, try listening to it backwards synced with Dark Side of the Moon. Then you will get the secret meaning.
Learn more and take happy classes on deciphering the Code at www.solarSEAN.com or www.HeatSpring.com/sean
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21 Sept 2022
UL 3741 Rapid Shutdown solution where the PV array can stay up to 1000V using SMA inverters with Sollega or Ironridge racks!
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:
https://www.sma-america.com/newsroom/current-news/news-details/news/5123-sma-america-and-sollega-partner-to-debut-the-first-ul-3741-pvhcs-certified-commercial-and-indus.html
https://files.ironridge.com/flat-roof-mounting/resources/brochures/IronRidge_BX_System_UL3741_Installation_Addendum.pdf
https://solarbuildermag.com/featured/ul-3741-rooftop-pv-system-complies-with-nec-690-12-without-mlpe/
To see a visual version, take these classes at www.HeatSpring.com/sean
40-Hou…
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8 Sept 2022
Radio 690! 2023 NEC 690 PV Systems Part 1
Every time the NEC comes out, I do a reading of my favorite NEC articles. I like to think of it as sort of a poetry reading, since I will try to make it as least dry (wet) as possible. This time I am going to give some commentary, so it is up to you to figure out what is Code and what is me interpreting and making Code fun by understanding the tone of my voice.
Here is where you can get free access to the 2023 NEC from the NFPA website:
https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=70
This podcast is 690 Part 1 General, so stay tuned for more 690 Parts and more 2023 NEC articles, such as 2023 NEC 706 and more!!
Here are a few of the new things happening here in 2023 NEC 690 Part 1:
* 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…
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20 Jul 2022
Sean Gets interviewed on the Clean Power Hour Podcast
This is a re-posting of a podcast where Sean White is interviewed by Tim Montegue on the Clean Power Hour Podcast. If you have not already, be sure to save the Clean Power Hour podcast to your favorites. Tim is very active and has all kinds of experts on his podcast, including Jigar Shaw of the Department of Energy (Episode 83). I was honored to be interviewed on the Clean Power Hour and listen to the Clean Power Hour religiously. Tim took my NABCEP PV Technical Sales Course at HeatSpring, so if it is good enough for Tim, it is good enough for you!
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 pl…
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15 Jun 2022
2023 NEC preview with Bill Brooks at Intersolar 2022 Part 3
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 works…
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1 Jun 2022
2023 NEC preview with Bill Brooks at Intersolar 2022 Part 2
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 th…
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17 May 2022
2023 NEC preview with Bill Brooks at Intersolar 2022 Part 1
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…
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8 Mar 2022
Keith Cronin: Solar MBA instructor on HeatSpring!
Keith Cronin: Solar MBA instructor on HeatSpring!
Keith sold his Hawaii solar company Island Energy Solutions to Jigar Shaw of SunEdison in 2007 after knowing Jigar since 2002.
Keith has been teaching his Solar MBA class for just over a decade with co-instructor and attorney Chris Lord. They have taught many students, including oil and gas refugees.
Keith Cronin does consulting via his company Sun Hedge with clients all over the world, including the Department of Defense. He has lived in many different countries throughout his solar career.
Listening to this podcast will give you insight into the process for developing large solar projects and systems to run your growing business.
Final wise words from Keith Cronin:
* Fail more quickly
* Stumble ahead
* Don’t be afraid
* Ask questions
* Learn from others and you’ll be glad you did!
Click here to find out more about Keith Cronin’s classes!
Make sure to stop by www.SolarSEAN.com for a life altering experience! Kno…
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19 Jan 2022
Pre-Celebrating 1TW of PV installed in 2022
Welcome to 2022, the year of the Terawatt! That's right, this year will cross the trillion watt mark!
2022 will be remembered as the year that humanity reached the magic number of 1 trillion watts, aka 1 terawatt or 1TW of solar installed since the beginning of time. We do not have to take into consideration the amount of solar taken out of service, since that is so low, it probably will be replaced in less than a month, so that means we will hit the milestone of installed 1TW since 1 million BC and we will also have 1TW that is installed and working every day.
1TW = 1000GW = a million megawatts!
According to a July 2021 article titles "Solar continues to break installation records, on track for Terawatt scale by 2022" by Solar Power Europe, Earth will hit 900 GW in 2021, 1.1 TW in 2022, 1.3 TW in 2023, 1.6 TW in 2023, and 1.8 TW in 2025.
At a world population of 7.9 Billion, we are close to hitting another milestone too.
To put a trillion watts into context, the nu…
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15 Dec 2021
Net-metering, bypass diodes, solar & storage and NEC Article 480 vs. Article 706 Q&As
In this question we have the following questions and answers:
1. Net metering: Why it is different in different places whether or not you can and should feed energy back to the grid when you have an excess.
2. How bypass diodes work and also with half-cell PV modules.
3. Why solar goes so well with energy storage systems (ESS).
4. National Electrical Code (NEC) articles 480 Storage Batteries vs. 706 Energy Storage Systems and why you should use 706
For more info, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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1 Dec 2021
Deep dive on Energy Storage and Renewables: Sean White Interview on Cory Vanderpool’s “Solar Broadcast” podcast.
