As you can see in this photo, the power pole with the

transformer is in the right place to bring electricity past the big oak tree and to the end of my shop.  I wa standing at the end of the shop where I want to bring electicity into the building when I took the picture.  The power company agreed this would be fine and they would not have to do any pruning of the oak tree.  

Now the task is to collect up all the parts for my installation.  Normally, at this phase of the install, you would call an electrician in to discuss the next few steps, but, I am doing all this myself, and happily in an area where I can do the install on my own, so, I will be pulling together the parts for the job and doing the installation.  

I called up the electric company engineer to find out from him what was the recommended entry wire size for a 200 amp panel.  He told me 4/0 aluminum for the hot wires, and 2/0 aluminum for the ground.  Or, if I'm using copper wiring for my entrance wire, to use 2/0 copper and #1 copper for the ground.  Some states or jurisdictions don't allow aluminum, and some do, so check with your local codes before making your decision.  The state next door, Mississippi, doesn't like people to use aluminum for their entry and they will not allow any aluminum to be used inside the building.  But, aluminum is much cheaper than copper, especially these days, so I saved over $100 using aluminum.  I was able to find what I needed based on the power company's recommendation at a local electrical supply store.

I have been saving electrical parts for a number of years and had some breakers available that could be used in this install.  So, I wanted to get a panel that could utilize these breakers.  I also made the decision that I wanted an outside breaker panel and then an inside distribution panel.  This would mean that I could shut the entire shop off from the outside if I wanted.  This would make additions and repairs to the wiring easier.  If I did not do it that way, then I would have to get the power company to pull the meter to shut off the power to the distribution panel.  

So, I found a panel box rated for 200 amp that was also rated for outdoor installation.  This box would be right below the meter base that the power company had provided.  This panel has a 200 amp main breaker, and then space for 4 individual breakers.  This would allow a place to wire in the phase converter, allowing me to feed that converter directly out of this main outdoor panel, rather than taking up space in my distribution panel.  It would also mean I could shut the entire shop down from outside in case of an emergency.

So, my electrical system will look like this:  Entry wires from the power company - Meter Base from Power company- Main outdoor panel - /inside/ - Distribution panel  

I will also have a breaker directly feeding my three phase side out of the main outdoor panel - this will be a 100 amp breaker that will supply the phase converter, and then from the phase converter I will go directly to my 3-phase equipment.  I could go into a 3-phase panel, if I have more than one item that needs 3 phase.  Initially, I plan to wire to the phase converter and then to the PH260.  But, I may add in an electric powerhead for the M7, so, I may eventually put in a 3 phase distribution panel.

Now, that I have made those decisions and developed a plan for the electrical system, its time to actually install the equipment and notify the power company to "bring the truck and hook me up!"