My Adventure Installing Solar Panels

[ionbasa]

Table of Contents:

Intro, Design, Equipment

Off Topic: Status of my house remodel

Pictures of Equipment: Panels, Microinverters, Cabling, Rails

Electrical DIagram, Standoffs, L-brackets, Video Demonstration and Mock Up

Grounding, Lightning Considerations, Lightning Arrestor

Pictures of Partially Done Roof/Racking Mount

Pictures of Electrical Disconnects and Components

First Set of Panels Are Up!

More Panels Up, Only Two Left To Go!

Up And Running! Live Data!

 

Introduction

 

What is this thread and why am I posting this here? To answer that, I want to say that I will be documenting my foray into solar power at my house. I intend this to be an build log style thread. With that I hope I can help other members who may be considering installing solar power on their own homes, garages, shops, etc. I also hope to answer any questions that you guys may have throughout this experience. With that said, I should probably leave an warning or notice to begin the thread. I work in the construction and civil engineering field with my family business, that  being said, I am an state licensed contractor and engineer. There is nothing wrong with self installing solar panels, or DIY-ing, but if you go this route, please be sure of your plans, legality, and system specs. The last thing you need is an leaky roof, hurting yourself, or doing things against code.

 

STEP 1 - Design and Layout

 

The first step in any successful project is putting together plans for your solar design. I needed to consider the size of the array, power output, where the array was being located, routing of electrical conduit, circuits, wires. In addition, I needed to decide on the type of panels I would be using.

 

Now, for my case, I ended up with 14 total solar panels. I had on hand. I had 7 frameless 250 watt panels available and 7 framed  230 watt panels. They're not the newest panels available, but I got a good deal on them off craigslist from an importer in Long Beach, CA.

 

Using AutoCAD I whipped up an general design I would later use in the submitting my plans to the city  (Yes, you do need to pull a permit). Here's the plot plan showing the general location of my array:

 

 

 

Now, here is an more concrete layout of the 14 panels:

 

 

Now that I had decided where to place the panels, I need to come up with my BOM (Bill of Materials) in the next section. Rather than going through and listing the unit prices of all my equipment, I am going to just list the quantity and equipment I'll be using.

 

Step 2 - Equipment and Materials

 

I already had most of the equipment I need, in that I already had the panels I was going to use, the Enphase microinverters, and I had the rails. All I really needed was the trunk cable to link the micro inverters together, some mounting hardware to secure the panels to the rails, and the roof standoffs.

 

The first seven panels were 250W Frameless Suntech panels. The other 7 panels were 230W Chint Solar panels.

 

Instead of 1 main inverter I would be using microinverters. Microinverters in my opinion are an better option because if one dies, it doesn't take out the whole array with it. Its also more compact and can mount underneath the solar panel, saving space. They also increase the aesthetic design as I dont need an bulk main inverter on the side of the house. In addition, they also offer some (not much) efficiency improvements due to their solid state circuitry design when inverting DC to AC. The specific microinverters I chose were Enphase M215s with internal grounding. This allows me not to run an extra ground wire to bond the mounting rails and panels as the microinverters and trunk cables ground the system as a whole. 

 

Next off was the roof standoffs. I ended up needing 3 standoffs per 14 foot rail, In total I have 22 standoffs.

 

Upcoming

Hopefully this weekend I can take pictures of all my equipment and share with you guys. I'll hopefully be installing the roof standoffs, mounts, and rails this weekend. So I'll try to take pictures and make a short video for you guys.

 

Once that is done I'll end up working on electrical, actually installing the panels, and detail commissioning of the system.

[Enderman]

looks like an awesome project

[ionbasa]

looks like an awesome project

It is! Hopefully the system should be fully operational in about an month's time. I already have all the hardware, just need to get it up on the roof, pass inspection, and have my power utility approve my net metering application.

[Griffscavern]

I work for a solar panel manufacturing company. We make the actual panels. Complete with our own cells. We have the 60 cell panels and are just starting to gear up making 72 cell panels.

Nice project you got going there, but definitely using low wattage panels. Hope you got them cheap.

