Bonding Neutral to Ground

From HeatSpring Advanced PV Course Discussion Board

Q:

Hi Doc,

assignment 23/36 you explain bonding of neutral to a sub panel,

question: is a subpanel specifically manufactured as thus ,or is it as its name applies,my thoughts are they are manufactured as thus,because of the raised neutral buss ,am I correct in assuming the latter?

thanks

A:

You can typically physically bond neutral to ground in many different places, including disconnects, panelboards (main panels and sub panels) and just about anywhere if you are determined.

Usually what will happen at a house is the neutral will be bonded to ground by having a common busbar for the green/bare and the white wires.

You could use a main panel for a subpanel as long as you didn't bond neutral to ground there.

When a supply side connection is made, usually the separate system (PV system) has neutral bonded to ground separately. I believe this will be a requirement in the 2017 NEC and is good practice now. Many times a supply side connection is made via a fused dc disconnect. When you buy a dc disconnect, it will often have a green screw that you can use to bond the insulated neutral busbar to the box, making it the system grounding point where neutral is bonded to ground.

Thanks,

Sean White

From HeatSpring Advanced PV Course Discussion Board