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Thread: Food truck with solar power

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    Food truck with solar power

    Hi

    Was asked a question - If I fit solar panels and inverter to a food truck how do I ensure that the earthing is correct and that my clients will not end up being " shocked"
    What do I do with regards to the COC .

    The earthing arrangement has me doing some thinking -
    If a Kid comes along in bare feet from the beach and touches the side of the truck at the same time I have a short to "earth" , being the body of the truck, will he then become the path to ground.
    Or do we treat the food truck as an Island

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    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
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    Is the solarPV the only power on the food truck or is there a generator and/or a facility to plug into grid power?

    What items is the solar and inverter being used to supply? I'm guessing it's quite a small system purely because of the space available for panels..Is it just for lighting and IT equipment? Is the equipment all ClassII?

    Depending on the answers to the questions above my initial thoughts are to treat it as a UPS.
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    Platinum Member Derlyn's Avatar
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    Interesting. What do they do on boats and aeroplanes?

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    I suggest treat it as a safety supply system. As long as all exposed metals are at the same potential (i.e. electrically bonded together), and there is no other conductor between ground and the exposed metal to carry a fault current, even if for some reason you do end up with a significant potential difference, the most current you can have is that typical of a static discharge.

    If you have an external (mains) power supply as well as the solar system and inverter, connect it to the installation via a safety supply transformer.

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