Confirming Wire and Conduit size

[grsthegreat]

It’s fascinating to me to see the evolution of residential service starting around 1910 to now…

I almost bought a Victorian with original gas lighting that was refit for electric often reusing the gas pipe as conduit for wire and the gas fixtures electrified.

Many prewar nothing more than one hot and a neutral with a single 30 amp Edison fuse main.

At todays cost of material running new underground service could very well require a mortgage…

No wonder so many shopping centers are hit by copper thieves stealing wire running to parking lot lights.

12 years ago my brother wanted lights in the tractor shed some distance from the home…

I penciled it all out and he decided to wait until copper prices dropped and is still waiting.

What about a step up transformer at the source and step down at the shop so as to be able to reduce conductor size?

Like copper will ever go down. If its just lights, think solar.

Or run a aluminum wire out to a subpanel. Than copper wire for light circuits. Aluminum subfeeds work just fine. If soil is all sand, direct burial lasts a long time. If its rocky, use conduit or be prepaired to redo it again.

And if its just lights, i wouldnt worry about voltage drop. But if you may want to use power tools….calc out the voltage drop. Keep it at about 3%

 

[ultrarunner]

Like copper will ever go down. If its just lights, think solar.

Or run an aluminum wire out to a subpanel. Than copper wire for light circuits. Aluminum subfeeds work just fine. If soil is all sand, direct burial lasts a long time. If its rocky, use conduit or be prepaired to redo it again.

Lots of critters that dig and burrow.

The 8D battery and a Northern solar panel going on 4 years…

His wife was so happy having a light switch instead of multiple flashlights and I also installed a drop cord with a 12volt bulb.

 

[caver]

For that long of a run, you will need to upsize the wire that you run due to voltage drop. If it were me, id run a longer primary utility run towards the house instead of a huge secondary wire required for a 260’ run.

As stated in my earlier post having a second pole will double my bill as far as basic usage. The pole in the picture also feeds my barn and the old derelict cabin. No EGC for those. I plan to build a shop and tear down the old cabin. The 200a main breaker panel is super overkill for a 600sq foot cabin. I couldn't find the panel I wanted two years ago when i bought the one I have on hand. I plan on gas heat, stove, dryer, water heater. No codes, inspectors in this rural are of the Ozarks. I'll come up with a plan when I talk to the coop guy in the next couple weeks.

 

[DarkBlack]

The meter and the subpanel are in, appropriately grounded, and the County inspector has signed off on both.

Just reread your initial post.
Assuming you’re going to run a ground wire from your meter to your “sub panel “ ,I know you won’t,because you just want to get it done, but I wish you would ask your county inspector, how “appropriately grounding” your “sub panel “ doesn’t create two bonding points and create parallel current paths on the neutral and ground wires to the pole meter.
Should make for interesting conversation
Or, maybe he’s approved it without a pole to house, ground wire connection. I don’t know