Is conduit required in attic for microinverter system? And lots of other code Q's.

[giskard]

What I meant was flexible metal conduit. One of my existing branch circuits from the service panel is FMC. Pls see pics of wires coming out of my service panel.

Here you can see all the wires going up to the garage ceiling.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6687[/ATTACH]
Note there is 1 flexible metal conduit, 2 solid conduit, 4 Romex-looking cables with the color of a shiny gray snake, 1 yellow Romex, and 1 black Romex looking cable.

Here are the wires that come out the top. There are 2 more wires, coming out the bottom. (no closeups)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6689[/ATTACH]


My main Q is, why would flexible metal conduit be OK but no metal conduit at all, be OK?
And why can't I use Romex for the Enphase circuit? (6 of them, ~5.5A total)

No comments why my house has 4 types of wire / conduit coming out of my service panel?

[sensij]

There's at least some who say it is a "output circuit" and should be in conduit:

http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=129866

The people working at my AHJ have been very polite and helpful.
But I'm sure it varies from town to town. (and probably depends a lot on how you ask too)

That link is a discussion from 2010... not so current for today's code and equipment.

[sensij]

They're treating NEC code like words from Mt. Olympus that you can't question and with which inspectors do a lot of hand-wringing interpreting the mysterious words of the gods. Seems to me from a safety point of view, conduit is necessary for DC that's always live, but unnecessary for micro-inverters because they go dead when the breakers are switched off. I mean, why would Romex be OK for 15A lighting circuits, but not for micro-inverters? It makes no sense.

Comparing the safety requirements of a load circuit with a source circuit is silly.

So how does this work? Is there an office with friendly inspectors just sitting around waiting for common folk like me to ask stupid questions? Do you make an appointment and pay some hourly fee?

Usually, yes. Sometimes no fee required. If you go in with a tilting at windmills attitude, don't expect a favorable outcome to the discussion.

Edit: You are asking nuanced code questions in a free to join semi-anonymous forum. The advice you get is not going to be worth much more than what you paid for it.

Edit again... I just read through the thread again. I think you should hire an electrician.

[foo1bar]

than the (monopolistic) NEC, interpreted by the (monoolistic) praetorian class of inspectors.

If you approach the AHJ with that kind of attitude, I don't think they'll be inclined to be helpful.
I certainly wouldn't.

silly that Romex is OK but FMC is not.

???

If indeed it needs to be in conduit,

FWIW, here are some more recent discussions of enphase and attic wiring to it:

http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=149711&page=2

(and from there is a link to http://www.iaei.org/magazine/2010/03...-ac-pv-module/ which probably you should also read)

You should now have more than enough resources to go look up the section of relavant code, read through it, and discuss with your electrician.

So IMO "IG" Enphase inverters do not need a ground wire for Safety - only the bracketry needs to be grounded, for lightning protection. If the code or the inspectors don't reflect this, IMO that is wrong.

*shrug* For things like this I don't care about whether they're right or wrong.
I care about getting it signed off and getting on with my life.
I could spend hours trying to convince someone (and probably piss them off).
Or I can buy wire and ground lugs for $20 and spend 30 minutes putting in what might be redundant but is what the authority wants to see.

[foo1bar]

No comments why my house has 4 types of wire / conduit coming out of my service panel?

What comment are you looking for?

[sdold]

You could plan the whole thing with Romex and ask them about it when you show them your plans. Know the code version they use and be ready to explain why you think it's OK, but accept it if they don't like it and do it the way they want. Walk in with you hat in hand and a smile on your face If they say no, it's not hard to change the drawings.

I think if you're doing a DIY project, it's good to have at least two in-person discussions with the AHJ; one to establish whether or not they will let you do the project yourself, and another when you've done up your plans as best you can and want to see if you're on the right track before submitting them. I've found them to be pretty helpful if you're making a genuine effort to do it right and not trying to get them to tell you how to do it.

[giskard]

What comment are you looking for?

Trying to understand why the house wiring has 5 kinds of wires coming out of the service panel:
- solid metal conduit
- flexible metal conduit
- yellow standard looking Romex
- shiny snakeskin Romex looking cable
- black Romex looking cable

And mainly, if it's true that the flexible metal conduit needs to be replaced to bring the house up to code.

TIA

[giskard]

FWIW, here are some more recent discussions of enphase and attic wiring to it:

http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=149711&page=2

Thanks. This statement from the above makes perfect sense to me and is encouraging:
"...and Romex is fine for some other section of the inverter output circuit that's inside the building.
I've done this several times. Conduit from the J-box on the roof to another J-box in the attic, then Romex from the attic down to the service panel."

You should now have more than enough resources to go look up the section of relevant code, read through it, and discuss with your electrician.

Here is some more detail. I have an electrician I am working with. I'm paying him to draw up the plans and to work with me to put the system together. I don't think there's any chance in hell I can do this by myself. I also have a neighbor who works as an inspector for Solarcity. The problem is, *they do not agree*. The electrician says there's one inspector (of 4), who's a hard-ass and has very strange interpretations of NEC code. The Solarcity guy is not familiar with the use of micro-inverters. The electrician has installed very few. They don't agree about the ground rods (1? 2? 5/8"?). They both said the existing Flexible Metal Conduit coming out of my service panel might be flagged by the hard-ass inspector guy. But they couldn't tell me why FMC is unacceptable, but the Romex circuits coming out my service panel, are OK. This is the #1 thing I'm trying to understand, because ripping out the FMC would be a big PITA.

The #2 thing is putting in solid conduit for the solar install, would be a significant cost adder (labor, time). I do not want to put it in if it's not necessary. Flexible conduit a bit better, Romex would be easiest.

My ranting at the whole thing is just me letting off steam. Of course when I talk to the bureaucrats, I put on a sweet salesman's smile.

(and from there is a link to http://www.iaei.org/magazine/2010/03...-ac-pv-module/ which probably you should also read)

The above link is dead, but I found these, I believe one of them is the same article:

http://www.nmsu.edu/~tdi/pdf-resources/IAEI%20March-April%202010.pdf

http://www.nmsu.edu/~tdi/pdf-resources/IAEI%20May-June%202012.pdf

http://iaeimagazine.org/magazine/2012/05/16/microinverters-and-ac-pv-modules-are-different-beasts/

I'll go read them tonight.

Thanks again.

[foo1bar]

But they couldn't tell me why FMC is unacceptable, but the Romex circuits coming out my service panel, are OK.

Romex is normal in residential.
FMC is not.
Anything not normal the inspector is probably going to look at closely.
IF the FMC is properly installed (supported/strapped properly, correct type of clamps at the ends, no sharp edges that can possibly damage the conductors going through it)
AND the conductors are OK (appropriate type and size, either separate ground wire or (if possible?) right connections to use FMC as ground.)
THEN I don't think the inspector would have grounds to object to it. (But he'll probably wonder what other strange stuff is going on and look for what else is not right.)

[russ]

Listen to the electrician - seems the other guy has less knowledge of your situation.

One point guys make here that the inspector is alway right - even when he is wrong. Just ask his opinion and run with it.