2023 in a nutshell

So 2023 has been a year.. I became a dad, got my associates in web development and Information technology and started working for a solar SME.

I've been away from computer science, coding & IT related stuff this year. I did learn a lot about solar (PV systems for residential homes, agriculture land and commercial buildings) which was cool but it also took precedence over my studies.

During that time I learned how to calculate the amount of solar that can fit into a property according to the size of the MSP and the size of the current transformer as well as how to plan for the equipment location according to the size and allowances of space from windows and doors we have available according to code per jurisdiction.

During that time I also became familiar with the parts needed in order to mount solar on tile roofs, shingle roofs, flat roofs & ground mount systems. The main companies I worked with were Iron Ridge & Unirac. The most involved solar attachments at times were metal roofs (metal seams, protea brackets, etc).

One of the main skills that I picked up during my time there was being able to research which jurisdiction we needed to get a hold of (fire, building, public works for plumbing & water wells) and getting in contact with someone at that department to discuss the scope of the solar project we are doing and also clarify our building plans in order to get them approved or amended for re-submittal.

Some of the most important things I learned there are:

• The way electricity moves across a circuit and how power companies distribute power from the powerlines to the pole transformers (or ground ones) and distributing the power to the homes with the service entrance conductors to the MSP in each home.
• The difference between Single phase and three phase power and the use cases when it comes to how residential homes are wired to the grid compared to agriculture homes or commercial buildings.
• How the electric conductors (& neutral) come from the transformer to each bus bar in the MSP which makes up the 120/240V plate that distributes AC power to your home with breakers attached to each bar using small 120v breakers or 240v breakers that attach to both bars.
• Color coding for wild legs used in commercial or farm lands that require heavy farming machinery. As well as three phase power common voltages according to us standards.
• Working with Microinverters vs String inverters. And the best use cases when it comes to smaller or bigger permits. And how fire code deals with exposed fire conductors that need to be encased and grounded so they are not easily accessible, fenced when it comes to ground mounts or hidden behind a strong mesh/attached metal fence.
• Weighting the possibility of a relocation vs the benefits of a Main panel upgrade or the possibility of a main breaker derate. The easiest is alway to do a line side tap if possible but this comes with a lot of restrictions from Utility & county specific jurisdiction.
• Solar specific code when it comes to clearances per jurisdiction. Most of them will adopt title 24 but in some cases it can be very specific with certain structures that surround your solar like pipes, AC units, or undefined objects on the roof that a permit examiner would call out as "needs more information" or they assume it's something else that might void the permit. These usually come from fire & building code. Specific code can usually be found from their website by browsing their departments but most counties/cities are migrating their code updates and adoptions to Municode.com
• Clearly letting the jurisdiction know to if the farming residence has a direct natural gas line with their utility company or a refillable LPG tank (although these require permits for some reason we have to tell the jurisdiction that it's still there) on the other hand you can also ask the jurisdiction on behalf of the client if they have any LPG tank related permits/paperwork before submitting your permit (sometimes you might have to contact more than one department if these are handled by different departments).
• The same thing can be said for water wells close to the property that information can be missed at times and can be hard to tell if there is a well especially if the client is misinformed about their home or if it is close enough to city limits that they might have access to the public water system.
• Memorizing the standard breaker sizes as well as the standard KVA transformer sizes and consulting with distributors to see if you can get breakers around the sizes you need before submitting for permits.
• Getting familiar with ADA standards for EV chargers. When it comes to re-striping or changing the general look of a parking lot, jurisdictions will ask for a separate permit or more information on the permit for EV. As long as the charger is easily accessible and you have the required amount of disability slots allocated for the area (with a clear path marked up from them to the entrance) you are in the clear. These can vary by jurisdiction so at times it's better to call and clarify the scope of work. Especially since these will need Structural and electrical stamps from a qualified engineer.
• How to cross reference UL listed and approved solar equipment that we can use with the utility having jurisdiction. As equipment on hand can vary depending on PV solar module manufacturers.
• The need for seismic attachments and a clear attachment or ballasted plan for jurisdiction so they can approve your flat roof solar permit. ASCE has been updated recently and most jurisdictions use 16. At times you will have permit examiners that use ASCE-10 standard but more jurisdictions are trying to incorporate ASCE-22 as their main standard. At times the jurisdiction itself will have the wind speed needed for calculations on their own website. Or you can call them and ask to see if they have any local standards set for ASCE.

Some tools that I learned to use were:

• Unirac & the ASCE hazards website in order to cross reference the seismic and wind speed calculations for jurisdiction. As well as the seismic attachment tool that layout how you can arrange the Flashloc Unirac attachments and ballasted concrete blocks dependent on weight.
• Autocad in order to do preliminary single line diagrams or site maps that dictate where equipment is located for PTO to get approved.
• The Iron Ridge Ground mount pre engineering web app to determine the layout, cost of materials and panel count that would fit on an Iron Ridge Ground based system.
• Using JobNimbus as a CRM to manage clients and solar projects.
• Using a Vision Engraving machine with their Autocad program to create placards for the solar projects that needed the warning placards and AC disconnects labels.

Now that solar basically imploded thanks to NEM 3.0 the solar industry (especially in the residential sector) is dead. Or at least for private smaller solar companies.

I am back working with tech and computers instead of solar. I feel like I had to touch back on the basics for a lot of the coding concepts I've learned in the past. I'm hopeful that I can get back on track and am looking forward to learning so much more this year.