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Finished DIY Solar Install w/ Pics!

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  • Finished DIY Solar Install w/ Pics!

    Wanted to say thanks to everyone who gave input and guidance on my system. Had it approved last week and am really happy with the outcome. Planning on buying a Kia Niro EV this weekend to make use of the extra power. I have a 32A charger arriving today for it.

    Specs:
    24 Canadian Solar 330W 60-cell panels
    Enphase IQ7 Microinverters
    Enphase Combiner
    Enphase consumption meters
    Ironridge XR100 rails
    QuickMount PV Tile Replacement Mounts
    Quickmount PV conduit penetration tile replacement

    Hardest part of the install was all the tile replacements. That took me about 3 days to finish. Also had to order extra Quickmounts, because the plan I drew up on paper didn't quite work out due to joist location under the tiles. So I had to shift some of the locations for mounts, which made me exceed cantilever specs. In the end, I like the Quickmount system. If you can design your system to have all the mounts in the same column, it makes things go easier. Just remove the whole column of tiles, from top to bottom, then start at the bottom and work your way to the top.

    10ga THWN-2 in the conduit. 8ga Romex in the attic. I used 8ga as that was the ground size required, so I didn't have to run a separate ground. 8ga from combiner to disconnect to MSP.

    I added a ground rod, which should have been good to code when combined with my water pipe ground. But, the first inspection failed, the inspector wanted a second ground rod and an irreversible crimp on the ground rod wire to the ground wire coming in from the solar, even though they were both connected next to each other at the bus. Didn't argue with the guy, just said, sure no problem. Second inspection he hardly looked at it and passed it.

    Spent about $15k, so after tax credits, the system will have cost just under $10k for everything, including permits and whatnot. Pretty happy with that price.

    If I were to do anything different, I would have used the IQ7+ instead of the IQ7. I would have less clipping and it only would have cost another $360. Oh well.

    Again, thanks for the help of everyone on the forum. This forum was an excellent resource during my planning!






























  • #2



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    • #3
      It looks excellent! Nice work.

      Yes, inspectors try their best but are only human and don't have forever to go through each regulation on each installation. Each inspector seems to have their own personal list of pet peeves and checks for those. Get a new inspector and get a new list. All we can hope is that they know more than we do and that they will catch anything we do that is dangerous before it goes online.

      Can you give us a hint to your general location (State or climate zone)?
      7kW Roof PV, APsystems QS1 micros, Nissan Leaf EV

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      • #4
        Thanks! I think the inspector may have confused GEC with EGC. It seems a lot of the inspectors are only familiar with DC installs using a central inverter. The AC installs using microinverters have different requirements.

        I'm in Southern California, Western Riverside County.

        Also would like to add that the inspector was very pleasant to deal with. Since I was his last stop both days, we actually spent a while just shooting the $hit. I've heard horror stories from others, but no complaints here.
        Last edited by nsgoldberg; 12-13-2019, 04:52 PM.

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