Sean White (solarSEAN.com) is interviewed on his former student Cory Vanderpool's podcast.
The talk about various subjects including:
Solar and wind are finally cheapest forms of electricity
EVs bringing down the cost of lithium-ion Energy Storage Systems (ESS)
Battery benefits including being a load, besides being a source of power
Wind power’s cubed relationship to wind speed
Frequency regulation is the biggest use for energy storage right now
Negative energy pricing in Germany
Ramp rates of energy storage beating all other forms of energy by a long shot, especially underground mined resources (fossil fuels and nuclear)
EV to grid future
LG Batteries in cars vs. home ESS price being the same
Lithium-ion graphite anodes, silicon anodes, lithium metal anode, specific energy (energy per weight), dendrites, energy density (energy per volume)
Sean’s $0.20 to $0.40 per kWh battery price prediction in 10-years
Soldering home-made lithium-ion…
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17 Nov 2021
Grounding, Microhydro Hybrid Systems, Batteries & Mono vs. Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Cells
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…
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5 Nov 2021
EV to home, Recycling Lithium Batteries & 30% Efficient PV questions answered
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 effic…
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20 Oct 2021
Energy Storage, PV & NEC Workshop at the ASES Conference August 2021
This is an audio version of the workshop that Sean White taught at the ASES conference at the University of Colorado Boulder on August 6, 2021. To see a video version, go to www.solarSEAN.com for a link to Sean's YouTube channel or find some of this material in Sean's classes at www.HeatSpring.com/sean
You can also find most of the material form Sean's Intensive PV workshop at the ASES conference, which was covered in the last podcast listed on HeatSpring for 2 hours of free NABCEP CE credit at https://www.heatspring.com/courses/introduction-to-solar-pv-design-installation-and-code?aff_id=t3nlgw
Here is the description of the workshop straight from the ASES.org website:
This workshop will be jam-packed with NEC insight and interpretation. Sean White teaches PV courses around the world and has authored many technical PV books. Solar Photovoltaic Basics 2nd Ed., Energy Storage Basics, Solar PV Engineering and Installation 2nd Ed., Solar PV Technical Sales and PV and the NEC 2nd Ed. Se…
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6 Oct 2021
ASES Solar 2021: Solar PV Intensive Workshop with Sean White
This podcast is a recording of a workshop Sean taught at the ASES Solar 2021 Conference at the University of Colorado Boulder on August 6, 2021.
This Solar PV Intensive Workshop was fast paced and covered a lot of information. This workshop was in a way covering the same material Sean covers in his Solar PV Boot Camps, which are often 40 hours long in a quick 1.5 hours. There are slides and if you want to see the video version, you will be able to see it at Sean's Youtube channel. Here is the Youtube link for this video.
Topics covered include, Energy Storage Systems (ESS), PV Markets
To find out more about solar and energy storage or classes with Sean White and Bill Brooks, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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22 Sept 2021
Backfeeding the grid Hawaiian Style with Customer Grid-Supply Plus, which is the future
Hawaii has more solar PV per capita than any other state. Since PV is the least expensive energy in the world now, this concentration of PV will soon hit other states and Hawaii is paving the way with new policies that will be able to deal with this abundance of noontime energy. California, which has a lot more people and by for more solar than any other state is also dealing with this abundance.
In this podcast, we will discuss one of Hawaii’s policies put in place to deal with the possibility of producing more energy than the grid needs, but still letting people export to the grid. The policy we are covering is called Customer Grid Supply Plus (CGS+). Get ready for these new types of policies to come to you.
We will also discuss energy storage, and a student review of one of our free classes for 2 hours of NABCEP credit that I do with Bill Brooks where we sadly get accused of being "too funny".
To find out more and to take some of my not-boring classes, go to www.…
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7 Sept 2021
Latitude’s Effect on Solar Resource, Cheap Electricity and PV, Battery Equalization and then Bill Brooks talks about the NFPA 855 Energy Storage Standard
In this podcast, Sean answers 3 questions and then we finish it off with some wise words from Bill Brooks where Bill and Sean discus the purpose of NFPA 855 Standard For The Installation Of Stationary Energy Storage Systems.
To find out more about solar and energy storage or classes with Sean White and Bill Brooks, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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4 Aug 2021
Net-Metering Sustainability, PV Wire Sizing and East vs. West Facing PV
In this podcast, Sean answers questions about net-metering sustainability, with examples from the most mature PV markets in the US, Hawaii and California and how energy storage solves problems when intermittent renewables are on the grid.
There were some changes in the 2017 NEC, where the requirement to have a temperature adder with conduit in sunlight over a roof were removed, making wire sizing simpler, although wire sizing is arguably the most difficult part of designing a PV system.
Our last topic here has to do with the optimal way to face your PV, given the restrictions of having an east-west facing rooftop. As Jim Morrisoin says, "West is the best!"
