I am about to replace the main service breaker panel in my house. The old panel (a 200amp Siemens 40-circuit) had bus bars that extended the entire vertical length of the box. The new panel I would like to install (A Square D QO) has doubled up bus bars that only come down about 30% of the length of the box.
The problem is, this box feeds a 100-amp sub-panel, whose wire comes in from the bottom of the box. For the old install, the large (#2 I believe) ground wire feeding the sub-panel is connected at the very bottom of the bus bar. Unfortunately, in the new panel, it will not reach the shorter bus bars.
Will the code allow me to add a ground bus bar to connect the sub-panel ground to? There are threaded bus bar holes near the bottom of the breaker box that would be within reach of the large ground wire. If so, what do I use to bond the additional ground bus bar to the main ground bus bar?