Jump to content

Randyretired

Validated Members
  • Posts

    1,731
  • Joined

  • Last visited

1 Follower

Contact Methods

  • Website URL
    http://community.webshots.com/album/551722734LdfaWZ
  • ICQ
    0

Profile Information

  • Location
    Colorado
  • Interests
    RVing boating

Recent Profile Visitors

15,061 profile views

Randyretired's Achievements

  1. As I posted UHC can provide decent insurance if they want to. I can't comment on your situation other than UHC's dominate position has the potential to be a problem. Our MA plan says the same thing for no cost to us for all of our primary care including physicals. One time I was billed $10. I called and the doctors office insisted it was correct so I called UHC with contact information. The doctors office called back and said there was a billing error and the $10 was removed. I have heard a number of complaints about MA and I think there may need to be some government intervention but I am also skeptical about the government's ability to bring about good outcomes.
  2. United Health Care's dominate position is worrisome. However, they can if they want to provide some excellent insurance. We have an employer provided UHC Medicare Advantage Plan we have loved it. My DW would not be an insurers delight yet they have never been a problem. I asked for a change in my DW's treatment and the doctor said that would be a good plan but some insurances may not approve. They sent it in and before we got home it was approved without limitations. This has been typical of our plan. Never have we been denied. Optum is our drug plan and a couple of times they screwed up when we are traveling but they generally made it right. No problems when home and the prices are good. I hate to see them so dominate but the verticle integration does work. As the government intervenes I hope all of good can be saved and the lack of competition can be controlled.
  3. There is one more thing. The highest paid UCHealth executive earns $20,000,000+. It may be nonprofit but someone(s) are doing well. There doesn't seem to be a discernable difference in patient cost but that is difficult to calculate. I am pretty sure that Medicare and Medicaid pay the same.
  4. Nearly all of health care is for profit. I remember many years ago when my Grandmother owned a nursing home. It was her business and like any small business owner she worked day and night to make it run to support her. Without a profit motive that nursing home would not, could not exist. Today it might be physician starting a practice. The profit I don't have a problem with as long as customers, patients have choices. This competition will keep providers honest or they won't have a business. Unfortunately it seems we are forced to deal with large institutions without other choices to many times. Without choices or competition things can get skewed and profit can rule.
  5. With IRA's you can invest however you want. If the current IRA doesn't allow that move it to another company. I self direct my IRA and have at times changed my investments. I don't have problems with for profit healthcare so I do invest in a low cost healthcare index fund for some of my little IRA and have a couple of health related stocks.
  6. That is a typical response. The jurisdiction wants someone to pay for upgrades before approving a new lot. A new subdivision went in that adjoined our property. These lots were selling for around $120,000. We wanted to add 2 more lots from our property to the subdivision. We were told the county had relaxed many of their requirements as they wanted growth in this area so we met with them. The relaxed requirements they wanted were estimated to cost $500,000 to $750,000 to add these 2 lots. Seems the roads and water lines to the area were not up to new codes and would require extensive upgrades and any addition no matter how small would need to remedy that.
  7. Connect to opposite ends. + on one battery and the - on the far battery. Be sure to wire and fuse properly. Short of buss bars this will be best for balancing the batteries.
  8. A 30amp inline fuse will not protect the controller. The 40 amp rating is based on the output. Part of what a MPPT controller does is change the panel voltage to the battery voltage and change that excess voltage to amps. For instance the VOC on your panels is around 24.3v and 2 wired in series produces 48.6v. The MPPT converts the amps at 12v by a factor of 4. So 30amps at 48v becomes 120 amps at 12v. The limiting factor here isn't the fuse. It is the panels that are not capable of producing that much. More importantly though is fuses should be sized to protect the wire. This is basic engineering. Each component should have internal protection and in this case the controller will not accept more power than the 40amp output. In fact it is common and even suggested by many MPPT manufacturers to purposely over panel an a MPPT. Since solar only rarely outputs full power only a small amount of the power will be clipped. Allowing this clipping is a way to save money on controller's with very minimal loss. Your panels will never put out more power than this 40 amp controller can use. MPPT's typically produce heat while working. If you are more comfortable with the 30amp fuses they won't hurt anything but they are not needed