To find out more, go to solarSEAN.com
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27 Jul 2021
Grounded vs. Ungrounded Inverters, Battery Combiner Boxes and Community Solar
In this podcast we once again cover questions from you and those like you by popular demand. We will get into the different terminology and how it changed in different versions of the NEC, when we talk about ungrounded, grounded and functionally grounded inverters. We talk about the correct terminology for combining batteries in parallel and differentiate between community solar and community choice aggregation among other things.
To find out more about renewable energy, go to solarSEAN.com
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20 Jul 2021
Solar PV Seasonal Tilt, 60 & 72-cell PV Modules, Net-Metering with Energy Storage Q&A Podcast
In this episode, we cover tilting PV modules, and seasonal tilting, why most PV modules at 60 cell and 72 cell modules, net-metering and energy storage.
To find out more about solar and energy storage or to ace any NABCEP exam, go to solarSEAN.com
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12 Jul 2021
Q&A: NABCEP NEC adoption, Higher Power PV modules & Solar Manufacturers Going out of Business
In this podcast, we are going answer questions related to solar and energy storage. The first question is about NABCEP and how they are going about adopting the latest version of the NEC. The next question is about higher power PV modules and are they bigger and more dangerous to install. The last question is about how to deal with and what to do about the possibility of manufacturers going out of business.
To find out more about Solar and Energy Storage Systems (ESS) go to solarSEAN.com
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23 Jun 2021
New UL PV Listing 61730 replacing UL 1703 for making the test work around the world and UL 3741 listing for Rapid Shutdown (Hazard Control Systems) with Bill Brooks PE
In this podcast we talk about the new UL standard for PV, which replaces UL 1703 for PV with UL 61730, which took place in December of 2020. You can still use UL 1703, just if you come out with a new module design, it needs to comply with UL 61730, which makes things easier, since it is the same test around the world, instead of having a different test for the US and Europe for instance.
We also talk about the new UL 3741 PV Hazard Control Standard, aka the Rapid Shutdown standard, which is another way of complying with 690.12 in the 2020 NEC, so you can perhaps have up to 3 modules in series after shutdown now. Mid Circuit Interrupters (MCI) on every third module maybe all you need for rapid shutdown as long as it is a UL 3741 listed solution. This is big news and a new way to deal with rapid shutdown. An MCI is likely to be a switch that does not do maximum power point tracking (MPPT), or you can have a dc-to-dc converter (optimizer) that does MPPT on a group of 3 PV modules.…
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17 Jun 2021
International Fire Code (IFC) and Energy Storage Systems (ESS) with Bill Brooks
In this podcast we cover the requirements of the International Fire Code and Energy Storage Systems and sizes of these Energy Storage Systems in the International Fire Code. There are special size requirements as we will learn soon. We were primarily covering the 2018 IFC, the 2021 IFC does not come out yet as of this podcast and even when it does come out it doesn't mean that it’s get adopted right away in your state and so the different sizes of the Energy Storage Systems that we're going to talk about cover from larger than one- and two-family dwellings up to large utility scale systems. Can you get bigger than the utility scale not that I know about, but I'd be interested in your crazy comments? Did you know that ventilation is not required for valve regulated lead acid batteries? That's right ventilation is not required for valve regulated lead acid batteries and you know that now. And also, did you know that the International Fire Code does not apply when you were applying the…
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9 Jun 2021
2021 International Residential Code (IRC) and more with Bill Brooks
In this podcast we cover the 2021 IRC has not been published yet and which Bill is helping write. We also discuss the relationship with the International Fire Code (IFC) and the International Building Code (IBC). The IRC, IBC and IFC are published by the International Code Council (ICC).
Some of the subjects we cover are vehicle impact protection for Energy Storage Systems (ESS), parking bollards, parking curbs, installation locations, not installed in habitable rooms, habitable room definitions, sheet rock (5/8" gypsum requirements) in relation to ESS which are non-combustible wall requirements, ESS in relationship to garage windows vs. bedroom windows, kWh maximum size per area, 80kWh house maximum, Section 1206.1-1206.9 of IFC, Fire detection, Smoke alarms, California Residential Code (CRC), which copies the IRC, stand-by power, and more!
To learn more about energy storage, solar, the building codes, the NEC and everything else, go to www.solarsean.com
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2 Jun 2021
International Residential Code (IRC) and Energy Storage Systems (ESS) with Bill Brooks
In this podcast Bill Brooks covers the International Residential Code from the International Code Council (ICC), which are rules in addition to the NEC for installing ESSs in 1- and 2-family dwellings. Bill Brooks is instrumental in writing the material that we cover and sits on many different panels, such as the UL 9540 standards technical panel, and comes up with the rules. Stay tuned for another podcast where we will cover the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Fire Code (IFC), which are used for other than 1- and 2-family dwellings.
