I saw on a BIFL comment https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/s/hn33WRAvo4 The poster mentioned pre-wiring for solar. What does he mean by this?

Here is a list of solar panel manufacturers with operations in the U.S. sorted by capacity.

Company ~ Location(s) ~ Annual capacity ~ focus

First Solar ~ Ohio, Alabama, Louisiana ~ 10.7 GW ~ Specializes in CdTe thin-film panels for utility-scale projects.

Qcells (Hanwha Q CELLS) ~ Georgia ~ 8.4 GW ~ Focuses on residential and commercial solar panels.

Canadian Solar ~ Texas ~ 5 GW ~ Produces high-performance panels for various applications.

Illuminate USA (LONGi Solar) ~ Ohio ~ 5 GW ~

T1 Energy (Trina Solar) ~ Texas ~ 5 GW ~

Jinko Solar ~ Florida ~ 2 GW ~

Elin Energy ~ Texas ~ 2 GW ~

SEG Solar ~ Texas ~ 2 GW ~

Meyer Burger ~ Arizona ~ 2 GW ~

Mission Solar ~ Texas ~ 1 GW ~

Hounen Solar ~ South Carolina ~ 1 GW ~

Heliene ~ Minnesota ~ 800 MW ~

Silfab Solar ~ Washington, South Carolina ~ 800 MW ~

Solar4America (SPI Energy) ~ California ~ 700 MW ~

GAF Energy ~ California, Texas ~ 300 MW ~

Auxin Solar ~ California ~ 150 MW ~ Fully U.S.-owned and operated, producing CSPV modules.

Crossroads Solar ~ Indiana ~ 50 MW ~

CHERP Inc. ~ California ~ 15 MW ~

SunTegra ~ New York ~ 10 MW ~

First off thanks to the person who told me my address wasn’t blacked out! It was when I took the screenshot but guess it didn’t save. So here it is again without the other info.

Net metering in Illinois with 1:1 credits.

I think they messed up my bill and wanted to throw this out there since ComEd is closed until tomorrow. Believe the net metering credits should be at 422 since that is what I sent to the grid but they used the same kWh for both the charge and credit. This is the first month where I’ve sent more than I’ve used to happy with the bill but it should be closer to $0 with the credits. Am I reading that right?

I can’t seem to get straight information so hoping one of you uses DTE interconnection program in Michigan and can steer me straight. What does the buy back program look like? I know there were different riders and then a notice went out in ‘23 about a change. Is it a 1 for 1 buy back? Does it offset all charges including distribution charges not just electrical?

I’m doing a new build and seriously considering a large array and have applied for interconnection.

Thanks for your help!

I would like to install a backup powerbank that I can program to charge at night when the rates are low and leave plugged into my basement freezer and refrigerator.

Most of the time when the power goes out it's weather related and takes 2-3 days to be restored.

I know products like this exist, but there is so much hype and marketing in this market segment, and these units aren't cheap, I can't figure out who to trust.

Any advice?

Hi, I've recently installed an Export/Import meter and connected it to the inverter via a twisted pair cable. I configured it for Export Limiting and I thought it was working fine since I can see the imported and exported power in the app now. But today was a cold and sunny day and the production should've gone above my Export limit, but it got clipped instead. It appears that the inverter is using the Export limit as the Production limit instead. In the logs I noticed that there is a constant 3x6E error, even though the status page shows the meter as working and reports the current exported power. Is there any way I can check in more detail what is wrong with the communication? https://imgur.com/a/pqTLCqY

Rec360s with a SolarEdge inverter. 37 panels.

Quote: Squirrel Guard = $5995 Rewiring = $2450 Power optimizers * 6 = $900 Service Cost = $850 Please note that we will need to uninstall all the panels to check for damages before installing the squirrel guard. If we find any damage to the Power Optimizers beyond the 6, we are charging for, there will be an additional charge. We can discuss this further, as such damage is not covered under warranty.

I am working on a DIY solar project and I've decided to try to work with my local code office. I eventually want to put in a EG4 6000xp- but for now as far as code is concerned I want to just run a string of panels from the roof of my garage to a consumer type powerstation or "solar generator" (stupid name) for charging EVs and running tools in the garage.

