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January 14, 2007
Solar panels + DOB inspection
We are getting solar panels installed on our roof. But now our solar contractor has told us that the DOB passed new rules that mean that we need to get inspections of the system. And supposedly the electrical contractors in NYC have no idea how to inspect these systems. So he's telling us that everybody is caught up in a catch-22 situation and they are lobbying the Bloomberg admin. to sort things out. So either we have to shell out an extra $2500 at this time to get somebody to agree to inspect this for us (not sure who, or where the $ goes exactly and he doesn't sound sure either and is looking in to it) or we are supposed to wait to see if the Mayor ends this inspection program.
All I can find on the DOB website is: Solar Photovoltaic Systems are required to be tested as complete assemblies to prevent unsafe installations. These systems transform solar energy into electricity.
But how lame is this? The Bloomberg admin. is basically making solar really expensive (and it's not cheap to begin with) by making us pay for somebody to get trained somehow to test our not yet installed system. Does anybody on here know anything about this. This is making my head spin. Can nothing ever get done in this city unless your name rhymes with shatner?
Comments
God bless you for installing solar cells. It may be a pain now, but you are way ahead of everyone else. My dad works for the worlds leading manufacture of solar cells and he tells me that there is a global shortage of PVC's right now. Just tough it out! You will be ahead in the long run. BTW how many KWTs are you producing? Enough to sell back to Con-ed?
Posted by: southslope.woodworks at January 15, 2007 12:31 AM
con ed can't buy back power... like most utilities
it's not setup for that. also, given typical nyc
weather and temp, I don't see how this makes sense
Posted by: Anonymous at January 15, 2007 7:47 AM
Actually the meter measures the flow of electrical current (in or out) and it is a federal law that surplus energy will be credited ty your bill, this is called net metering. And con-ed will pay you for surplus energy. http://q050-w5.coned.com/dg/service_categories/netMetering.asp
Posted by: Anonymous at January 15, 2007 9:06 AM
Wow. Although I can't say that I'm suprised; the city does seems to be incredibly backwards when it comes to dealing with new technologies.
Maybe you should try looking into an expeditor? I have no experience in this, but it seems like it's generally the thing to do when you can't get anywhere.
I hope it works out for you - keep us posted. I've been mulling over a solar setup myself...
Posted by: Anonymous at January 15, 2007 11:36 AM
who is doing the solar installation for you? I have had a couple of solar contractors come by and give me a proposal, but there was no follow up by them afterwards. I have reached out to them many, many times to see if they can do the project, but there has been no response.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 15, 2007 9:09 PM
I don't want to write up the name of our solar contractor until the job is done and we are satisfied. I have written up recommendations before for other trades and then regretted it after they did shoddy final work. But if you post your e-mail addresses I will happily send you an e-mail when it's all said and done though. We are still planning on going forward with this plan to install solar, but want to figure out what the deal is with this extra charge. I'm thinking of calling up our city council person's office. I mean what pol (besides Bloomberg perhaps) wants to be on the record of slowing down solar installations??
Posted by: Anonymous at January 15, 2007 10:43 PM
Thanks for the response. You contact me off line @ mikeamoroso@hotmail.com
Posted by: Anonymous at January 16, 2007 1:54 PM
Okay for all you solar lovers out there...this is the OP. I got more info. on the city bureacracy insanity...seems the city's electrical inspectors don't feel qualified to install solar installations so they can only think of getting certified UL inspectors (the folks who approve all lights in the US of A and light bulb inspector, etc.) to approve a solar installation. But the thing is that the materials the solar contractors use is already UL approved. This would be the equivalent of a UL inspector having to come by after you install a new fixture, even if that fixture is UL approved. There aren't that many UL inspectors out there in this grand old country. I guess we are lucky because we live near LI where the UL folks are based. But clearly this is nuts. Does somebody at the DOB just want to pay off their relatives at the UL or what?
Posted by: Anonymous at January 16, 2007 9:05 PM
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