  9. Yes. If this were my system I would wire it the way yours is currently and remove the fuse. If the fuse would make you more comfortable you can leave it but with a 30 amp fuse. Either way should work.
  10. I know that sounds like a simple question but if I just answer it it may not make sense. Let me try to explain. Fuses are to protect the wire and are based on amps. When solar panels are wired in series the voltage is multiplied by the number of panels but the amperage stays the same. When panels are wired in parallel the amps multiply but the voltage stays the same. Your panels produce 5.2 amps and 24.3 volts. So in series the voltage is high but the amps are still 5.2. Wire size is based on amps and fuses control the amps. In series the amps are low and the wire will easily carry the current. So in series the wire will most easily handle the current. So yes in series I would not recommend a fuse. However, since fuses control only amps, fuses will not control voltage. So adding a fuse will not protect the controller from high voltage which is why based on advertised spec's I can not recommend series wiring. In any case a properly sized fuse of 30 amps should not cause any problems no matter how the 4 panels are wired. If Renology endorses series wiring you can probably get away with it and a fuse will make no difference either way.
  11. Fuses are added to protect the wire. In your situation the panels can not produce more power than the wire can handle. A fuse won't hurt anything but is not needed. Looking at the spec's the maximum controller voltage is listed as 100v. All 4 of your panels in series would produce a VOC of 98.2v. Solar panels are typically rated at 70F. As the temperature falls the voltage produced increases. Most controllers will fail when the voltage capacity of the controller is exceeded. I would never suggest a VOC of 98.2 is an acceptable voltage for a controller rated for 100v. From you comments it seems Renology endorses this but based on the advertised spec's I certainly can not.
  12. That is a good question. The spec's that I found show a working amperage of 4.91. With the way yours are wired that is 9.82 amps. Nearly 10amps and solar panels under certain conditions produce more than rated. Typical design requires wire to be sized at 125% of load but solar panels produce more than spec's now and again do to reflection, including off of clouds. 10awg wire meets this and if a fuse is used it should be sized for the wire. 10awg is rated to carry 30 to 40 amps depending on conditions. You could also safely use a larger fuse with this wire but it is also safe in this instance to not provide over current protection.
  13. Yes. That is what I would do but you should check the spec's on the panels. Based on these numbers 10amp fuse is to small. It is good to see your array actually providing full power. It must be setup correctly. I don't consider myself an expert but I do have experience in solar. If you are not comfortable with my suggestion please get another opinion.
  14. The spec's I found on the 400 watt Renology kit are VOC 24.3 ISC 5.21 Controller maximum voltage. 100 The VOC and ISC are listed on the back of the panel and you should check those spec's to be sure. Based on those spec's if the panels are wired 2 in series and 2 of that combination, then 10awg meets the NEC requirement for unprotected (no fuse) service. These panels should NOT be wired 4 panels in series as that could exceed the maximum voltage during cold temperatures. If the spec's on the back of the panels match and the panels are wired this way, I would remove the fuse. However, a means to disconnect the panels for service is required or should be considered. I often use a DC breaker for this but size the breaker at least as high as the wire can carry. In this case I would use 30 amps or more.
  15. Wiring the solar panels in series will increase the voltage and decrease the amps. The voltage that the controller can handle is critical. If the open circuit voltage is higher than the controller is designed for that is often catastrophic but if the voltage is within limits, series is often preferred. The fuse that is causing the problem is not needed IF the wire is sized to handle the current. The NEC suggests fusing unless the wire is sized to carry approximately 156% of the maximum panel current.
×
×
  • Create New...