[ionbasa]

I work for a solar panel manufacturing company. We make the actual panels. Complete with our own cells. We have the 60 cell panels and are just starting to gear up making 72 cell panels.

Nice project you got going there, but definitely using low wattage panels. Hope you got them cheap.

I paid $0.70 ish per watt since I originally bought 3 pallets of panels. Way cheaper than anything greater than 250W on the market, unless you know of otherwise?

[Griffscavern]

That's a decent price. My company would substantially reduce the cost of a system for me, but that's because I work for them, for the whole system. Planning and installation.

Their 315 watt panels run about $0.99 per watt. So you got a good deal.

Will you be selling power back to the power company as well?

[ionbasa]

That's a decent price. My company would substantially reduce the cost of a system for me, but that's because I work for them, for the whole system. Planning and installation.

Their 315 watt panels run about $0.99 per watt. So you got a good deal.

Another thing to add to my case:

I dont care about the density of power to area occupied by the panels. I've got roughly 2600 square feet of flat roof on my house with an 1/4" slope per foot facing South.

 

So for my case, I dont care how much roof space the panels occupy. Now if this were an traditional style home with an hip-val or gable roof, we'd be having a different conversation since you can only fit so many panels and need the most wattage possible.

[Griffscavern]

Another thing to add to my case:

I dont care about the density of power to area occupied by the panels. I've got roughly 2600 square feet of flat roof on my house with an 1/4" slope per foot facing South.

So for my case, I dont care how much roof space the panels occupy. Now if this were an traditional style home with an hip-val or gable roof, we'd be having a different conversation since you can only fit so many panels and need the most wattage possible.

Is the federal program still in place where you get a tax discount for installing your system? It's a healthy chunk of money, honestly. I can't remember when that program ends. If you haven't looked into it, which I'm sure you have, I would.

Also, is yours going to be set up to sell power back to the utility company?

In the long run they pay for themselves.

[KemoKa]

Is the federal program still in place where you get a tax discount for installing your system? It's a healthy chunk of money, honestly. I can't remember when that program ends. If you haven't looked into it, which I'm sure you have, I would.

Also, is yours going to be set up to sell power back to the utility company?

In the long run they pay for themselves.

Generally there's a state rebate, not sure about fed grants. Federal grants like REAP (the type I'm primarily responsible for at my job) are usually for small businesses, but... Have a look and see what there is. May depend on your state.

[ionbasa]

Is the federal program still in place where you get a tax discount for installing your system? It's a healthy chunk of money, honestly. I can't remember when that program ends. If you haven't looked into it, which I'm sure you have, I would.

Also, is yours going to be set up to sell power back to the utility company?

In the long run they pay for themselves.

Yes the federal tax incentive for solar is still in place, the solar investment tax credit (ITC) ends December 31, 2016. It's 30% of the total system cost. See: http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/consumers/taxcredits.php

 

There is also an state rebate for California, The California Solar Initiative (SCI), but funds were given to utility companies to distribute to NEM (Net Energy Metering) consumers. The sad part is that my power company, Southern Edison Edison, exhausted  their funds two years ago.

 

And yes, I'll be selling unused power to my power company. I won't ever see an check or get money from it, but rather i'll see it applied as an credit on my monthly statement.

[Griffscavern]

Generally there's a state rebate, not sure about fed grants. Federal grants like REAP (the type I'm primarily responsible for at my job) are usually for small businesses, but... Have a look and see what there is. May depend on your state.

There is a federal tax credit for residential customers too. I just found a link for it. Looks like it ends this year.

http://energy.gov/savings/residential-renewable-energy-tax-credit

[Griffscavern]

Yes the federal tax incentive for solar is still in place, the solar investment tax credit (ITC) ends December 31, 2016. It's 30% of the total system cost. See: http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/consumers/taxcredits.php

There is also an state rebate for California, The California Solar Initiative (SCI), but funds were given to utility companies to distribute to NEM (Net Energy Metering) consumers. The sad part is that my power company, Southern Edison Edison, exhausted their funds two years ago.

