An existing 100A underground service with standard meter and timer-interrupted OP meter (OP tariff no longer available)

Mandolin and I have spent a couple beautiful days this week upgrading an underground service from 100A to 200A, and re-configuring the metering to support the net output of an upcoming solar PV installation by frequent partner and friends,  Sumintra, LLC.

PECO requires two meters for grid-tied solar PV installations: 1 to measure what they deliver, and the 2nd to measure what you provide to the grid. The difference is what you pay, and PECO settles up any overpayment at the end of each year.

Since I could not make the underground service RMC raceway (‘conduit’) and service entrance raceway connect directly to any arrangement of right- or left-hand meter enclosures, I had to install a wiring trough between the existing pipe work and the new meter configuration. As it turned out, the short conductors of the original installation required a splice box in any case, since they would never have stretched across the generous wiring space of a 200A underground meter enclosure.

Using the trough also allowed me to shift the new meter setup to the right of its previous location, providing proper safe working clearance for this equipment.

Licensed Electrician Robert Monk Solar PV in/out dual meters and 200A upgrade Copyright Robert Monk, 2012

Voltec 20A 240V (3.6kW) EVSE EV charger has a compact form factor and elegant cord management situation adaptable to many stretch length applications with minimum slack

Whether you need a NEMA 14-50 dryer type receptacle for your portable or semi-permanently wall-hung EVSE device, or a hard-wired 9kW high-speed vehicle charger with grid-interactive network configuration, we can deliver your order. Robert Monk Electric is both an independent installer of EVSE setups, and a certified independent service contractor for Bosch Automotive Service Solutions, having received special training and extensive vetting for insurance and other qualifications by the Bosch EVSE services division.

See also:

• Electric Vehicle buys you reserved street parking in Philadelphia 

From a distance, the Voltec EVSE charger appears similar to a spiral garden hose reel.

Licensed Electrician Robert Monk Electric Vehicle Chargers / EV Service Equipment EVSE Copyright Robert Monk, 2012

The fan housing/canopy requires perfect ceiling and excessive force to twist into place.

Licensed Electrician Robert Monk Bad ceiling fan by Hampton Bay, 122-135 “Hawkins” Copyright Robert Monk, 2012

Links to resources:

• Big Green Bus touring project by students at Dartmouth
• GreenIsHappening

Licensed Electrician Robert Monk Mobile office and green events HQ? Copyright Robert Monk, 2012

Licensed Electrician Robert Monk New post lamp: outdoor weather equals time for exterior lighting Copyright Robert Monk, 2012

As a sustainability-oriented electrician certified as a solar PV installation professional by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (http://www.nabcep.org/), I am always alert to energy-saving opportunities in the buildings I visit. I am happy to report that the basement level counter service areas of the City’s Municipal Services Building, located just across from City Hall at 15th & JFK Boulevard, can save about $2,500 per year in electricity consumption — plus about 4/5 off on lamp replacement labor costs, and a continuous 8kW of cooling load, by swapping about 160 inefficient PAR type filament lamps for new LED types.

(Note that these filament PAR lamps will become increasingly difficult to source, following the January 1, 2013 cessation of production and distribution in the United States. Implementing a proactive replacement plan now will realize the maximum energy cost-savings while ensuring uniform lighting from identical lamp types, throughout the affected areas.)

The investment cost would be about $3200, so the payback is less than two years on this conservation retrofit — and this is before subsidies for lighting efficiency rebates available through PECO.

Although the numbers may be small in the scheme of a very large municipal energy bill, please consider the public information potential of this type of investment in the public face of the City’s municipal services. Also, you may have substantial additional opportunities in the building that could multiply the savings from a retrofit project by 10- or 100-fold.

- Robert Monk

Robert Monk Electric

Philadelphia Lic. # 35849

Pennsylvania HIC Lic. # PA060608

See also:

• 2013 post-phase-out Lamp Replacement Guide
• Advantages of LEDs and other high-efficiency lamps

Licensed Electrician Robert Monk LED’s for Muni Services Bldg: Letter to Mayor’s Office of Sustainability Copyright Robert Monk, 2012

A receptacle with good socket tension should be able to support even a heavy ‘wall wart’ power adapter plugged in upside down so that the weight tends to lever down and outward from the socket.

If your socket tension is insufficient, arcing from a loose connection could start a fire (one example of the kind of arcing AFCI breakers aim to halt). Timely maintenance is especially important in homes, where the looseness is more likely due to age, which in turn brings the accumulation of combustible dust inside the receptacle wiring enclosure. Also, residential plug-in loads are more likely unattended when residents are absent from the home or asleep, so minor smoking from a receptacle that could easily be turned off may smolder on into full-fledged fire before anyone notices or a smoke detector sounds.

Licensed Electrician Robert Monk Loose receptacles probably also dusty Copyright Robert Monk, 2012