We cover here: UL 9540 (umbrella standard), UL 1973, UL 1741, 2018 IRC, 2021 IRC, 2024 IRC insight, LG Chem Battery, Tesla Powerwall, SolarEdge, SMA, BYD, Enphase, Sonnen, Inverters and sub-assemblies, lithium-ion and lead-acid battery preferred applications, using retired EVs to power your house according to the 2018 IRC, NEC 625 Bidirectional EV charging/discharging, battery locations, habitable locations, ventilation, hydrogen…
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21 Apr 2021
BIPV and Tesla Solar Glass with Bill Brooks
Building Integrated PV (BIPV) has been around forever as far as the solar industry is concerned (4 or 5 decades). It has never taken off like people think. There has always been a lot of hype around BIPV, especially amongst laypeople. Will Tesla change BIPV forever? I would think not, except I will never underestimate a guy that turned a small EV company into the world's most valuable automaker, lands reusable rockets routinely, and can make non-human primates play video games with their thoughts, all things which were considered impossible.
For more information and education on solar and storage, go to www.solarSEAN.com !
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14 Apr 2021
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
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24 Mar 2021
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
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17 Mar 2021
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
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3 Mar 2021
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.
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24 Feb 2021
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
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17 Feb 2021
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
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10 Feb 2021
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
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3 Feb 2021
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
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27 Jan 2021
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
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13 Jan 2021
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…
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30 Dec 2020
PV Safety Basics Part 2
The most misunderstood PV label (“terminals on line and load side may be energized in the open position”), DC and AC disconnects, Capacitors, PV is on when the Sun is up, Pocket Voltage Indicator, Hot Stick Voltage Detectors (only work with alternating current), Lockout Tagout (LOTO), Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), 6-feet = Fall Protection, Guardrail Fall Protection, Safety Net Fall Protection, Personal Fall Arrest Systems (PFAS), Anchor, Harness, Lifeline, Shock Absorbing Lanyard, Ladders Safety, Fiberglass vs. Aluminum Ladders, Working Around Power Lines, 3 points of contact, Tool Backpack, Yoyo (self-retracting lifeline) and Sun Exposure!
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23 Dec 2020
PV Safety Basics Part 1
NEC, too much current on a wire, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) for employees, NFPA, Battery Bank Locations, AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction), NABCEP, Hydrogen and Ventilation with Lead-Acid Batteries, Guarding Live Parts, Working Spaces NEC 110.26, Panelboards, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Fall Protection, Arc-Flash Protection, Skylights, Ergonomics, Staging, Preventing Lumbar Disc Injuries, Volt Meter Testing, First Aid Kits and Eye Wash Stations.
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16 Dec 2020
PV Markets and Applications Part 3
AC-Modules, Direct PV Systems, Water Pumping with PV, Self-Regulating PV, Hybrid PV Systems vs. Hybrid Inverters, Solar Living Institute (RIP), Pumped Hydro Storage, Utility Scale Solar Farms, Large Scale PV Electric Supply Stations (NEC 691), PV Feed-in-Tariff’s, NexTracker Single Axis Trackers, Distributed Generation (DG), NABCEP, Community Solar, Community Choice Aggregation (CCAs), SEIA Houses per MW, 6kW per house average, Energy Efficiency, Resistance Heater 100% efficiency vs. Heat Pumps that are 3x better than 100%, Spectrolab Space Solar.
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9 Dec 2020
PV Markets and Applications Part 2
Utility Interactive PV Systems, Direct Current, Alternating Current, 5-minute UL 1741 anti-islanding requirements, PV the anti-load, net-metering, residential and commercial voltages, 120/240V, 120/208V, 277/480V, Delta, Stinger, Medium Voltage, High Voltage and Ultra High Voltage Connections, Nikola Tesla, Utility Scale PV, NEC Article 691, Charge Controllers, Stand-alone (off-grid), Rectifier (ac-to-dc), Tesla Powerwall, AC-Coupled PV, DC-Coupled PV and SolarEdge.
Stay tuned for Part 3 of PV Markets and Applications Next Week!
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2 Dec 2020
PV Markets and Applications Part 1
PV Markets and Applications, Grid-Tied PV with and without Batteries, Voltage Sags and Peaks, California Rule 21, Energy Storage, Smart Electronics, Bidirectional EVs, UL 1741, UL 1703, CE, NEC, Anti-islanding, Stand-alone, Multimode Inverters, Microgrid Interconnect Device (MID), Interactive Inverter, Solar in Space, Space Based Solar Power (SBSP), Portable Solar Power, Hybrid, Utility Scale PV, Distributed Generation (DG), Concentrated PV, Concentrated Solar Thermal, Solar Thermal vs. Solar PV. Stay tuned for Markets and Applications Part 2 of 3 next week!
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25 Nov 2020
History, Present and Future of Solar PV
PV Markets and Applications, NABCEP Exam, Edmund Becquerel, Photovoltaic Effect, Einstein’s Photoelectric Effect, PV Flash Testing, Bell Labs, Vanguard 1 Satellite, World Installed Capacity of PV, 1 TW of PV Installed, Hockey Stick PV Growth, Space Based Solar Power (SBSP), Dyson Sphere, Swanson’s Law, PV $77/watt in 1977, Solar PV and Eclipses, Guerrilla Solar and Perpetual Solar Flight with the Solar Impulse.