And yes, I'll be selling unused power to my power company. I won't ever see an check or get money from it, but rather i'll see it applied as an credit on my monthly statement.

Well at least your still getting yours installed in time for the federal incentive. Too bad Edison screwed the pooch 2 years ago. At least you'll still have the credit for unused power. That system will pay for itself in no time. Plus the increase for the value of your house. You're in a win/win situation.

Good luck with your plans. I will be following this thread for updates

[ionbasa]

Well at least your still getting yours installed in time for the federal incentive. Too bad Edison screwed the pooch 2 years ago. At least you'll still have the credit for unused power. That system will pay for itself in no time. Plus the increase for the value of your house. You're in a win/win situation.

Good luck with your plans. I will be following this thread for updates

Actually, its more due to the fact that in Southern California a lot of people decided to install solar. We even have new homes that come standard with solar, dubbed "Solar Homes'. So its not like SoCal Edison gave away the money negligently, they had an ridiculous amount of people who all of the sudden were interested and had legitimate systems installed.

 

As for the value of my house, hehe. Its an old house, built in 1962. But I'm in the middle of remodeling it. Here's a before shot:

 

 

And here's an in progress shot taken about two weeks ago:

 

 

Quite an marvel, eh? My estimated property value is going to be at around $500,000 when done. Once I actually have the new front door in I can tear down the old front wall. It looks ridiculous right now, new house being built on top of an old house :lol: .  I have people who drive down once a week just to see what's new and what's changed. 

 

Eventually I'll also add solar hot water and an rain capturing system using 300 gal water totes to capture runoff from my roof and gutter. I already have an greywater system in place. Really, my house is a construction project in of itself. I have 3 active permits pulled at the moment. One for the main remodel and addition, one for bringing my garage forward two feet, and one for the solar panels I'm about to put in.

[Griffscavern]

Actually, its more due to the fact that in Southern California a lot of people decided to install solar. We even have new homes that come standard with solar, dubbed "Solar Homes'. So its not like SoCal Edison gave away the money negligently, they had an ridiculous amount of people who all of the sudden were interested and had legitimate systems installed.

As for the value of my house, hehe. Its an old house, built in 1962. But I'm in the middle of remodeling it. Here's a before shot:

And here's an in progress shot taken about two weeks ago:

Quite an marvel, eh? My estimated property value is going to be at around $500,000 when done. Once I actually have the new front door in I can tear down the old front wall. It looks ridiculous right now, new house being built on top of an old house :lol: . I have people who drive down once a week just to see what's new and what's changed.

Eventually I'll also add solar hot water and an rain capturing system using 300 gal water totes to capture runoff from my roof and gutter. I already have an greywater system in place. Really, my house is a construction project in of itself. I have 3 active permits pulled at the moment. One for the main remodel and addition, one for bringing my garage forward two feet, and one for the solar panels I'm about to put in.

That is looking nice already!! That front area is going to be well lit for sure. Another energy saving feature.

You're doing all this work yourself, or do you use a contractor for some of it?

I'm taking it you're going to be updating all the wiring to current standards. The rain runoff system sounds like a hell of a project in itself. It's going to be especially useful down there in CA. I lived in Fresno for most of my life, and droughts were always a big thing in CA.

You have definitely put a lot of thought into energy efficiency.

Mind if I ask what the initial value of your home was?

[ionbasa]

That is looking nice already!! That front area is going to be well lit for sure. Another energy saving feature.

You're doing all this work yourself, or do you use a contractor for some of it?

I'm taking it you're going to be updating all the wiring to current standards. The rain runoff system sounds like a hell of a project in itself. It's going to be especially useful down there in CA. I lived in Fresno for most of my life, and droughts were always a big thing in CA.

You have definitely put a lot of thought into energy efficiency.

Mind if I ask what the initial value of your home was?

The initial value of the house was $94,000 in 1994. But my city was beyond rural back then. Now its mixed rural-suburban.

If you read my OP, you'd see that I am also an contractor. I work on my house mainly between jobs. I help run a family business in Construction and Civil Engineering.

