Diy solar

[Jd259]

Anyone out there done solar on their home themselves? I just built a new home I finished in June last year and am thinking about building another one on a little bigger piece of property. I live in the great state of California and as of Jan 1 2020 it’s now required to have solar and I’m looking into doing it on my own but just curious how difficult it is and what the costs are? I’m a pretty savvy guy I was the general on the house I just built so I think I can handle it just don’t know to much about it and if it’s even worth while to try and take it on myself or if better to just hire one of the five million solar companies out there now.
Thanks

 

[11boo]

I’m an electrician, but the only solar I’ve done is a ton of remote oil/gas sites, just charging batteries running instruments and SCADA. I think a rack of PV off your roof would be the way. The only reason to put it on the roof is you have nowhere else favorable for it. It would be a fair bit of work either way, the wiring would probably be the easiest part. The bigger panels are a two man job, and if you build a remote rack there is digging and pouring concrete for the pole bases

 

[Jd259]

I’m an electrician, but the only solar I’ve done is a ton of remote oil/gas sites, just charging batteries running instruments and SCADA. I think a rack of PV off your roof would be the way. The only reason to put it on the roof is you have nowhere else favorable for it. It would be a fair bit of work either way, the wiring would probably be the easiest part. The bigger panels are a two man job, and if you build a remote rack there is digging and pouring concrete for the pole bases

Yeah I wouldn’t be opposed to putting it on the ground the piece of property I’m looking at is three acres and 2+ are flat so there’s plenty of room I’m not concerned about building a rack for it plenty capable of that I did my pad and all my utilities on my current home I’m just more curious what it entails for wiring and tying into the panel to back feed the meter and the converters and all that other stuff I’ve researched a few outfits that sell diy systems and it doesn’t seem to bad I can get a system for like 6-7k from them.

 

[Mt Al]

Suggest looking at builditsolar.com

It doesn't get updated as often as it used to so some vendors have most likely changed, but has some really good information.

I followed his instructions and built and installed a drain back domestic hot water heater in my house. Been working almost flawlessly for six or seven years. It basically heats a huge tank of water that has a 100' roll of 1" Pex running through it as a heat exchanger. Cold well water goes through this before it hits the water heater, which runs less, which then costs less. Was pretty fun, challenging and learned a ton. Next step for me is one or two more panels and another big tank to add some solar space heating.

So it's not PV for me, but still solar.

 

[11boo]

All I can add is we usually put a 3 or 4” pipe in a deep hole along with a ground rod. Poured concrete. A few of those in a line were the base for our racks. Also stubbed some 1” pvc conduit in to carry the solar to our battery banks.

You would be doing something similar, just running the conduit underground to the inverter. There will be some code issues. All the panels and rack should be grounded. Wire sizing and appropriately sized conduit. The inverters seem pretty simple, probably some simple programmin/set up. And grounding, properly sized wires back feeding a two pole breaker in the panel. Usually I see the inverters next to the panel.

with your wealth of solar contractors out there, you should be able to find one willing to work with you to some degree. Bound to be permit and inspection requirements. I would check that first, Cali might not even allow you to do any wiring.

 

[Sea37]

I work in solar. Installing it on the roof is usually the least expensive option. The south face is normally the best producing. I would recommend a system that uses micro inverters. That allows each panel to act as is own system. That way you can start small and add panels in the future after you know exactly how much power you will use.

 

[11boo]

Wow, micro inverters. So each panel is making AC voltage?

 

[Sea37]

Wow, micro inverters. So each panel is making AC voltage?

Yes.

 

[TJ]

I work in solar. Installing it on the roof is usually the least expensive option. The south face is normally the best producing. I would recommend a system that uses micro inverters. That allows each panel to act as is own system. That way you can start small and add panels in the future after you know exactly how much power you will use.

I'll second this. Micro inverters really simplify the whole process.

 

[tdot]

I don't work in solar, but have designed and installed several large PV systems on sailboats and helped on a number of others. I've only GC'd residential projects. So I'm much more familiar with DC projects then AC.

One thing in common that I've seen throughout the different projects is that the success or failure of the project isnt generally the installation, it's the initial design. Spend some time understanding what makes a good installation and that will pay dividends for years to come. Everything from minimizing shading, inclination to the sun, wire sizing, etc. All go into making the installation a success. That may be the one part of the puzzle that is worth hiring someone to help with.

 

[Jd259]

I work in solar. Installing it on the roof is usually the least expensive option. The south face is normally the best producing. I would recommend a system that uses micro inverters. That allows each panel to act as is own system. That way you can start small and add panels in the future after you know exactly how much power you will use.

Thanks man I like the sounds of that. Are the newer systems pretty much plug and play or is it still pretty involved I have a pretty decent electrical understanding and back ground (I work for the big blue power company) what would the rough cost be to purchase the panels and micro inverters and other components to get a system fully up and running?

 

[Sea37]

Thanks man I like the sounds of that. Are the newer systems pretty much plug and play or is it still pretty involved I have a pretty decent electrical understanding and back ground (I work for the big blue power company) what would the rough cost be to purchase the panels and micro inverters and other components to get a system fully up and running?

There is a combiner box that communicates with each panel via Wi-Fi. So that would be added to the system. That is what measures your production and allows you to monitor each panel separately. You can see if you are having issues with an individual panel or inverter. Yes it’s pretty much plug one panel to the next panel and so forth. It’s wired in parallel so if one panel messes up it doesn’t take out a string of panels. As far as cost, it depends on size. And if you can get the system from a distributor. CED or another distributor.