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18 Nov 2020
Comparing Battery Technologies
What makes different battery technologies better for different applications, primary and secondary batteries, state of charge (SOC) vs. depth of discharge (DOD), voltage vs. charge, battery open circuit voltage, battery internal resistance, lithium vs. lead acid, battery nominal voltage, 3.6V, 3.2V and 2V, cycle life factors, energy per weight, energy per volume, power per weight vs. energy, arbitrage, self consumption, max discharge current vs. continuous current, charge voltage vs. nominal voltage vs. float voltage, BMS, algorithms, NiMH, NiCad, recycling batteries.
To find out more about everything solar and storage, go to solarSEAN.com
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11 Nov 2020
2020 NEC Article 705 Interconnected Power Production Systems from an Energy Storage System (ESS) perspective
Article 705 applies to PV and ESS. Everything we say here is going to apply to anything backfeeding the grid or a microgrid, however we will use ESS examples. We cover anti-islanding, Microgrid Interconnect Devices (MID), IEEE, Microgrid System definition, 705.11 Supply-Side Connections, 705.12 Load-Side Connections, 705.13 Power Control Systems (PCS), Article 705 Part 2 AC Microgrids.
To find out more about everything solar and storage, go to solarSEAN.com
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4 Nov 2020
Energy Storage relevant material in the 2020 NEC, Chapter 6 Special Equipment, Chapter 7 Special Conditions, Chapter 8 Communication Systems, Chapter 9 Tables
In this podcast we cover material in Chapters 6 & 7 in the NEC (not including 706 ESS in detail, which we covered in a previous podcast) from an ESS point of view, including 625 EV Power Transfer Systems, EVSE=EV supply equipment, 692 Fuel Cells, 702 Standby Systems, ATS (automatic transfer switch), MID (microgrid interconnect device), 705 Interconnected Power Production Sources, 706 Energy Storage Systems (ESS), 710 Stand-Alone Systems, 712 DC Microgrids, 750 Energy Management Systems, Power Control Systems, Chapter 8 Communication Systems, Chapter 9 Tables, Conduit Fill Tables, Voltage Drop Tables.
To find out more about everything solar and storage, go to solarSEAN.com
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28 Oct 2020
Energy Storage System Code in the NEC besides Article 706 ESS
Article 90 Introduction, Art. 100 Definitions, Art. 110 Requirements for Electrical Installations, Art. 200 Use and Identification of Grounded Conductors, Art. 240 Overcurrent Protection, Article 250 Grounding and Bonding (& Soares book), Art. 310 Conductors for General Wiring, Art. 358 EMT, Art. 480 Storage Batteries and Chapter 5 Special Occupancies, including aircraft hangers!
To learn more about energy storage, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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21 Oct 2020
NEC Article 706 Energy Storage Systems part III to end
In this podcast we will go over and explain NEC Article 706 Energy Storage Systems Part III “Installation Requirements”, Part IV “Circuit Requirements”, Part V “Flow Battery Energy Storage Systems” and Part VI “Other Energy Storage Technologies”.
To learn more about energy storage, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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14 Oct 2020
NEC and Energy Storage Systems (ESS) including Article 706 Parts I and II
In this podcast we go over: ESS and the NEC, 2020, 2017 and 2014 NEC, 706 ESS, 710 Stand-Alone Systems, 712 DC Microgrids, 690 PV, NABCEP, 1897 NEC, 1984 NEC, Statistics, NEC Chapters 1-4, 5, 6, 7, Article 705 Interconnected Power Production Sources, Chapter 8 Communications, Chapter 9 Tables, NFPA 855 Standard for the Installation of Energy Storage Systems, 2020 NEC pdf, Article 480 Storage Batteries, NECA, UL 1973, UL 1989, UL 9540, UL 2436, Flywheels, Inverters, Converters, Gravity ESS, UPS, Flow Battery, AHJ, Qualified Person, Details of Sections 706.2 through 706.16 (Parts I and II of 706). Part I of Article 706 is “General” and Part II is “Disconnecting Means”.
To learn more about energy storage, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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7 Oct 2020
Energy Storage Tech Comparisons including Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Lithium-Ion vs. Lead-Acid, Sodium Sulfur, UL 9540 and UL 1973
In this podcast, we will cover: Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Bloom Energy, Bloom Box, Hydrogen from Natural Gas, Server Module, Ethanol, Lithium vs. Lead-Acid, Solar Family Reunion, Nameplate Capacity vs. Usable Capacity, Round Trip Efficiency, Cobalt, Graphite Anode, NMC, LFP, LifePo, NCA, Reactive Power (Q), Black Start, VRLA, AGM, NiMH, Silicon Graphite Anode, Tesla batteries, Sodium Sulfur, UL 9540, UL 1973, LG and more
To learn more about energy storage, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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1 Oct 2020
Energy Storage System Markets Podcast
In this podcast, we will cover Energy Storage Systems (ESS) growth rates, Lithium and other markets, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), Molten Salt Storage, Fly Wheel Storage, Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES), Ternary Batteries (NMC or NCA vs. LFP), Energy Density vs. Specific Energy, Battery Memory Myths, Protection Circuits, Lead-Acid Deep Cycle Batteries, Maintenance, Equalization, NiMH, NiCad, Lithium vs. Lithium-Ion Batteries, Lithium Air Battery, Lithium Polymer, Microporous Electrolyte vs. Porous Separator, Tesla battery cost advantage rumors, Vanadium Redox Flow Battery, Anolyte, Catholyte, Oxidation, Zinc Bromine Flow Batteries, NEC and more!