 

As for wiring and electrical, its all been redone. It was old metal sheathing, at least it was grounded. All been updated to code. I'm using all Romex wire predominantly. I replaced my Overhang service to underground conduit service and updated to an 200 Amp service panel. My power company even let me do all the digging since I was willing to pay to have the public works/engineering permit pulled. I also paid for my own conduit and ran it from my service panel all the way to the pole. At which point they continued with their own riser. It was fairly cheap too, $300 just to have them push new aluminum cables from the pole to my panel.

 

I also had the water company re-run my water service. My meter was actually on my neighbors property, and the line crossed underneath their driveway, the property line, then my driveway. Had them do it free of charge when I re-did my driveway and driveway approach. In redoing the approach I had to cut away a few feet of street curb and road pavement, so they only had to dig up underneath the cut I made.

 

As for energy efficiency, most of my lighting soruces come from recessed LEDs, like these: http://www.cooperindustries.com/content/public/en/lighting/brands/halo/led.html

 

For the rain runoff system, this is what I have in mind:

 

Ideally, I'd want to use IBC totes. The rainwater collected from the gutters go directly into the totes and then get media filtered and pumped into my sprinkler and drip system. My front yard already has an greywater system for some planters that aren't in use yet, but if I could keep my grass and vegetable garden looking good without using much needed water, it'd be to everyone's benefit. I've found used IBC totes on craigslist for $70ish. My local water district even lets you bring totes on a trailer and fill it with free recycled/reclaimed water for use in landscaping.

 

I also mentioned my greywater system earlier. I basically have all of my sinks, baths, and showers and washing machine feeding my greywater system. I dont have sewer where I live, so I need to rely on my septic tank for use with the toilets exclusively. In all my years living in this house I've never had a septic problem, while my neighbors negligently overflow their tanks or keep them in poor condition by letting their clothes washer drain into the system (bleach is bad, kills off the bacteria that keeps an septic system healthy).

[ionbasa]

Pictures of some of the equipment:

Starting with my framed panels; I have two pallets of framed 230W panels. I wont be using all of them. Only 7. The other ones I have will most likely go on my rental property in Palm Springs, CA or I'll install for an client. 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

Next up is the frameless panels I have. They're 250W panels, but aren't very popular. There are alot of restrictions on the clamping hardware to hold frameless panels down to their rail. Which is why I got such an good price on them. Luckily, my local solar/electrical distributor was able to order some mounting clamps for me. They wont arrive until next Wednesday or Thursday. The clamps actually wont be able to directly bolt to my Unirac-compatible rail due to the bolts it ships with. So, I'll need to replace the provided bolts with Unirac T-bolts.

 

 

Next up is the microinverters. I'm using Enphase M215s with internal grounding. The internal grounding means I wont need to run an separate grounding wire to the array frame.

Spoiler

 

 

 

Now, all those microinverters output AC power, and we need all of them to run in parallel. For that, I have an box/roll of an trunk cable. The cable essentially has connectors every 3ish feet to link all the microinverters to one split phase AC line. Split phase meaning that there are two 'hot wires' each that carry 120V relative to neutral, but they're out of phase with eachother, so there is 240V between the two.

 

Next up is the rails. I've had the panels and the rails for about an month, and the dust in SoCal really took an toll on them:

 

Lastly, I have the monitoring unit for the Enphase microinverters. It communicates with the microinverters via powerline networking. The unit monitors the status of each microinverter, power output, etc. it has an simple web server built in which can sync to an online portal, smartphone app, and even has an API so you can integrate the system into an home automation system or for use with another web reporting solution:

 

Upcoming

I'll post an simple line diagram of how the electrical side of things will work. I also bought the mounting feet/standoffs to mount to my roof rafters. I'll post an picture and an quick video on how it all goes together. Hopefully I'll have this done by tonight. I should be mounting the rails to my roof tomorrow if all goes well and it doesn't rain.

[ionbasa]

Line Diagram

Promised I'd post a picture on how the electrical side of things look like:

 

Standoffs / Roof Mount/ Misc

I also picked up the standoffs that mount to the roof and hold the rail in place. Here's a picture of the standoffs. They are the 3" version.