For my diagram I'll need to provide a model number for such a unit that can take up to 500 volts solar input. I'm not sure such a beast exists. Wondering if anyone here knows of one. I don't really want to rewire my solar panels later. Or maybe there is another way to make code happy I'm not thinking of?

hi all, so i've been in the 'researching/googling/planning' phase of obtaining solar for a while now. I've gotten several quotes over the last 3 months and have spent a lot of time on this sub trying to educate myself on the technology, understanding our energy usage, etc.

I've picked a local company to install our system. It is quite a large system, as we use a lot of energy. Our roof needs replacement as well, and doing both at the same time is going to be around $120k.

I would like to use a home equity loan. we have about $800k in equity built up in our home right now and figure we could put some of it to use. However with interest rates so high right now, i was less enthusiastic about this option, until i read that the interest on this type of loan used for home improvement is tax deductible.

So my question really boils down to -- how do i calculate the 'net' interest rate? Say i am getting a HELOAN from my bank for $120k @ fixed 7.5% interest. If that interest is tax deductible, what does that save me? is the effective/net interest rate (i'm making up terms here) closer to 3-4% in this case?

I currently have a enphase grid tied system with iq 8 micro inverters and I have purchased a Cummins 20kw whole home generatir and a service entrance rated Cummins ats that I want to install I am thinking the generator will have to be upstream of the ats and I am trying to figure out how to set it up correctly I also know I will have to seperate my ground and neutrals but unsure what I will need to do with the solar side of it so it won’t backfeed during a outtage . I have provided a picture of my current setup without the generator. It is wire tapped into my main panel to the feeder wires from the meter.

Thanks

Hello solar professionals I am seeking advice so I don't blow up my Inverter The photo shows the device data sheet and I want to connect a 500w panel to it. How many panels should I connect and how? (v/h)

Hello solar professionals I am seeking advice so I don't blow up my Inverter The photo shows the device data sheet and I want to connect a 500w panel to it. How many panels should I connect and how? (v/h)

I am in a bit of an interesting position - the array you see here faces WSW - there is another one that faces opposite. This array has no shading from the chimneys you see but the other one does.

I historically have installed solaredge systems for family members and previous houses (as an enthusiast) - there are some shading issues at this property but mostly due to the parapit wall the end in the evening, I hear bypass diodes are meant to help but I cannot conclude they will help in this scenario and whether its worth fitting the optimisers before I fit bird mesh and take scaffolding down. I am concerned its taking the whole string out.

Today was a clear day but there has been several huge jumps in power (could just be the inverter).

I have a 6kW SolarEdge Inverter from my old house and 12 x S500B's I can put on before the scaffolding comes down. But wondering whether its worth doing economically (as my new hybird inverter was cheap) and whether the gain is worth it, I reckon somewhere between 9 and 13%?

Panels are JA Solar 525W bifacials x12

Current Inverter is a 6kW Solis Hybrid Inverter - would save me from installing a seperate AC coupled battery.

Any help would be great, thanks!

New to solar and trying to fix my system. Got a shattered panel up in the roof, Q.PEAK-G4.1 300w, and I have found the same panel in a 305w version. All 295w, 300w, 305w panels in this model seem to have the same dimensions so hoping I would be able to swap the broken one for a new one easily. Can I add the 305w? I have 36 panels total. Thanks in advance.

So I had talked myself into the Enphase iq8x with a essential battery backup. Even the with AC-DC-AC battery (in)efficiency issues. That was until I read that it requires a cell service contract to provision and run. The system is supposed to have a 20+ yr lifecycle. With the failure of companies that developed their systems using cloud based designs that left the hardware useless such as Sunpower and Juicebox, I find it difficult to purchase an expensive system that can't be configured and operate without internet service.

Also most cell sites only have diesel generator backup. When my location got hit with the remnants of hurricane Ike years ago we had power out for over a week and a lot of cell towers went down due to not being continuously fueled up.

Has anyone run their iq8 with battery backup system without the cell service?

Are there alternatives to the IQ8X micro inverter that don't require cell modem and cloud connections?

Just for clarification, I'm not concerned with loss of data history or other nice-to-haves. I have concern with loss of use of operational capability.

TIA

With PG&E being the energy provider in rural areas, does having solar installed significantly decrease your utility bill or no?

Looking for folks in Northern California who have installed solar on your property. We’re thinking of buying property but not sure if we should consider buying outside of city limits due to the increase cost of utilities.