To learn more about energy storage, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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4 Sept 2020
Common Energy Storage System (ESS) Components for Large-Sized Projects
In this podcast, we will focus on the following manufacturers: Samsung, LG, Mitsubishi and Sungrow.
(In another podcast we will cover other manufacturers)
Some of the topics included here are:
Diversified manufacturers and bankruptcy risks, warranty insurance, distributed energy storage, UPS, residential and telecom smaller scale comparisons, virtual power plants (VPP), cells, racks, containers, peak shifting, smoothing, power vs. energy applications, frequency regulation, pouch, prismatic and cylinder cells, capacity, specific energy, energy density, software, PLC, state of charge, power control systems (PCS NEC 705.13), artificial intelligence (AI), grid stabilization, voltage control, monitoring, voltage drop (rise), UL 1741, C-rate, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), lithium vs. sodium sulfur battery, and energy management systems (EMS).
To learn more, go to www.solarSEAN.com where you can find classes, flashcards, consulting and everything under the sun.
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28 Aug 2020
Battery Charging and Discharging Podcast
In this podcast, we will cover: battery charging and discharging, voltage levels, coulomb counting, data, temperatures, loads, warranties, battery management systems (BMS), smart batteries, dumb batteries, self discharge, rubber band effect, button battery dangers, FAA battery rules.
To learn more about batteries go to www.solarSEAN.com
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22 Aug 2020
Lithium Battery Topics
Topics covered: Transportation of batteries, lithium metal dendrites, lithium ion, International Air Transportation Association (IATA), surprise thermal events, recycling lithium batteries, battery aging, rock content, cutoff voltage, battery sweet zone, stratification, faded, 2nd hand EV batteries used for stationary ESS and data science.
For more excitement and to grow your brain and to increase your value as a human being, go to www.solarSEAN.com
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15 Aug 2020
VPP (Virtual Power Plants)
In this episode Sean talks about virtual power plants, which is the aggregation of many small energy storage systems together to end up with the energy storage capacity of a large utility scale energy storage facility. This distributed energy storage, working in harmony with each other can provide many benefits to the grid and to consumers.
To find out more about energy storage, PV and everything else, go to solarSEAN.com.
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8 Aug 2020
Lithium-ion Battery basics
In this podcast, we will cover, C-rates, hour rates, E-rates, comparing lithium to lead-acid batteries, DOD, battery cells, modules and packs, series and parallel connections, cylindrical, prismatic and pouch batteries, cathodes, anodes, electron flow vs. conventional current direction, electrolytes and the graphite anode.
To learn more, go to solarSEAN.com
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29 Jul 2020
Greg Smith of Sonnen Battery Part 4 of 4
This is the fourth and final part of an interview with Greg Smith of Sonnen Battery. In this podcast we cover Greg’s opinion against rapid shutdown (RSD) requirements of the NEC, a book he is writing, whole house backup and how fast a Sonnen can react to a grid outage, which is 100 milliseconds.
To find out more about everything solar and storage, go to solarSEAN.com
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23 Jul 2020
AC and DC Coupling of PV and Energy Storage
When you connect PV to Energy Storage, you have to decide if you are going to have them connected together via ac or dc electricity. There are benefits to each for different applications. We will talk about the nuances of ac coupling and dc coupling and give you the benefits and drawbacks of each.
To find out more and expand your knowledge, go to solarsean.com
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16 Jul 2020
Electricity Basics from Energy Storage Class
In this podcast, we will learn about the basics of electricity, from voltage to the speed of electricity. We will even get inside of the heads of Charles Coulomb and Henry Ampere. Did you know that 1A is about 6 x 10^18 electrons passing by in a second? And that that many electrons, besides being a lot is also called a coulomb and some batteries do charging by coulomb counting. How can anyone count that high?
For more interesting facts, listen to Sean's podcasts, go to solarsean.com and sign up for Sean's HeatSpring classes or hire him live!
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4 Jul 2020
Energy Storage System Common Components Part 2 of 2
In this series of Podcasts we are going to take an unbiased look at different popular Energy System Components. In this podcast we will cover Solar Generac/Pika, Sonnen, Solis, Sol-Ark, Fortress, KiloVault, Trojan Trillium, Rolls, Sunverge, Schneider, SimpliPhi, SMA, BYD and Victron.
