Electrical

Electrical safety is one of the hardest subjects here. Installing an alternative energy system exposes you to all kinds of electrical hazards. The battery stores an enormous amount of energy that can all be liberated in a really short time (that's an explosion) if you short it out by accident.

The 80 V DC that comes of an array of solar cells is more than enough to stop your heart, the 120 V AC that comes out of your inverter or generator is just as lethal as 'regular' house current. This is not meant to frighten you, just to make sure you understand the forces that you are working with in a system like this.

So, to make sure you are safe make sure you obey the following:

* Always power down the *WHOLE* installation if you are working on the electrical portion
* make sure you properly ground all your equipment
* familiarise yourself with the local electrical code
* make sure all wiring is designed to withstand the currents that will flow through it. This is extra important in lower voltage systems (12/24), because the currents will be proportionally higher.
* use DC rated disconnects whenever you are on the DC side of things, these are far heavier than their equivalent AC counterparts because the arc that is created upon breaking the circuit is harder to extinguish in a DC system than in an AC system. (the ac circuit crosses the '0' 60 (or 50 depending on your locality) times per second which helps a lot with that).
* Use insulated tools whenever possible, but ESPECIALLY when working on the batteries. A small mistake can cost you dearly here, think of all that acid splashed all over the place. The batteries and the wires carrying the battery energy to the inverter are without a doubt the most dangerous elements of any installation.
* Have someone else inspect your work when you are done and before you switch things back on. Everybody makes mistakes, and switching on that master breaker on a faulty installation is at a minimum expensive and at worst lethal.