 

The standoffs attach to an L-bracket which I also have pictured along with the bag of lag screws. The lag screws are 3 1/2" long and are used to bolt the standoff to the roof rafters. The rafters in my garage are 2x8s.

 

 

In addition to the physical mounting hardware, I also picked up the required signage. Basically, stickers that need to identify the circuit breaker, let the utility provider know the mains panel is solar backfed, and an sticker for the main AC disconnect for the panels.

 

 

Video

I decided to shoot a quick video demonstrating how the standoffs, L-brackets, and railing work together. See:

 

 

 

To-Do

I still need to buy a few things. Mainly the AC cutoff switch. It has to be an two pole lever style AC disconnect. They have these readily available at Home Depot. I also need to buy some metal conduit and and two weatherproof junction boxes. The two junction boxes will be mounted on the roof  of the garage. One near where the solar array is located so the trunk cable can be connected, and the other on an parapet where I have access to run an 12 gauge cable down into the garage. I already have the circuit from the panel pulled to the garage ready to go. The metal conduit will be used to connect the two junction boxes together so I can run the rest of the cabling needed.

[ionbasa]

Quick update:

I got 5 out of the 8 rails installed on the garage of my roof yesterday. The weather wasn't all that great either. It was cold in the morning, and in the evening it got cloudy/overcast with a light drizzle. I spent two and a half hours at Home Depot grabbing various things I would need plus some extra for my other remodeling project.

For the solar system, I ended up buying an 30 amp two pole safety switch outdoor enclosure, a non-fusible electrical disconnect, 20 amp dual pole SquareD breaker, 6' whip, and 40' of bare 6 ga wire for grounding the solar rack and array, along with an ground rod and ground clamp.

Originally, I wasn't planning to use a separate grounding rod because the micro-inverters have built in equipment ground, but I live in an hillside-mountainous region that is prone to lightning strikes during the winter, so I changed my mind. I'd rather have the extra safety factor of seriously grounding my array, rather than possibly destroying the micro-inverters during an bad storm. This is because the micro-inverters have an stainless clamp bar which is internally grounded to the AC output on the unit. The internal ground wire and AC output of the trunk cable is only stranded 12 ga wire. Since there are various points where an electrical arc can happen (such as in junction boxes, ac disconnects, and the safety switch) I'd rather have all the current flow to an dedicated ground rod, rather than risk letting the microinverters deal with grounding by itself. 

 

With that being said, the last thing I need to buy is an lightning arrestor to hook up to the ac output of the microinverter. This will either be placed on the ac disconnect or the junction box on the roof. The lightning arrestor looks like this:

Its an varistor that clamps 10000 A in 15ms or 50000 A in 25ms. Not too shabby, it has unlimited uses if it only clamps up to 60000 amps. Anything past that and it becomes single use. These roughly cost between $40-$60. Can't go wrong with adding one in. Unfortunately, its something I'm either going to have to buy online, or from an electrical distributor.

Other than that, the frameless mounting clips should be coming in by wednesday. I'll post pictures of what I have completed  tomorrow. Hopefully I can get the remaining 3 rails and 9 standoffs installed tomorrow. If that happens, then I'll be able to get my first inspection done on tuesday for the mounting hardware.

[ionbasa]

So, no extra work was done today. We had rain and a dusting of snow 500 ft above where I live. Today, the high temperature was 43 F without windchill, its also windy today, so being up on the roof is an no-go for me. So, I still only have 5 of the 8 rails mounted. 

I did manage however to take some pictures of the rails (only 4/5 visible) I did manage to finish on Saturday:

For those of you wondering, I'm using white siliconized rubber. My roof is hot applied membrane with white gravel. I'll be adding an reflective top coat on my roofing membrane once I get all the rails installed. 

 

For now, I won't get much done due to the weather. I did buy almost all of my electrical components, like I mentioned in my previous post. I'll hopefully get some pictures of that and an an video out tomorrow?

[Admiral Naismith]

From the title I thought it was about installing hard-core astrophysics simulation software.

Not gonna lie, a bit disappointed.