My in-laws had solar panels installed onto their roof a few years ago but they have no idea if they're actually working. This seems to be a meter linked the panels. Does this mean/show anything?

They said they haven't noticed a huge impact on their energy bill

I am building a tiny house aka cabin which will be entirely off-grid. I want to eliminate external utility bills entirely which means no gas bill, no water bill, no electric bill. My plan is to drill a well for water and to use solar for all energy requirements. I will have a backup generator and an emergency propane heater and small propane cook stove. Building size is 12 X 32 feet and is located in northwest Alabama. Projected usage is an average of 25 kWh/day with a low of 5 kWh/day and a high of 40 kWh/day. If I add an EV, I expect a load increase of about 10 kWh/day. I expect about 5 hours per day of reliable production for about 280 days per year. This system should produce 15,500 kWh per year with expected consumption of around 11,000 kWh/year.

Here are the expected loads:

1. Heat pump water heater, fused at 40 amps 240V, normally uses under 10 amps and about 2 kWh/day per person.
2. Electric cook stove fused at 50 amps 240V, normally pulls about 20 to 30 amps with oven and burners on.
3. Washing machine and dryer over & under combo, fuses at 40 amps 240V, normally draws @30 amps when both are running
4. Submersible pump in the well, fuses at 20 amps 240V, normally uses 8 to 10 amps when running
5. Small heat pump fuses at 30 amps 240V, normally uses 20 amps (investigating solar mini-split as an option)
6. Refrigerator fuses at 20 amps 120V, normally uses about 3 amps when running
7. Upright freezer will be similar to the refrigerator with 2 or 3 amps when running
8. Microwave fuses at 20 amps 120V, normally uses 15 amps when in use
9. Dishwasher fuses at 20 amps, normally uses 12 to 15 amps, consumes @2 kWh for each use
10. All other miscellaneous items (tv, computer, video systems, hair dryer, etc)will draw about 20 amps max.

I have the solar equipment planned for:

1. two - inverters each 12 kw $5800 off-grid but capable of on-grid with net metering, have 2 built in MPPT's per inverter
2. three - batteries each 15 kWh with continuous output of 10 kw each (may add a 4th battery for extra capacity) $11,700
3. sixteen - solar panels (Canadian Solar each 705 watts) total wattage is 11,280 $2832
4. Breaker panel, cables, mounting hardware, battery monitoring system, and other miscellaneous items $5000
5. I already own a couple of usable full sine wave generators for emergency backup

I expect total cost of all components and installation (mostly done by me) to be about $25,000.

I'm a retired engineer who among other things designed and installed 48 volt power plants for telephone companies. I'm very familiar with the overall logistics of installing rectifiers, batteries, inverters, etc. but do not have direct experience with solar. I can easily and quickly calculate intermittent loads, daily power usage in kWh per device, size cables, and other design related concerns. I also in a previous lifetime (40 years ago) was a certified electrician plus I have 3 brothers who are current certified electricians and can pitch in if needed.

Here are the design constraints I'm considering. With two inverters at 12 kw each, I will have 100 amps available. Worst case scenario is using both the cook stove and the washer/dryer at the same time which should consume @60 amps leaving 40 for things like the well pump and other devices. I'm going to set a rule that the stove and washer/dryer should not be used simultaneously.

Batteries are rated for kWh stored and for continuous output. I'm using 15 kWh batteries in part because they provide 45 kWh total storage capacity but mostly because with 3 batteries a total of 30 kw of continuous output will be available to the inverters. I am considering adding a 4th battery - raising total capacity to 60 kWh stored - in part because it will provide an easy path to charging an Electric Vehicle. As long as vehicle charging is during daylight hours, the solar panels should carry the load. If charging is needed at night, the extra battery would enable adding an extra 60 miles or so of capacity to the EV.

I'd love to see comments about this overall system and any possible flaws with using it in an off-grid environment. I am not naming battery and inverter makers.

p.s. remind me to write a post sometime about why an in-line tankless water heater is a very bad idea when using solar power!

p.p.s. I'm posting in r/solar instead of r/diysolar because more professionals show up here.

i finished my first year with solar. My system is working great and produced 109% of output calculated from PVWATT calculator (and 104% of detailed calculation from SAM model).

