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  • Early Christmas present!

    Its still hard to believe and I woke up pinching myself today.
    Just posting to say my local county (Yavapai county in Arizona) has unexpectedly just announced they are completely discontinuing permitting on residential grid-tied solar systems!!!!! No plan checking, no fees, refund of jobs in progress, no inspections, no engineering delays, no nothing.... I've been saying for years that Arizona needs to grasp the opportunity to BE the solar state that everyone thinks it is and really facilitate solar. Happy days are here!!!!
    Just last week an inspector looked at a subpanel we were backfeeding and said "the label is gone - how do I know its 200A?" making us completely replace an old but good panel.... Merry Christmas and have a Beautiful Solar Day to you all.....
    BSEE, R11, NABCEP, Chevy BoltEV, >3000kW installed

  • #2
    May the good Lord have mercy on folks having PV installed in Yavapai co. The foxes will now be guarding the henhouses which will soon be fewer in number as a result.

    Thinking a bit more about it, maybe it will be a Christmas gift for you and other reputable, qualified and otherwise ethical installers in possibilities for a new/additional line of business: Inspecting/correcting the potentially dangerous plethora of sloppy/unsafe installations done by installers that will now increase in number.
    Last edited by J.P.M.; 12-02-2017, 11:41 AM.

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    • #3
      Enjoy it while it lasts........a few overloaded electrical systems, fires and electrocutions will bring back inspections post haste.

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      • #4
        > my local county (Yavapai county in Arizona) has unexpectedly just announced they are completely discontinuing permitting on residential grid-tied solar systems!

        That could also mean, they are not approving any new installs. So there would be no fees either. Given the noise made by major electric companies against solar, I suspect solar was just killed in your county.
        Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
        || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
        || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

        solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
        gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

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        • #5
          Originally posted by solarix View Post
          Its still hard to believe and I woke up pinching myself today.
          Just posting to say my local county (Yavapai county in Arizona) has unexpectedly just announced they are completely discontinuing permitting on residential grid-tied solar systems!!!!! No plan checking, no fees, refund of jobs in progress, no inspections, no engineering delays, no nothing.... I've been saying for years that Arizona needs to grasp the opportunity to BE the solar state that everyone thinks it is and really facilitate solar. Happy days are here!!!!
          Just last week an inspector looked at a subpanel we were backfeeding and said "the label is gone - how do I know its 200A?" making us completely replace an old but good panel.... Merry Christmas and have a Beautiful Solar Day to you all.....
          Sounds like good news, Merry Christmas solarrix

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          • #6
            Wow, keep us posted esp. If the 2nd half of the announcement comes later. Happy holidays.

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            • #7
              So - what (if any) are the changes required by the PoCo? If previously they required a signed final inspection - now what do they require?
              Sounds dangerous for those that are clueless on the NEC. I'm with Dans26 on this one...

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              • #8
                Originally posted by DanS26 View Post
                Enjoy it while it lasts........a few overloaded electrical systems, fires and electrocutions will bring back inspections post haste.
                Yep. It will be an interesting experiment to see if treating it like (for example) a dryer install results in more fires/electrocutions etc than those dryer installs do.

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                • #9
                  "now what do they require?" We now just have to submit to the PoCo a site specific letter from the AHJ in lieu of a permit certification.

                  I'm sure we'll see some more competitive pressure as a result of this, but the PoCo still has all of its requirements (licensed contractors required) and oversight so I'm not worried about DIY'ers etc coming in. We are well enough established now that any newby competitors have a pretty big disadvantage to overcome. Plus, we're already doing more and more service work on systems we did not install and it is amazing how many glaring errors we find that were done under permit and missed by inspectors.
                  I still maintain that I don't believe the oversight of the building department added any material improvement to the quality of at least the systems I've built...
                  The best advice still is to do your due diligence (go to solarreviews.com) and choose a quality contractor.... Because, try as they may, a building inspector can not overcome the trouble a bad installer can cause.
                  BSEE, R11, NABCEP, Chevy BoltEV, >3000kW installed

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