Still subscribed to the thread

[ionbasa]

1 hour ago, Admiral Naismith said:

From the title I thought it was about installing hard-core astrophysics simulation software.

Not gonna lie, a bit disappointed.

Still subscribed to the thread

Bahaha. Thanks for subbing. No, i'm not doing any astrophysics simulations, thats not my specialty. But if you want, I can point you to: http://wwwmpa.mpa-garching.mpg.de/gadget/

Solar power is still interesting nonetheless, so I wanted to share with the community with an 'build log' style thread. It may inspire others to go solar as well! And to be honest, its just as fun for me to write and post about it, as is to those reading (I hope at least).  

[stconquest]

Awesome work!

[ionbasa]

Alright. Got all my electrical related things bought from Home Depot:

• 30 Amps Saftey switch to disconnect the array from main panel if service is needed to be done. This is also so any utility workers can cut off the array incase they are working on powerlines. This is an fused version that uses cylinder type fuses.

 

• Next up is the AC disconnect. This is going up on the roof. Its mainly for convenience. If I ever need to service the array, I can easily disconnect power without having to run around the house.

 

• Whip: This will link the AC pullout on the roof to the junction box on the array. Its basically an watertight flexible conduit with 10 gauge wire:

 

• 40 feet of grounding copper wire. This will run and ground each rail of the array. Its 6 gauge for those of you wondering. Also, unrelated roll of 14 gauge Romex:

 

• Lastly, the grounding rod:

 

That's it for now. My frameless mounting clips for 7 of my panels came in. I'll post some pictures of that later tonight, along with an video of how the rails mount to the standoffs. I'll also be starting to setup the trunk cable on the rails.

[ionbasa]

Update 13 January 2016:

 

Finally got the 7 frameless panels up today. Included are the pictures from today. Now just to get the other 7 up (will probably happen Monday since I don't work Sunday, and I have Presidents Day off).

 

 

 

 

There's still quite a lot to be done still. The trunk cable that links each microinverter together needs to be terminated into an junction box per two rails. The trunk cable snakes around every every other two rails. This allows me to have the panels meet end to end and save on space and make mounting and connecting easier.

 

The  framed panels will also mount much faster than the framless panels. The fameless clamp looks like this:

They're kinda an pain in the ass to work with. Its actually an two piece clamp. You have to start with the top portion off and align the panel on the end clamp and midclamp. From there, you have to adjust the thin film framless panel and then finally seat the top portion and tighten to the recommended torque setting.

 

Lastly, you can't tell from the pictures since the panels are covering it, I actually needed to do cable management. Enphase has some metallic 'U' shaped hooks I ended up using. They mount to the rail and allow for the trunk cable to be neatly ran on the rail and underneath the panels. I also used white zip ties to hold the connector cables that go from the panels to the microinverters. 

 

Unrelated Bonus: If you look at previous pictures of the roof, it didn't have an top coat. I ended up buying thermal reflective white topcoat for my roof. It goes on like paint and also provides an rubberized seal. It won't make much of an difference in terms of efficiency and HVAC cost because it's the top of the garage, and I have no AC or heating needs for the garage, but I did it as an test before applying on top of my actual roof (which has new R-38 insulation and thermal foil plywood).

[ionbasa]

Update: 2/17/2016

 

Most of the panels are now up. I have two remaining that need to be installed. I may add an extra two panels later on down the line, so I've left two plugs on an leg of the trunk cable available for me to use.

 

As you can see everything is starting to come together nicely. I;ve even got cable management down to an art:

 

 

Looking nice and clean under those panels.

 

After I get all the panels up, I need to pressure wash them. Southern California has has an dust issue, and some dust has been starting to stick to the glass of the panels. The glass has an hydrophobic coating on it, similar to car windshields. I test washed one of the panels and they should self clean when it rains! 

 

I'm going to try and finish installing this weekend. It's going to rain on Thursday. I should have the last two panels up on friday? And then I'll finish off the electrical work. Meaning, I still need to embed the grounding rod, pull the ground wire to the array, bond each rail. Then hookup the mains power and cutoff switches! Should have an test of the system on Sunday (hopefully)!