I got my SREC check after 9 months (there were some delays at the beginning as installer applied only after installation and then i had to wait 3months as they run out of allowance)

At the same time electricity prices on my comed bill went down by 10% (i had to pay small amount in JAN/FEB) and my fixed charged increased by around 30%. i a also loosing some credits end of April as this is reset of annual metering. Feels like COMED is playing some games...

Hello all,

We live in an area that sees more blackouts than our previous home (once or twice a year, usually for about 1-3 hours) but our neighbors tell us the year before we moved in, there was a blackout that lasted a week that caused many of our neighbors to invest in gas powered generators. I would prefer to invest in something that saves money and had an idea for a system that I'm not sure exists:

I'd like to put solar panels on our roof. My wife is limiting me to the rear (Northwest) facing side of the home but I'm sure I can talk her into adding some to the sides as well. It's a larger home (about 5,500 sq ft) so there is plenty of room on the roof. Based on our last year's usage, our general energy usage is about 3000kwh per month during the Summer (with pool and air conditioning running) and about 1200kwh per month during the Winter.

What I'm trying to do here is have a system that produces enough to power the home during the day AND charge a set of batteries in the house that once the panels are no longer generating power, the house can switch to the battery systems (hopefully automatically) and can power the house in the event of an outage. It doesn't need to provide a full 100kwh per day as if we do have a prolongued outage, I wouldn't be running the air conditioning or pool and smaller appliances and computers in the home would be turned off to conserve power.

But the main question I have is whether a system exists that allows the solar panels to continue to operate and the batteries continue to charge and be utilized in the event of an outage? This would allow us to save energy costs during the bulk of the year while still having a relatively reliable backup in the event of an outage. And if so, what size solar array should we be getting and what would constitute a sufficient battery backup?

Thanks for the help!

Renewing my home this year. We planned on putting solar panels for about 5Kw (small house), the installation will be done with a Huawei sun2000 4.6 KTL inverter. I checked a bit on internet and the first choice that's coming up for batteries are the Luna system but... They're CRAZY expensive... Do we get the choice of using something else or is it kind of a proprietary system ?

I’m in California (Irvine, ZIP 92618) and recently had two Enphase 5P batteries installed as part of my solar system. After researching, I learned about the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) and how it could potentially offer rebates for my battery storage system.

Here’s the thing:

• I found that my installer is listed as an SGIP-approved developer on the official SGIP website.
• But I noticed they didn't apply for the rebate at the time of installation, even though I was under the impression that installers typically handle this automatically as part of the service, especially if they're SGIP-approved.

Now, I’m wondering:

1. Is it standard practice for installers to submit the SGIP application for you, or is it something I should have done on my own?
2. If it’s their responsibility, should they have done this during the installation or right afterward?
3. If they didn’t handle it, am I still able to apply for the SGIP rebate with them, or do I need to find another approved developer to do it?

Would love to hear anyone's experiences with the SGIP process and what steps I should take next. Thanks!

I have a 25 kW DC ground mount SE system (installed 2022) that is starting to do weird stuff, and the original installer is nowhere to be found. Any recommendations for someone who will take my money to fix my problems? No one is listed on SE’s site in my area, which seems peculiar.

Issues: 1) Had an optimizer go out. Replaced it, but don’t have “installer” access to the monitoring portal to swap the MAC. And I’d love to get the bad one warranty replaced.

2) I monitor and historize stats via the Modbus interface, and a few months ago, one of the strings started dipping down maybe 1.5ish kW for a minute, then comes back up to where the other one is. This happens over 100x/day. Clouds wouldn’t affect the same string daily. This isn’t the same string that had the bad optimizer from #1. I’m guessing another optimizer is bad and dropping the whole shebang out. Do I “shorten” the string in 1/2 and try to find the fault?

Thanks in advance.

Hey guys I’m 23 and I’m starting a solar program soon to become a certified solar tech. Anything I should be expecting and any advice from people that is in the field?

I have been thinking about it from many years and have decided to go with it now. I used energy sage and have shortlisted two providers. One of the providers is asking to sign the contract even before they do the site visit, is this normal? The other provider is doing the visit without any paper work.

System size 9kwh Quotes 1. $2.60 with REC panels 25yr warranty 2. $2.4 with Qcells 25yr warranty 3. $2.20 with SEG panels

Battery not included All Quotes have IQ8 micro inverters( different model to suit the panel)