To find out more about Sean White, solar and energy storage classes, NABCEP exam Prep, books and customized projects, or even solar installations, go to solarsean.com
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22 Jun 2020
Energy Storage System Common Components Part 1
In this series of Podcasts we are going to take an unbiased look at different popular Energy System Components. In this podcast we will cover Solar Edge StorEdge, LG Chem RESU, Enphase and Tesla. In upcoming podcasts in this series, we will cover Generac/Pika, Sonnen, Solis, Sol-Ark, Fortress, KiloVault, Trojan Trillium, Rolls, Sunverge, Schneider, SimpliPhi, SMA, BYD and Victron.
To find out more about Sean White, solar and energy storage classes, NABCEP exam Prep, books and customized projects, or even solar installations, go to solarsean.com
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14 Jun 2020
Lithium Chemistry Podcast
Upon finishing this podcast, you will forever remember the top three lithium-ion battery chemistries, which are LFP, NMC and NCA, also known as Lithium Iron Phosphate, Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide and Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide. We will cover more about lithium batteries, such as including the definition of specific energy, which is energy per weight, rather than energy density, which is energy per volume.
To learn more about solar and energy storage, classes and Sean White, go to solarSEAN.com!
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8 Jun 2020
Greg Smith of Sonnen Battery Part 3
Greg used to be the face of SMA America training and now is the face of Sonnen battery education in the US.
This episode, we talk about energy storage self-consumption, energy storage without backup being common in Germany, PG&E public safety power shutoffs and demand for backup in the us, autonomy, ac-coupling, frequency control, module level power electronics, and some companies overestimating the shading losses with string inverters, which Greg is passionate about.
To find out more about solar education and the easiest way to pass NABCEP exams, go to solarSEAN.com
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29 May 2020
Brian Hayden Co-founder HeatSpring Renewable Energy Online Training Platform Part 4
In this part of my interview with Brian Hayden, we discuss drones, space, making online class content, how COVID effects the solar industry, a view of the solar industry stepping back and blurring out the ups and downs and what does good online training look like. To find out more about this podcast or HeatSpring online training, where Sean has now had 15k students sign up for his online classes, go to solarsean.com
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22 May 2020
Radio Station 705: 2020 NEC 705 Interconnected Power Production Sources
This is a reading from the 2020 NEC of Article 705 Interconnected Power Production Sources, which features 705.11 Supply-Side Source Connections, 705.12 Load-Side Source Connections and the new in 2020 705.13 Power Control Systems (PCS). 705.13 is new and will be very useful for making interconnections, so that we are not limited by the options in 705.11 and 705.12. When we have very smart electronics coordinating the currents, such as with smart load centers, CTs and smart inverters, PCSs can make sure our busbars do not melt. Artificial Intelligence anyone?
For someone who is just learning about PV or energy storage and has no idea about the NEC, this might be overwhelming, or at least a way to get familiar with the terminology while falling to sleep. For those of you that are familiar with the NEC, dive into island mode!
For more information about Sean White, Solar and Energy Storage, such as online classes or hiring Sean to teach at your company for NABCEP credit, go to solarsea…
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16 May 2020
Greg Smith of Sonnen Battery Part 2
This week, we discuss the importance of software, artificial intelligence, controllable breakers, 2020 NEC 690.13 Power Control Systems, home automation platforms, blockchain, benefits to ac coupling, a 10,000 cycle warranty, Shell’s purchase of Sonnen and Shell’s renewable energy history.
To find out more about Sean White’s, online classes or to hire Sean for live trainings for NABCEP credit go to www.solarsean.com.
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8 May 2020
Greg Smith of Sonnen Battery and formerly of SMA, Part 1
Greg Smith is a micro-Celebrity in the Solar and Storage industry. He has been the top US technical training manager at two of the top German renewable energy companies. Sonnen is perhaps the most mature lithium ion company in the world that has just celebrated its 10th birthday. If you have been to a big solar show in the US in the last 10 years, you have passed Greg, probably with a crowd around him, as he is excited about the technology he espouses.
This is part 1 of a series of podcasts with Greg. In this episode we cover Virtual Power Plants (VPPs), Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) Lithium-ion batteries, UL 9540 listing of complete Energy Storage Systems and what the inspectors sometimes look for.
To find out more about Sean White, go to solarsean.com
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1 May 2020
HeatSpring Online Renewable Energy Training Platform Co-founder Brian Hayden week 3
This week we learn how HeatSpring came to be by two MBA candidates from Boston based Babson College’s entrepreneur program. Their recipe is to find the best instructors, who are SMEs that like to teach and many often write books. HeatSpring has been a success story.
We also discuss Grid Alternatives, which is an organization that compliments online solar training very well and is often described as the Habitat for Humanity for solar, where people, including our students get free hands-on experience installing solar on real houses, and at the same time getting that feel good feeling for helping people in need get away from under their monthly electricity bills.
To learn more about Sean White or his classes, go to solarsean.com
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23 Apr 2020
Brian Hayden Co-founder of HeatSpring Part 2:
Brian Hayden discusses how HeatSpring started as an offshoot of two HS co-founders trying to get educated in renewable energy with the idea of becoming integrators. They were unsuccessful at finding the education they wanted, so they started HeatSpring, with the idea that they would get the best instructors in the world who are often authors. They would let the instructors use their own material and split the revenue rather than getting cheap instructors to make curriculum, teach classes and taking most of the profits for their organizations, google add-words and high pressure sales people, which is what they found in the industry.
Sean learns in this podcast how HeatSpring started out with live trainings in Boston and evolved to go at your own pace 100% online education.
Find out more about the “most excellent” free and not free HeatSpring classes at solarsean.com
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17 Apr 2020
Brian Hayden Part 1: Sean White Reverse Interviews Brian Hayden, Co-Founder of the Heatspring Online Renewable Energy Training Platform
Sean White gets interviewed as he was getting ready to interview Brian Hayden. They were having a conversation which fortunately was recorded where Brian Hayden, a podcaster himself seemed to be interviewing the interviewer. This part 1 of a multiple part series of conversations with Brian Hayden. Brian has a podcast of his own, which goes well with his Entrepreneurship course at the world renowned University of Michigan Center for Entrepreneurship. Brian's podcast is called Finding Your Venture and can be found at FindingYourVenture.com. To find out more about Sean, to sign up for his courses or to hire him, go to solarsean.com. Stay safe!
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7 Apr 2020
More Bidirectional EV with Bill Brooks
In this podcast, we go off on the EV manufacturers for not having a good enough excuse to let us connect our cars up for bidirectional purposes. Rather than blaming it on the warranty only being for 100,000 miles or 10 years, why not add 33,000kWh to the mix and then if you overused your battery powering your house, that could be another way for your battery warranty to expire. Bill picked 33MWh and if it is good enough for Bill, it is good enough for the EV industry.
Let's start a movement and agree to buy the first EV that offers this technology. We know they can all easily do it and it is not an engineering problem. Perhaps the battery industry is more interested in selling batteries for your car and your home separately. EV to grid is also known as V2G.
This podcast is part of a free class titled "Solar Building Codes, Fire Codes, EVs, Rapid Shutdown and Energy Storage Systems", which you can find the link to by going to www.solarsean.com
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31 Mar 2020
EV to Grid: Bill Brooks talks about NEC Article 625 EV Power Transfer System
In this episode, we talk about 2020 NEC Article 625 Electric Vehicle Power Transfer System. It is ok with the NEC that we can use our cars to feed the grid and power our homes, so what is the hold up with the EV manufacturers? We will cover more of this answer in our next episode, but this time we will get into the details, and focus on 625.42 Rating, which will allow us to 4000A of EV chargers (and bidirectional EV Power Transfer Systems) on a 1000A feeder as long as we have the load management to make everything safe. 625.42 was the inspiration for 2020 NEC 705.13 Power Control Systems! You can also learn more about these topics in our online Heatspring classes, some of them free. Find your way there and to many good places at the address of solarsean.com!
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25 Mar 2020
Bill Brooks on Solar PV Rooftop Setbacks and Pathways
The 2018 International Residential Code (IRC) now allows for 18 inches from the ridge instead of 3 feet. Bill was involved in the process of making these rules and explains how the 2018 IRC works. This is very important for those of you involved in rooftop solar markets in the US. In some states you can go all the way up to the ridge, other states you can go up to 18 inches from the ridge and yet in others it is 3 feet. With the price of solar PV so low, people are wanting to put as much PV as they can on their roofs, including on the north side. This podcast contains material from a recently released Heatspring free online class entitled: Solar Building Codes, Fire Codes, EVs, Rapid Shutdown and Energy Storage Systems. This free online course counts for 2 hours of NABCEP continuing education credits and prerequisites. You can find out more by going to www.solarsean.com.
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18 Mar 2020
Bill Brooks Interview
Bill Brooks has been in the solar industry for 32 years. He trains inspectors, consults with solar farm owners, is a licensed professional engineer, is on code making panel 4 and is in charge of writing much of the NEC as it pertains to solar energy. Brooks teaches and writes books with Sean White. This interview is part of the 40-hour Advanced PV and NABCEP Certification exam prep and CEU online class on Heatspring. They were both coronavirus free at the time of this interview.
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10 Mar 2020
2020 NEC Radio 710 Stand-Alone Systems
NEC Article 710 Stand-Alone Systems is short and this reading will get you thinking about living off the grid or will get you ready for when the apocalypse comes and your prepper tendencies pay off!
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6 Mar 2020
Sean White Interviews the Worlds First Solar Installer who Brokers Alien Tech to Elon
Funny interview! Sean White interviews the worlds first solar installer Bob. Bob has been installing solar for longer than you can imagine! Bob sometimes works for the aliens on the History Channel.
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20 Feb 2020
Radio 706 Energy Storage Systems
2020 NEC article 706 Energy Storage Systems (ESS) is the latest in implementing storage technology into the grid and off grid. Lithium battery technology is decreasing in price as the price decreases and as intermittent renewables take over. This podcast is an energetic reading of article 706 and a way to catch up on the code as you drive, exercise or sleep through osmosis. NEC Article 706 is complimented by Article 690 PV Systems, Article 705 Interconnections and Article 480 batteries. Learn!
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